Router for conference Hall

[svt11]

Hi, I need to setup AP for conference hall. I have had problems with my WDR3600. There were 40 people in the room with laptops. It was with OpenWRT and they couldn't connect to it. I've had problems with him before. Ive changed it with WDR4300 and the guests could connect, but there where problems when they tried to connect to the database. The WiFi just crashed, and only 5 people could get in.'I saw that they've downloaded 3GB for 15min which is too much. I see now actually that network sometimes is having problems - 3000ms till central router, maybe someone was downloading something.

EDIT
I'm thinking of buying 2 hAP ac lite and putting switch before them or connecting the 2nd wired to the first and then first to the central router.

Hmm I saw that not everybody is getting the same speed when connected to the AP/router - 7Mbit, 1mbit, 2mbit, 50mbit...

 

[thiggins]

What are the 40 people doing, i.e. what is the traffic load?

You need at least a few APs and the ability to do load balancing and band steering. Yes, Ubiquiti's an do that, but you need to know how to set them up.

 

[sfx2000]

With conferences, the rule of thumb is 1 AP per 25 client stations, and 2500 sq ft of coverage...

Then consider traffic types - since you mention there is a database that attendees need to connect to, this does tend to push traffic in certain ways...

Seating arrangements - theater vs classroom vs banquet vs. U-Shape, etc - these are important as they determine where to locate the AP's, and how many (see example below for common styles) - map out the venue and seating, and draw circles with appropriate dimensions, this will tell you where to locate the AP's

As far as loading - always consider 2 devices per person these days - their primary (laptop, tablet) and their secondary (smartphone) - so for 40 attendees, figure 80 clients.

Knowing this, you're probably good with 3 AP's - don't need to go crazy with 802.11ac, 802.11n single band AP's are good enough, and keeps costs lower - so I'm thinking 3 UniFI's and an EdgeRouter X would likely handle the traffic... (or something similar)

Upstream bandwidth - depends on where your content is - local in the venue, or offsite? If off-site, then a GIGe connection is probably needed, however, if this is a hotel, you'll be lucky to get that...

 

[thiggins]

Knowing this, you're probably good with 3 AP's - don't need to go crazy with 802.11ac, 802.11n single band AP's are good enough

I think I'd still suggest AC APs. Dual-band can help with traffic load for devices that support it. Also, as you have pointed out many times, AC radios have improved over N.

I'd maybe set the 5 GHz radios to 20 or 40 MHz, though, to help channel planning.

 

[sfx2000]

I think I'd still suggest AC APs. Dual-band can help with traffic load for devices that support it. Also, as you have pointed out many times, AC radios have improved over N.

I'd maybe set the 5 GHz radios to 20 or 40 MHz, though, to help channel planning.

I would go for that if the budget permits - but with conferences, it's the number of AP's that is most important - esp if working with dedicated AP's such as UniFI's or Engenious, etc - it's not a bandwidth battle, it's an airtime availability battle.

For the price of one AC1750 AP, one can get three N300 AP's and be good to go - going with N300 also reduces pressure on the backhaul to the dedicated router.

(this is another reason not to go with consumer Router/AP's, as they tend to be designed for a lower number of attached clients, so one might run into issues with blocking on the DHCP and state tables when trying to work with that many guests, which is something OP mentions above when reading between the lines)

 

[sfx2000]

Something else to consider - many venues these days are already set up by the facilities IT staff, just for this reason, so don't hesitate to check with the venue manager - if they're already wired up with AP's, etc, many will set up a dedicated VLAN and SSID combo just for the conference, and this might be cheaper way to go rather than bringing and setting up one's own private network.

Most college campuses and hotels that have conference rooms are like this..

 

[svt11]

Hmm, before I had about 35 people with laptops, but they were handled even by TP-Link TL-WR841ND. But their bandwidth requirements weren't too much. I didn't expect them. Hmm, I've read that I must configure the routers as AP and get DHCP directly from central router. Also there is a direct cable to 5th floor where is the conference room. By the way router is placed in the room with sound technique and this room is soundproof. And I see that connection varies greatly if I connect with WiFi and cable. There is a cable in the room and when connecting it gives me 1-2ms to central router, With WiFi I see there is variation - not everytime, but 1ms, then 1000ms then 2ms, then 4000. So some kind this isolation gives stop. So the next opportunity is how to get the APs placed in the ceiling. For wired solution I'm going to buy this switch
Cisco SF112-24 24-Port 10/100 Switch with Gigabit Uplinks