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Hello everyone. I'm totally new to this forum, so please excuse any ignorance. I really look forward to your input.

I will be installing a wireless network in a hotel that our company is building, and I'm planning on using 2-3 Cisco 1130AP's per floor (~200' hall length, 3 floors). I plan on using channels 1, 6, 11 for the AP's.

Here is my issue. There is a hotel right next to ours that is using the same channels for their AP's. I can pretty much walk anywhere in our hotel and see their wireless signal, and if I'm on the side of our hotel, that borders theirs, I can surf on their open wireless network with no problems.

Am I going to run into tons of problems with wireless interference because of this, or should the client computers in our hotel be able to communicate with our AP's without any problems?

This is the first time I've had to deal with a large wireless network within the same proximity of another large wireless network.

Also, I posted this question on another forum, and someone said that if the wireless networks are using different SSID's, that there would not be any interference... I've never heard of this, and do not see how that is possible... anyone care to chime in about that?

Thanks everyone for your advice so far. I have an update on what I've tried so far, and have another question.

Yesterday, I took 2 of the access points to the hotel, and placed them on the 2nd floor (placed each of them in the ceiling space about 50' from the ends of the 200' hall). Currently, the sheetrock is up, but there is no carpet, furniture, or doors, but the wireless signal was great over the entire hotel (1st, 2nd, and 3rd floor). Using NetStumbler & my laptop, the signal never got below -75db, and my pings never timed out.

So here is my question, should I still plan on putting 2 access points on each floor, or do you think that the 2 access points on the 2nd floor will provide adequate coverage after the drop ceiling, carpet, furniture, & doors are installed?

There are different philosophies on this, but we would never count on quality signal traversing multiple floors. All your data transmissions would require low attenuation between floors, and you'll likely encounter a ton of reflection from various HVAC systems, piping, etc., installed between floors. My recommendation would be to provide coverage per floor and do not account for "vertical coverage".

If your APs have some sort of adaptive radio management, that is great so that if the APs hear each other between floors, they will channelize accordingly.

Best of luck.

I figured that would be the answer, but I just wanted to hear it from someone more knowledgeable than myself. Thanks a ton!

Ok, I have just one more question (I hope). :D

As I mentioned earlier, the hotel next door is using channel 1, 6, 11, and their signal is very strong on one side of our building.

Should I try to use channel 1, 6, 11 in our hotel, or should i use something like 3, 7, 9? I know from everything that I've read, that 1, 6 , 11 are the only channels that do not overlap, but I just don't know what the best practice would be in this scenario.

Thanks again!

Use channels 1, 6, and 11. Channel 3 will overlap with both channels 1 and 6, and channels 7 and 9 will overlap with channels 6 and 11. So, by going with 3,7,9, you'll actually be creating more problems not only for yourself but for all those using 1, 6, and 11 in the area. By using a 1, 6, and 11 channel plan, APs on the same channel will end up sharing the bandwidth, but this will minimize the adjacent channel interference.

Obviously, using 802.11a would be a better scenario for you, but that is irrelevant if your clients are unable to associate to 802.11a-capable APs.