Introduction

In order to successfully assess a potential installation site, it is important to understand the basic infrastructural components of an AES-IntelliNet^® private wireless mesh radio network. Please become familiar with the terms listed below in advance of performing a site survey.

Preventative maintenance is an important part of managing your AES-IntelliNet® network.

The goal of a successful preventative maintenance program is to establish consistent Best Practices designed to improve performance and maintain optimum network health.  Generally speaking, a well maintained network performs better than a poorly maintained network.  The success of a preventative maintenance program is dependent on the cooperation of all stakeholders – network owners, central station operators, and technicians.

Network planning is the key component in building a robust and resilient AES-IntelliNet^® network.  By investing the time to plan a network properly, using AES recommended guidelines, you will not only build a network that meets your needs today but also a network that is highly scalable for the future.  Poor planning can result in problems maintaining and growing your network.  AES has a team of experts available to work directly with alarm dealers and integrators to establish a solid game plan for both installing new networks or expanding an existing network.  If you’re looking to build a new network from the ground up, ask about our enhanced AES-IntelliStart service. If you want to optimize your existing network for peak performance, ask about our AES-Network Management System (NMS). To learn more about the critical aspects of building a powerful AES network, please read our previous blog post ‘How to Build an AES-IntelliNet^® Network’ by Rick Distefano, a seasoned AES veteran.

Location, Location, Location 

The following guidelines are critical to the success of your AES-IntelliNet private wireless mesh radio network. Just like with real estate, “location, location, location” is key. IP Links are often installed in the alarm dealer’s or central monitoring station’s office for easy serviceability or due to the concern of losing a site after the network is built. The beauty of the IP Link is that it can be installed anywhere and that it should, if possible, be the center of your radio cloud or as close to the center as possible. Please see the example as illustrated in the diagram below. Note, the rings represent a 3 to 5 mile radius in distance. That distance between the AES subscribers is defined as level, link layer, or hops.