Setting Up wireless network -- Help

marrakesh

Guys i am about to bag a contract to setup a wireless network for a mate of mine. (have done previous technical in nature for him) . Basically they want to provide wireless access over a range of a 300 metre building. Basically i need to know what i need i know i need a few access point's i presume a switch and some sort of connection out to the internet. Any advice on which is best and what the costings are ? Are avaya access points the one to go for?

Can you guys help me out on specifications for the aboce to work and some costing that this will occur aswell as any links and general info.

thx any info would be greatly appreciated...

Rew

What the bullding made of, concrete/reinfoced steel or modren thin walls. This will effect the range of the network of the devices.

Is there an existing wired network in place?

What are the client devices and how many clients will there be?

What are the security issues, are they worried about their data being sniffed?

Have you networking experience?

What are their requirments/uses for the network and the internet?

Im very fond of the buffalo 11g kit iv used it extensivly (my internet connection is wireless to another building, 54mbits)

jesus_thats_gre

From what I have been told, Avaya over superior quality than Cisco for less of an outlay. Seemingly, they are the biz if you want quality products on a budget.


Security will obviously be a major consideration for you. To connect the two building, if a standard arial is not sufficient, you may have to invest in a directional arial.

You may want to have a switch between the two sites to ensure traffic between the two sites in kept to a minimum. I would recommend a router to police access to the net also.

marrakesh

Hi some details thx for feedback.

The walls are concrete and as such will need a strong signal. There are 4 floors in the building aswell all about 12 feet in height. Will i need multiple access points?

Am looking to connect to the net either by bringing an ISDN line in or using an existing wireless network to attach onto. What do you suggest ? Building is in dublin area..

In terms of a router i think a nice and cheap linux box might be the answer or maybe a crappy cisco router with some access lists on it. Will i need to throw in a dhcp server to configure boxes with internal ips and route using router ? what is most economical way to do this scenario.. ? freebsd system ? Probably the cisco option off ebay be a good idea. Cost is a large factor and keeping it cheap and cheerful!

once again all feedback / comments are appreciated.

Rew

You still havent answered some major questions:

What are the client devices and how many?

Is there an existing wired network in the building?

Why ISDN? its incredly expensive versus most DSL packages.

Here is waht i would suggest:

A combination of Buffalo access points. At least one DSL/Router stlye AP (they do DHCP and will NAT a DSL line for you)

Then the rest of the AP's can be the cheaper bridge type AP's or the compact AP's. Buffalo gear will do WDS so you dont need an existing wired net. Its all 802.11g certified and does WPA encryption as well as MAC address restrictions.

All the access pints take external antennas which can be used to extend the range.

You need an AP and card and a few hours in the building testing range to see how many you need total.

Elara have the cheapest Buffalo gear around the AP's are about 130 each

www.elara.ie

marrakesh

No will be using DSL where applicable but if i was doing it down the country in the middle of nowhere i would only have the isdn option. The access points to DHCP and Nat thats great. Never installed one of these systems yet so am going up against a new wall of knowledge but have solid networking experience. Id estimate tops of 20 people logging onto the system at any one time. Client devices will all be laptops.

So the buffalo AP's have no issue with concrete ?

Thats great help Rew very much appreciated.

I presume by your point " Buffalo gear will do WDS so " i dont need a switch then.

thx again Rew very much appreciated..:)

marrakesh

Hi Rew,

If i was to connect up an ISDN line (may be doing one down the country) that has an existing network i should be able to configure the wireless access point to go out over a router using demand dial routing ?

Rew

WDS = Wireless Distrabution System, it acts as the data backbone in the absences of a wired backbone but you shoul wire where possible to take the preassure off the wireless.

http://www.vbnets.com/tutorials/WDSMode.html

My buffalo AP went through about 5 concrete reinforced walls before it died so you willl have to test. The reinforcemets in the walls and ceelings can form a Faraday Cage and basicly insulate your net (pain in the ass) but u can add external antenas to boost preformance.

http://www.buffalotech.com/wireless/index.php
http://www.elara.ie/result.asp?select3=Buffalo&select5=price&select6=ASC&offset=20

To be honset most AP's will preform the same (i have had a few to try out)

The router AP's and the Bridge AP's have built in 10/100 switches (4 ports) and the compact AP's have 1 10/100 port.

There are supposed to be media converters out next month from Buffalo that do 11g. They will converyt any device with an ethernet port to wireless. Dead handy.

I would say that u will need a minimum of 4 AP's and a maximum of 8 from what u have said.

marrakesh

Thanks for the good information Rew. That link looks like just the type of info i need...:) Think i should probably buy an access point and a bridge and have a play around with the connections in my own house until i am certain i have got it right.. so bridges all intelinked to the main access point and then should be laughing...

Rew

Not quite that easy its more like daisy chaining them instead of all hooked in to one

Depends on the lay out of the building and network.

If possible use CAT 5 to link the AP's. WDS can be tricky so make sure you get your head around it

marrakesh

CAT 5 maximum length of 100 metres what happens if we go over this amount throw in a switch half way down and use some more CAT 5 ?

Sorry for what seemingly seems like a torrid of stupid questions however its the little things that always cause the most issues...

Thx for the help Rew greatly appreciated...

Rew

Thats one option, basicly plan the whole thing as best as possible and definatly get a feel for the wireless, WDS etc. It can be tricky stuff...