Best way to REDUCE wifi range - accessibility?

[illlili]

Hey guys, here's my situation. I installed an outdoor access point at a high-rise for free open access to their pool area which has upwards of 75 clients at a time. The issue is that the signal reaches the lower 6 floors which has led an influx of residents to drop their ISP's.

My questions is simply what approach would be best to both offer the pool goers a good 30 to 60 minutes of wifi and reverse those residents leaching the free wifi? shorten ip lease maybe?

TIA!

James

 

[sfx2000]

Captive portal on the AP...

 

[L&LD]

Hey guys, here's my situation. I installed an outdoor access point at a high-rise for free open access to their pool area which has upwards of 75 clients at a time. The issue is that the signal reaches the lower 6 floors which has led an influx of residents to drop their ISP's.

My questions is simply what approach would be best to both offer the pool goers a good 30 to 60 minutes of wifi and reverse those residents leaching the free wifi? shorten ip lease maybe?

TIA!

James

Put a large metal salad bowl above the AP.

 

[sfx2000]

Hmmm... getting creative here...

Depends on where the AP is located, but perhaps getting a very high gain dipole (flattens the pattern), and then turn down the power to 50 percent or less...

Or perhaps a directional patch antenna and just light up the pool area..

 

[L&LD]

And also use a password too. (More secure for the users and will deter miscellaneous use from 'other' users (or passersby).

 

[pete y testing]

Captive portal on the AP...

thats the only real way to achieve what the OP wants , set the portal to only allow an hour or so access per day per mac address , plus get a ticket system in place at reception for the pool side wireless access ( prob the best way )

 

[illlili]

Thank you all for your suggestions! Now I've got a starting point.

 

[Klueless]

Not sure about your wireless but on my low end wireless router I can set guest to turn on and off at certain hours. I would set it to turn on when the pool opens and to turn off when the pool closes. At least some freeloaders would find that a bit inconvenient.

Also might consider posting a password of the day on the gate by the pool. People on the 4th floor might find it a bit inconvenient having to walk to the pool every morning before they can log in.

 

[Klueless]

Had another thought. Make it a "G-rated" service! Great feature for family oriented pool goers yet a big turn-off for at least some of the free loaders : -)

Some wireless routers have "family filters" and/or you could use the free family shield from OpenDNS (set your router to use 208.67.222.123 and/or 208.67.220.123 rather than the DNS your ISP provides).