Re: wi-fi over a wide area - help needed.


<tireless.orion@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1189449435.589216.61590@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi

I need to provide wireless internet access to a large green field site
(only a couple of buildings on site) - it's a 4 day festival of around
5000 people, most of whom will camp, and I think only a very small
proportion would use the facility.

We're starting from absolute scratch in providing this facility, and
will even be installing a new phone line for broadband.....at this point
I have two options,

1. I can provide internet access to artists and VIPs only, using a
standard 'home' wireless router - it would only need to cover a house
sized area with no brick walls to pass through. I think the maximum
users would be 2 or 3 at once.....this is the easy option, and one I'm
very comfortable with.

or

2. I can provide wi-fi to the full site (around 50 acres), from some
advice I've already had, I think I can run this from a wireless router
using a bridge and a powerful aerial.

What is there to stop me doing option 2? I have a couple of
worries...

I'm not sure how many people will use the service, so guess that speed
may be an issue if there are too many users (although I think it will
be used mainly for email).

I'm concerned that we may need a very robust router - is there a limit
to the amount of users that can the service at once?

What's a realistic range for 802.11g (if this is standard we should go
for)

What does the bridge do, and why do I need one?

cost (within reason) is not a massive issue, but I'd like to install
it myself if possible.

Apologies for all the questions, and any help and advice would be very
gratefully received.

Thanks
Neil

Being that this is just for a few days, you may want to just hook up a
hotspot in a designated area, close to where the DSL connection will be
coming in. This way users can come up with their laptops and access the
connection.
If you really want to cover the area, a mesh network will work. Using mesh
technology and being that this is only a temp situation it can easily set up
and torn down, IE you can avoid having to erect a tower.
You mentioned some buildings on site, you may be able to use them as
mounting locations.
One group who has products is Meraki, and the link is below.

http://meraki.com/solutions/

I like the meraki as it is easy to set up. And also includes the use of a
dashboard, that will redirect the users seeking access to a splash page
where you can display terms of use, and even news about the local event.
I am not a distributer of these guys, but I have set them up at some of the
hunting camps here as well as the library to be used as an access point for
free internet connection.



.

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