Wireless Network For Small Holiday Park

[Wotsit]

Hi,

I need to install a wireless network for a small holiday park. The extremities of the park are around 700m from the proposed position of the antenna, and the system needs to be set up with a Macintosh. There could be up to 16 wireless users at any one time. Can anybody help with the recommendation of equipment and general advice, i have not done a system like this before.

Thanks,

Christian

 

[topquark]

Does the park need to cater for permanent and temporary wireless users, or are all of the 16 points temporary access only? You'll also need to consider whether or not more than one network is needed (to keep park business usage separate from the guest usage for example).

You'll probably need to cite wireless repeaters at various points around the park to ensure good coverage.

 

[Wotsit]

All 16 points will be temporary access with one wired access point in addition at the office. There is no need to separate business and guest access at the moment. I guessed a 700m radius was in the realms of impossibility from a single antenna. Siting additional wireless repeaters should not be too much of a problem, what is a reasonable range from a single antenna for a speed of say 1mb/s at the lowest. The park is mostly open with no physical obstructions

 

[topquark]

It is very much equipment dependant what the range is (newer type N routers (or access point in this case)) will do better. But buying better antennas is not really an option as it needs to be bi-directional (so will depend on the clients kit as well). Rule of thumb line of sight is around 100M for the repeaters. The vans themselves will interfere with the source/repeated signal and reduce between source/repeater and client kit.

I'd suggest starting with a site survey first. If you can beg/borrow an access point (or router) to test the signal around the park from a laptop. That will tell you if you have signal issues.

You may also want to consider true dual band 2.4Gz and 5.0Gz (simulataneous use not just capability) kit.

 

[topquark]

Have a look at the netgear range, they do a wn2000rpt repeater (these could be put in a few of the vans; if no other suitable location was available).

 

[topquark]

Having just read the spec and reviews of the wn200rpt, I'd steer clear of that. It has a horrible side effect of adding _EXT to the end of the network name.

The linksys one looks to be better behaved, giving control over the choice of name: Linksys by Cisco Wireless-G Range Expander WRE54G