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Discipline 01 · Plan & Design
Industrial Wireless Planning & Design for Industrial Operators
Before a single radio is purchased, Twin Eagle Solutions walks the site, models the RF, designs the full IP fabric behind the radios, files the FCC paperwork, and bench-tests the entire topology before deployment. Quiet, careful engineering up front is the single largest predictor of a network that meets its uptime target — and the cheapest line item in any wireless program. We do this work for oil & gas, water/wastewater, utility, and mining operators alike.
What "Plan & Design" actually means
Twin Eagle Solutions has been planning and designing industrial wireless and IP networks for industrial operators — oil & gas, water/wastewater, utilities, mining, and adjacent industries — across the lower 48 states since 2001. Our engagements typically begin with a brownfield assessment of the network already in the field, followed by RF surveys at every proposed link, link budget calculations against terrain databases, frequency planning and FCC coordination, full IP / VLAN / subnet architecture, end-to-end network design covering VLAN switching, BGP and OSPF routing, and QoS for SCADA and voice, OT/IT cybersecurity segmentation following IEC 62443 and the Purdue model, bench testing of the proposed configuration before any production cutover, and a complete pre-construction deliverable package that hands off directly to our in-house Build & Install crews.
The discipline matters because the cost of fixing an under-engineered wireless network in the field is roughly an order of magnitude higher than the cost of engineering it correctly the first time. A misjudged Fresnel zone, an under-sized link budget, an unlicensed microwave path that gets stepped on by a neighbor, or a flat IP fabric without segmentation are all preventable problems — and they are all problems our team finds (and fixes) regularly on networks designed by others.
Twin Eagle Solutions is vendor-agnostic — if you already have a hardware standard, we design around it and deliver a system tailored to the gear you want. We also have vendors we prefer to work with: our designs often incorporate Cisco for enterprise routing and switching, Fortinet for OT firewalls, Cambium 450M / 450i for point-to-multipoint backhaul, TropOS for self-healing mesh, and a mix of antenna vendors selected per link. Every design is documented in writing, bench-tested, and handed off to our build crews — there is no scope gap between design intent and construction reality.
Six capabilities that make up the discipline
Discovery & Brownfield Assessment
Most engagements begin with a brownfield network audit — a structured walk-through of an operator's existing wireless backhaul, IP fabric, SCADA cabinets, and tower assets. Twin Eagle Solutions documents what is in the field today (radios, switches, firewalls, antennas, grounding, power), measures actual throughput and latency at representative pads, identifies the chokepoints, and produces a written health assessment with prioritized remediation. This is the single most cost-effective starting point for any operator inheriting a network they didn't design or considering a basin-wide refresh.
RF Engineering & Path Studies
After discovery, our RF engineers walk every proposed link, perform line-of-sight (LOS) verification with elevation profiles, and model path loss using standard ITU-R P.530 and Longley-Rice propagation methods against terrain databases. We produce link budget calculations that account for antenna gain, free-space path loss, fade margin, rain attenuation, and Fresnel zone clearance. Every proposed point-to-point microwave, point-to-multipoint, or mesh link is documented with predicted throughput, expected availability (engineered for high per-link reliability with appropriate fade margin), and the specific antenna, radio, and frequency band recommended.
Frequency Planning & FCC Coordination
Twin Eagle Solutions handles the full FCC licensing lifecycle for licensed microwave (Part 101), private LTE / CBRS (Part 96), and licensed land mobile bands. We perform spectrum analysis on-site to identify interference, coordinate frequencies through approved coordinators, prepare and submit FCC Form 601 / 602 / 603 applications, manage the 30-day Prior Coordination Notice (PCN) process, and maintain the operator's license inventory. For unlicensed bands (5 GHz, 6 GHz, 60 GHz, 24 GHz lightly licensed) we still perform a spectrum survey to confirm a clean noise floor before recommending equipment.
IP Network & Full-Stack Routing Architecture
Beneath the radios sits the IP fabric, and Twin Eagle Solutions engineers the whole stack — not just the radios. We segment the network with VLANs so corporate traffic, SCADA polling, video, voice, and remote access each stay in their own lane, and we size the addressing for growth. Routing is built for redundancy — BGP ties multiple sites together, with OSPF or static routing inside each site. Quality-of-service (QoS) policies keep SCADA polls and voice ahead of bulk video so the traffic that matters never gets crowded out. Everything is captured in a high-level and low-level design (HLD/LLD) and bench-tested before deployment.
Cybersecurity & Zone Segmentation
Industrial networks are now cyber-attack surfaces. When we're engaged on the network, Twin Eagle Solutions designs OT/IT segmentation that follows established frameworks like the Purdue model and IEC 62443 — keeping process devices, SCADA, site operations, and enterprise traffic in their own zones rather than on one flat network. We typically anchor the boundary with a next-generation firewall (FortiGate is a frequent choice) set up deny-by-default, and we document the trust boundaries and firewall rules alongside the network design so the operator's IT and OT teams have a single source of truth.
Documentation & Pre-Construction Deliverables
Every Plan & Design engagement closes with a deliverable package: an HLD/LLD document set, a complete bill of materials (BoM) priced against current vendor pricing, a budgetary capital estimate, an FCC license inventory, an as-designed network diagram, an IP / VLAN / subnet plan, a frequency plan, PE-stamped tower-loading drawings procured through our tower partners when needed, and a pre-construction coordination schedule that aligns Twin Eagle's build crews with the operator's own civils, electrical, and SCADA programmers. The handoff to our Build & Install discipline is seamless because the same team that designed it is the team that builds it.
Engineering Standards
Standards & frameworks our designs follow
Every design Twin Eagle Solutions delivers is grounded in published engineering standards — not house rules. Below is the working set our team designs to.
FCC Part 101
Licensed microwave
FCC Part 96
CBRS / Private LTE
ITU-R P.530
Path loss modeling
IEC 62443
OT cybersecurity zones
Purdue Model
OT/IT segmentation
RFC 2328 / 4271
OSPF / BGP routing
IEEE 802.11ax / 802.3
Wi-Fi & Ethernet
Frequently asked questions about network planning & design
What is industrial wireless network design?
Industrial wireless network design is the engineering discipline of planning the radio links, the IP fabric behind them, the frequency plan, the security zones, and the physical infrastructure that carry SCADA, video, voice, and corporate data across an industrial operator's pads, tank batteries, compressor stations, lift stations, treatment plants, substations, mine sites, and central facilities. Twin Eagle Solutions performs RF path studies, link budget analysis, IP/VLAN architecture, BGP and OSPF routing design, FCC licensing, cybersecurity segmentation, and full pre-construction documentation as a single integrated discipline for oil & gas, water/wastewater, utility, and mining operators.
How long does a network design engagement take?
It depends heavily on scope. A single-pad design moves quickly, while a multi-site basin design with FCC licensing or a full brownfield audit takes considerably longer. Timelines are driven by the number of sites, site-access scheduling, and whether FCC coordination is involved — we give you a firm schedule once we've scoped the work.
How do brownfield network audits work?
A brownfield audit is a scoped engagement: we run real field surveys and link testing, then hand back a formal written health assessment with prioritized remediation. Scope is set by the number of sites and what you need looked at, and the findings frequently pay for themselves on the first issue we catch.
Are you vendor-neutral, or do you only design with one manufacturer?
Twin Eagle Solutions is vendor-agnostic — if you already have a hardware standard, we design around it and deliver a system tailored to the gear you want. We do have vendors we prefer to work with: our designs often incorporate Cisco for routing and switching, Fortinet for firewalls, Cambium and TropOS for wireless, and a range of antenna manufacturers depending on the link. Equipment is selected to fit the engineering requirement, not the other way around.
Can you handle FCC licensing on our behalf?
Yes. Twin Eagle Solutions performs frequency coordination through approved coordinators, prepares and submits FCC Form 601 / 602 / 603 applications, manages the 30-day Prior Coordination Notice (PCN) process, and maintains the operator's license inventory and renewal calendar.
Do you design for SCADA traffic specifically?
We design the network that SCADA rides on — including QoS prioritization, latency budgets, jitter targets, and redundancy that meet typical SCADA polling requirements. Twin Eagle does not configure HMIs, RTUs, or PLC logic; we partner closely with the operator's SCADA integrator.
What deliverables do we get at the end of design?
An HLD and LLD document set, a complete bill of materials priced against current vendor pricing, a budgetary capital estimate, an FCC license inventory, an as-designed network diagram, an IP/VLAN/subnet plan, a frequency plan, PE-stamped tower-loading drawings procured through our tower partners when needed, and a pre-construction coordination schedule.
Do you bench-test designs before the field?
Yes. We bench-test everything we deploy — complex routing, firewall, and segmentation configurations are built and verified on the actual production hardware before field cutover. This is especially important for BGP, OSPF, and VLAN designs where a configuration error can take a network down.
Where do you operate?
Twin Eagle Solutions has performed network design and engineering work across the lower 48 states for multiple industries — oil & gas, water and wastewater utilities, electric utilities, and mining. Our highest concentration of oilfield work is in the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford, Bakken, DJ Basin, Anadarko / SCOOP / STACK, Marcellus, and Haynesville.
How does your design discipline hand off to construction?
The same Twin Eagle Solutions engineering team that produces the design hands off directly to our in-house Build & Install discipline. There is no third-party integrator handoff, no requote of the BoM, and no scope gap between design intent and construction reality.
Related disciplines
Considering a new network — or inheriting an old one?
Tell us about the field, the basin, and the SCADA load. We'll come back with a scoped plan and an honest estimate, usually within one business day.