fortiplanner user guide 40 mr3

8/12/2019 Fortiplanner User Guide 40 Mr3

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FortiPlanner User Guide

for FortiOS 4.0 MR3


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7 April 2011

01-430-141393-20110407

for FortiOS 4.0 MR3

Copyright 2011 Fortinet, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication including text, examples,diagrams or illustrations may be reproduced, transmitted, or translated in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, manual, optical or otherwise, for any purpose, without prior written permission of

Fortinet, Inc.

Trademarks

Dynamic Threat Prevention System (DTPS), APSecure, FortiASIC, FortiBIOS, FortiBridge, FortiClient,

FortiGate, FortiGate Unified Threat Management System, FortiGuard, FortiGuard-Antispam,

FortiGuard-Antivirus, FortiGuard-Intrusion, FortiGuard-Web, FortiLog, FortiAnalyzer, FortiManager,

Fortinet, FortiOS, FortiPartner, FortiProtect, FortiReporter, FortiResponse, FortiShield, FortiVoIP, and

FortiWiFi are trademarks of Fortinet, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual

companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.


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Contents

FortiPlanner User Guide for FortiOS 4.0 MR3

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Using the FortiPlanner tool

This document explains how to use Fortinet FortiPlanner, a WiFi planning tool that helpsyou to determine the optimal placement of FortiAP wireless access points on your

premises.

The following topics are included in this section

Overview

Drawing the floor plan

Placing APs for optimal coverage

Creating reports

Overview

Starting with a floor plan of the area that you want to cover with your wireless network, theplanning tool will provide a color-shaded image predicting the expected signal strength

throughout the coverage area. Using the tool, you can try out different placements of

wireless access points prior to installation on the premises.

The overall process for using the planning tool is as follows:

Draw a floor plan of the coverage area

Place APs on your floor plan.

Run a propagation prediction.

The last two steps are iterative. If the prediction shows some areas with poor coverage,

you can change the placement of your APs and run another propagation prediction.

The propagation predictionThe result of the propagation prediction is a floor plan color shaded to show signal

strengths throughout the area. The colors range from green where signal strength is high

through yellow and orange to red where the signal is weak.

Figure 1: Example propagation prediction


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Overview Using the FortiPlanner tool


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FortiPlanner controls

Draw structural elementsof floor plan

Remove floor plan Drag mouse to set drawing scale

Drag mouse to measuredistances on floor plan

Select Englishor Metric measurement

Show/hide drawing gridelementsProject menu

Add selected device

Reveal Edit Devicebutton

Remove all APs

AP information

Run propagation prediction

Remove AP

Project menu

type to floor plan last placed to display on floor plan

Define

Remove APs

Zone types to display

Perform automatic AP placement

Quality of coverage

Project menu

placementzones

Select/configureAP type

Select WiFi

Create/print/export reports

Minimum acceptableAdjust balance of

Color gradientstep size

band to display background and coveragedisplay signal strength


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Using the FortiPlanner tool Drawing the floor plan


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Status bar

Drawing the floor planThe floor plan shows not only the shape of the rooms in coverage area, but also the

materials from which they are constructed. Different materials absorb, refract, and reflect

radio waves to different degrees. The planning tool takes this into account when predicting

the coverage you can expect from a particular placement of wireless access points.

You can use the Floor Planner tab as a blank canvas to draw your plan, or you can import

a bitmap image of a floor plan and use it as a guide as you draw walls, doors, windows,

and so on, carefully selecting the material types from which they are constructed.

To start FortiPlanner

1 On the Start menu, selectAll Programs > Fortinet Inc. > FortiPlanner. > FortiPlanner.

To create a project and set the scale

1 Select Floor Planner tab.

2 From the project menu ( ), select New Project.

FortiPlanner asks whether you have a floor plan image file. You can use a bitmap

image file as a guide to help you draw the floor plan.

3 If you have an image file, select Yes, navigate to the file and select Open.

Otherwise, select No.

4 Select Set Scaleand draw a line representing a structure of known length, such as a

wall.

5 In the dialog box, enter the length of the structure you drew and then select OK.

You can use either metric or English units.6 From the menu (at the left end of the tab bar), select Save.

7 Name the project and select Save.

To draw a floor plan

1 If your project is not open, open it by using the Open Projectfunction on the project

menu ( ).

2 Select the Floor Planner tab and then selectAdd Structure.

3 From the list in Floor Plan Structures, select the element and building material that you

want to draw.

4 Place the cursor, drag the mouse and release the button to draw a straight line

segment, such as a wall. To delete a line, right-click it and select Delete.

5 Repeat steps 3and 4until you have drawn all of the structural elements of the floor

plan with the appropriate building materials.

6 From the project menu, select Save.

Fit to page Zoom controlStatus

Note: You can draw only on the grid lines. The small difference in position between the

lines you draw and the lines in the image file is not significant in the propagation

calculations.


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Placing APs for optimal coverage Using the FortiPlanner tool


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Placing APs for optimal coverage

You can use automatic or manual placement of APs. It is also possible to combine the two

methods: use automatic placement initially and then fine-tune the AP positions manually.

Adjusting access point parameters

The FortiAP model selected on the Access Points tab is the AP type that will be used ineither automatic or manual AP placement. For each model, you can adjust the radio band

and antenna orientation.

To adjust Access Point parameters before placement

1 With your project open, do one of the following:

On theAccess Pointstab, select the FortiAP model, select the down arrow ( ),

then select Edit.

On theAuto Plannertab, in Configuration, select Customize.

2 Select which radio and which band to use.

3 Optionally, enter the unit orientation and antenna direction in degrees. (0 is North).

Currently available Fortinet AP equipment uses omnidirectional antennas.

4 Optionally, adjust client settings:

Transmit Power must be within the power range of the APs you intend to use.

Higher power increases range but also increases interference with other APs

nearby.

Receiver Sensitivity is the minimum signal strength that the AP requires for reliable

reception. This should be listed in the AP units specifications.

5 Select OK.

To adjust Access Point parameters after placement

1 On either theAccess PointsorAnalysistab, right-click the access point and select Edit.

2 Adjust the parameters and select OK.

IfAuto Recalculateis enabled on theAnalysistab, the propagation prediction is

updated.


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Using the FortiPlanner tool Placing APs for optimal coverage


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Placing APs automatically

The auto-place function determines the optimal number and placement of APs while

performing a propagation prediction. You must first define the zones where AP placement

is permitted. Then you can run the auto-placement and propagation prediction.

Defining zones

The auto-placement feature requires zones to define where it can or cannot place APs. At

a minimum, define a Normal area. This could be simply a single zone that covers the

intended WiFi coverage area. If there are areas where you do not want or cannot install

APs, define an Exclusion zone there.

To define a zone

1 Select theAuto Plannertab.

2 SelectAdd Zoneand make sure that all of the zone types are enabled in the

Display Properties.

3 From the list in Placement Zone Editor, select the type of zone:

Normal - can place APs here

Limited - coverage desired, but cannot place APs here

Exclusion - coverage not required, cannot place APs here

4 Click to define the starting point, move the mouse to draw. Click when you want to

change the direction of the line. When you have defined a closed area, right-click to

stop drawing.

5 Repeat steps 3and 4to define additional zones.

Running auto-placement and propagation prediction

With the auto-place zones defined, you can now use the auto-place function. The result is

a propagation prediction with the optimal number and placement of APs.

To place APs automatically and calculate propagation

1 Open your project.

2 If there are no zones defined, define them now. See Defining zones on page 9.

3 Optionally, select theAnalysistab and adjust the parameters. See To configure the

analysis parameters, next.

4 Select theAuto Plannertab.

5 Optionally selectAccess pointto select the access point type and configuration.

6 Select Place Access Points.

FortiPlanner calculates the coverage prediction. Switch to theAnalysistab to view the

results.

To configure the analysis parameters

1 With your project open, select theAnalysistab.

2 In Frequency Band Display, select either 2.4GHz or 5.0GHz.

3 In View, you can adjust how the signal levels are displayed:


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4 DisableAuto Recalculateif you have a large number of APs and experience

undesirable delays due to propagation prediction updates.

Placing APs manually

Manual AP placement is an iterative process. You put APs on the floor plan and then run

the propagation prediction. Then, you try moving the APs or adding additional APs and

then you run the prediction again to see if you have improved the wireless coverage.

Placing APs on the floor planWith the completed floor plan open, try a placing one or more access points on it.

To place APs on the floor plan

1 If your project is not open, open it by using the Open Projectfunction on the menu (at

the left end of the tab bar).

2 Select theAccess Pointstab.

3 Select the type of Access Point that you want to place.

4 SelectAdd Device.

5 Do any of the following:

Click on the floor plan where you want to place an AP.

Drag an AP to a new position.

Right-click an AP to modify its settings or remove it.

IfAuto Recalculateis enabled on theAnalysistab, the propagation prediction is

updated. Otherwise, select Calculate.

6 Repeat any of the actions in Step 5as needed to produce the desired coverage.

7 From the project menu ( ), select Save.

Contour (dBm) Adjusts the step size of the color gradient. For example, a 3dBsetting shows a different color for each 3dB change in signal.

Background Opacity Adjusts how well the background image can be seen through thecoverage shading. 100 maximizes background visibility but parts ofthe background may not be visible if Coverage Opacity is too high.

Coverage Opacity Adjusts how much the coverage shading hides the background

image. 100 maximizes coverage visibility but might obscure thebackground.

Signal Floor (dBm) Enter the lowest acceptable signal level for your intended coveragearea.


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Using the FortiPlanner tool Creating reports


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Creating reports

FortiPlanner can create the following reports:

Deployment Placement your floor plan including access point locations

Device Placement Detail name, configuration and location map of each AP

Device Inventory list of network APs by model, with count by model Propagation Analysis the propagation prediction from your Analysis tab

Auto Placement Zones maps of your Normal, Limited, and Exclusion zones

You can print the reports or save them in several different formats.

To create reports

1 With your project open, select theAnalysistab.

2 In Reports, select View.

3 In the FortiPlanner Reportswindow, select the reports that you want to create and then

select Generate.

4 The first report is displayed in the Report Preview window.

5 Do any of the following:

Print the report.

Save the report. Several output formats are supported. PDF is the default.

6 When you are finished with the first report, close the window. The next selected report

is displayed.


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Creating reports Using the FortiPlanner tool


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