Need recommendations for a non profit wirelss installation

[muffinman]

Need recommendations for a non profit wireless installation

I need to help a non profit organization out with a wireless deployment to a large conference room/lecture hall. The space is app. 40x80 single floor with drop ceiling.

My concern is not coverage or signal strength really but being able to provide access to a high number of active clients. There is 20Mbps business class broadband service with a cable modem only. No video streaming like Netflix will be allowed. I need to provide one secure network for staff of app. 10 and a guest network/VLAN for upwards of 60-80 clients.

What would you recommend for an affordable firewall/AP setup to handle that kind of client load?

Can we do it for under $750?

 

[stevech]

I need to help a non profit organization out with a wireless deployment to a large conference room/lecture hall. The space is app. 40x80 single floor with drop ceiling.

My concern is not coverage or signal strength really but being able to provide access to a high number of active clients. There is 20Mbps business class broadband service with a cable modem only. No video streaming like Netflix will be allowed. I need to provide one secure network for staff of app. 10 and a guest network/VLAN for upwards of 60-80 clients.

What would you recommend for an affordable firewall/AP setup to handle that kind of client load?

Can we do it for under $750?

OK.. 20Mbps isn't much for 60-80 clients. A business cable modem SHOULD give you 50bps or more.

40 x 80 room. Cubicles? Walls? Need more info.

Assuming you need not provide enterprise grade security (RADIUS), and your 10 staff people operate on their private SSID and VLAN, you can do this for $400 or so, +your labor.

Excluding cost of cable modem upgrade, and assuming you need no hardware to enforce the no-hogging policy - you really only need one WiFi router and 1 or 2 access points to increase capacity, not so much coverage, unless the 40x80 room has walled offices.

I'd choose Engenius' ceiling (panel) installable access points like one of the $100 or less ones
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ription=engenius+access+point&N=-1&isNodeId=1

and use plenum rated cat5 cable above the ceiling tiles.

For router, I'd go with an ASUS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=asus_wifi_router-_-33-320-091-_-Product

And an ethernet switch with VLANs so the guest APs can be strictly isolated from the office systems.

Indeed, I recommend getting two cable modems and use one for guests to totally isolate the load and the traffic flow of guests.

 

[muffinman]

Thanks for the quick reply.

It's an open seating area with rows of chairs. Toward the back are a couple of small offices. So only one wall separating the office form the open seating area.

I've been told the bandwidth is 25Mbps not 20. I've asked them to see about upgrading their service for more bandwidth.

How many clients do you think one of those Engenius units like the EAP350 would handle?

So basically a 5-8 port switch that supports VLANS, a wireless router like the ASUS, and a couple of ceiling mounted AP's? One SSID for the staff and a couple of additional SSID's for the guest networks. Everybody stays in their own sandbox. Sounds good. Any suggestions on the switch?

 

[muffinman]

The ASUS router has 4 Ethernet ports. Why not just use those instead of purchasing a separate switch? Is it because the ASUS doesn't support VLAN's on the ports?

So from cable to router WAN port. From a LAN port on the router to the switch and from the switch to other 2 AP's?

 

[stevech]

The ASUS router has 4 Ethernet ports. Why not just use those instead of purchasing a separate switch? Is it because the ASUS doesn't support VLAN's on the ports?

So from cable to router WAN port. From a LAN port on the router to the switch and from the switch to other 2 AP's?

Most consumer routers don't have VLAN support for their switch. A good VLAN capable Netgear Pro 8 port gigE switch is $50 or less.

Yes, guests who may be a risk should be VLANed away from the 10 staff members' LAN. Better, put the guests on a second cable modem/router for security reasons and to avoid policing bandwidth hogs. This is a big deal. Don't rely on WiFi to segregate guests.

 

[muffinman]

Good advice.

What about skipping the consumer wireless router & separate switch combo and going with something like a Netgear VPN firewall appliance like the FVS336G? The firewall is good enough, supports VLAN's and I can limit bandwidth per port. They're about $250.

 

[azazel1024]

You don't want to do port limiting, unless there are wired clients too. What you want is actual client bandwidth limiting, which is going to be done within the router itself and most resonably high end client routers have this feature. Just keep in mind, with 60+ people on it, it might not work exactly perfectly. Most consumer routers aren't remotely designed to handle loads like that.

Also make sure that the router and access points are being set to absolute minimum broadcast power levels to try to encourage the various clients to attach to the closet AP/router in the room (in some ways, fortunately it is a very large room, so it is likely at minimum power levels, the clients are going to divy up between the APs, at least to some degree.

 

[sfx2000]

I need to help a non profit organization out with a wireless deployment to a large conference room/lecture hall. The space is app. 40x80 single floor with drop ceiling.

My concern is not coverage or signal strength really but being able to provide access to a high number of active clients. There is 20Mbps business class broadband service with a cable modem only. No video streaming like Netflix will be allowed. I need to provide one secure network for staff of app. 10 and a guest network/VLAN for upwards of 60-80 clients.

What would you recommend for an affordable firewall/AP setup to handle that kind of client load?

Can we do it for under $750?

Is this a temporary install, or permanent?

The primary issue is how many clients on the wifi side - and then sort out the range.

I wouldn't worry about 5GHz, plan it for 2.4GHz - and 2 stream 802.11n AP's are more than sufficient here - knocking out 5GHz brings the prices down significantly.

So the size of the room - and the number of expected client - 4 AP's is more than enough - and then the channel plan - I would likely go with 1/4/8/11 - don't put the AP's in the corners, but along the walls...

CAT5 is more than enough - 100BaseT connections to the AP's, with a router or use one of the AP's in Router/AP mode.

20Mbps is likely about all that is needed...

If this is an NPO, then you might consider working with a specialist in the area - you might get a discount or pro-bono work... in any event, getting time with a CWNP is a good investment.

sfx