Cafe wifi

[tuaknuk]

I'm looking for some advice on replacing a wireless router that we use at our cafe. Feature wise I don't think we have any special needs. Our main issue is that there will routinely be 70+ devices connected to the network. Most of the devices are using little to no data but they all have IP addresses. We only use about 150GB of internet connection a month so there is not too much network traffic.

Our best wireless setup was using a dedicated PC running m0n0wall connected to a basic wireless router but when that PC died we have tried using just a wireless router.

We've tried a few different routers and they all seem to need constant reseting (several times a day).

I've looked over the forums and articles on this site and there are a few things I am going to try but I feel that the solution might be a router more designed to handle this type of use case.

Any suggestions?

 

[abailey]

I would get a seperate router and wireless AP, not combined. The wireless AP I would use would be a Ubiquiti Unifi one. They are professional grade and can handle more clients. I have seen 2 use cases where there were 100 connections per AP. Then get a seperate router for the connection to the internet.

 

[stevech]

I'm looking for some advice on replacing a wireless router that we use at our cafe. Feature wise I don't think we have any special needs. Our main issue is that there will routinely be 70+ devices connected to the network. Most of the devices are using little to no data but they all have IP addresses. We only use about 150GB of internet connection a month so there is not too much network traffic.

Our best wireless setup was using a dedicated PC running m0n0wall connected to a basic wireless router but when that PC died we have tried using just a wireless router.

We've tried a few different routers and they all seem to need constant reseting (several times a day).

I've looked over the forums and articles on this site and there are a few things I am going to try but I feel that the solution might be a router more designed to handle this type of use case.

Any suggestions?

Consider a robust non-consumer router like those from Cradlepoint. The lowest cost one is an MBR95 (and lightly used ones on eBay). This brand is used in unattended situations like libraries, kiosks, and machine-to-machine situations. The company sells to that unattended use market.

 

[sfx2000]

Airport Extreme's can handle up to 50 concurrent connections - so this is an option as well.

One thing to consider in a cafe spot - limit the DHCP lease time to 60 minutes or so - each connection builds a NAT table, so many consumer routers run out of memory when handling more that a few active clients, and this causes it to either deny connections or worst case, crash out...

In a coffee shop environment, with folks having laptops, smart phones, etc.. lots of short term connections... customer turnover is a good thing as it keeps the till ringing...

maybe put the DHCP lease time to even less that 60 mins... 15 might be reasonable - and to keep the non-customers from leaching on - enable WPA2, and put the password on the over the counter board, and change it daily, weekly as needed - Win7, Mac OS, Android, Linux, they'll mostly provide a notification for WPA2 that a password is needed - easier than a captive portal..

sfx

 

[tuaknuk]

The Ubiquiti Unif looks fantastic. It seems like that is exactly what I need for a great price. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[tuaknuk]

Thanks again. Just wanted to followup and say that I've received my UniFi AP in the mail last week, set it up and it's been running perfectly ever since. I'm using an AirPort Extreme to provide DHCP and it has all been smooth.

The software is really fantastic. I have it running on an old PC and it works fine. We're located near a university so it won't get a real workout until the students come back in September.

I highly recommend this product.