Wireless Aerospace Manufacturing Facility

It seems like there are two main reasons why a stakeholder might insist on "wireless": presumption of lower cost, or presumption that wireless is newer and therefore obviously better. Manufacturing is one of the worst cases for wireless and even copper, due to EMI and longer distances. Fiber is a lot cheaper today than when we ran it in plants in the eighties and nineties. Singlemode fiber is favored recently, because you don't need multiple pairs at speeds over 10Gbit/s like multimode, where you get to have fun remembering the difference between MPO and MPT connectors. I'd advise putting forth clear proposals to run cabling, even *unterminated* cabling in finished areas where running it later will double costs. In the proposals do *not* hesitate to *literally say that you're afraid* of the potential problems that EMI and metal are likely to cause with WiFi frequency spectrum, multipath, propagation, etc. If and when that's refused in writing, design a first-class enterprise grade WiFi network as a substitute, and submit that all for purchasing. It won't be cheaper. But the sponsor has to feel they're getting their way about things that they care about. --- Another strategy that I've been overly reluctant to use in the past is to bring in an outside integrator. Preferably not just a vendor, and not just a consultant, but both in one: an integrator. For purposes of WiFi, an ideal integrator would use expensive specialty equipment to analyze the facility, and then recommend a specific plan of action. Ideally, the integrator wouldn't be afraid of recommending a wired solution as being cheaper. But regardless, you're taking the task seriously enough to bring in outside expertise, right? And if anything goes wrong, it can't be your fault, because you not only got it in writing to make it wireless, but you brought in the best integrator you could find. When it comes to integrators, it's best to interview a few and find one that's flexible enough (*e.g.* vendors who are happy to work with at least two different brands of gear) and won't go running to your principals and immediately cutting you out of the conversation.