Outdoor AP installation recommendations

Summary

General view of outdoor installation dictates proper grounding, lightning arrestors and surge protectors

Question

What are the general recommendations for outdoor AP installations when it comes to surge protection?

Customer Environment

Outdoor AP installation

Root Cause

N.A.

Troubleshooting Steps

N.A.

Workaround

N.A.

Resolution

It is recommended for AP outdoor installation to protect the AP as well as the indoor equipment electrical surges. Surges that can reach the internal equipment from the outside, or least common, surges that may originate from inside that may reach the AP.

Though one may not be able to fully protect the building/installation site from a full-on/direct lightning strike, there are preventative measures that one can take to protect your indoor/outdoor equipment from indirect lightning hits. These are the recommendations for protection from electrical surges:
1. Surge protection is to be installed at the entrance of the building to protect indoor equipment
2. There surge protector should be grounded
   a. the ground should be common to all indoor and outdoor equipment i.e. switches / routers / AP / controller / surge protector, etc.
   b. besides the ground being common, the ground potential should be close to 0
   c. it is recommended that an electrician has identified and checked the ground points of your network grounding elements
3. Here is a surge arrestor that we have used in the past for protecting the entrance of the building, Transtector = http://www.transtector.com/products/data-line-surge-protection/1101-959
4. The outdoor AP equipment should be protected with an outdoor surge arrestor as well if the AP does not have an embedded surge protector

Here is visual of a typical installation:
User-added image

Also:
- notice the drip loop at the entrance of the building.
- there should also be a drip loop immediately at the ethernet entrance to the outdoor AP.
- the 18awg grounding wire at the grounding pt of the AP

Article Number:
000006011

Updated:
September 20, 2020 10:45 PM (over 3 years ago)

Tags:
Configuration, Installation, Troubleshooting, ZoneDirector, ZoneFlex Outdoor, virtual SmartCell Gateway

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