Need a BEEFCAKE access point

I have a client in a shared medical office building with a wireless network.

The problem is, so do all the neighbors! When walking throughout the building 10-15 different APs show up, all on random channels. TONS of clients show up. There are also sometimes 5+ drug reps with devices that seem to be on a proprietary ad-hoc network (they never connect, but just add to the wifi cocoughany.)

I always try to have the clients AP on its own channel but that only lasts a week or so before something else climbs on top of it. In general the connectivity sucks.

Anyway, can anyone suggest a POWERFUL AP that will reign supreme above the competition? Maybe something that breaks the standards and will cause brain damage?

Thanks.

Sounds like a rough environment -- probably the best advice is to get yourself out of the 2.4 range and either use 802.11a or 802.11n in the 5 Ghz range, it's generally less crowded. The problem with this is that anyone trying to use your access point would have to be using that range, too.

Without actually modding one yourself you will not find COTS (common off the shelf) component as they are all governed by the FCC to a specific max power spec. As you obvioulsy know B/G only has 3 channels without overlap (ch 1 at 2412, ch6, and ch11). If your client is haveing issues he has only a few options.

Option 1 go with 802.11A which is in the 5GHz range and will be clear of other networks/clients. Drawbacks being that new equipment will be needed and the AP's will most likely be expensive commercial units.

Option 2 go with the "I have more guns than you" strategy. Get numerous AP's and set them up all on your network so that they overwhelm the other networks so that while you will have interruptions they will be shorter due to the backoff algorithm employed in 802.11_ and the other networks will likely not get any trafficv through.

Option 3 - get together will all the tenants in the building and devise a building wide scheme for having the channels laid out in the most effective manner. This only helps everyone so they should not object to much.

Option 4 - "alien mind probe blocker" strat - put tin foil up on all external walls/floor and ceiling.

I would like to isolate into the 5Ghz range but unfortunately this is not realistic - new cards for laptops would suck and some of the devices are b/g print servers which are not exactly upgradeable.

What about an AP with a ridiculous amount of xxxxMW broadcasting power?

I like JateeBates option 4

Thanks for the replies.

We run Cisco 1231AGs at my office, they cut through a lot of the crap and mesh really well.

Wireless Blocking Paint -- go for it!

ok, so going to just 5 Ghz might not be an option, but do check out dual-band 802.11n APs -- it might be the best of both worlds.

You can get some high gain/special types of antenna but the max power all commercial 802.11 equipment broadcasts at is limited by the FCC

Engenius gear is 600mw.

Cant you just do a bunch of POE access points and configure laptops to put those at top priority, then they wont have the need to go back and forth

Ive been looking at the Engenius gear products, I just might try one out.

Some time ago I used some Cisco 1100 units. Not impressed at all.

Regardless of how well things are setup, it seems that when you are hoping around units, bridged or not its always a bumpy road at some point. Ive even noticed this in a large scale hospital that I sometimes do work in (I have nothing to do with the wireless/IT there) For this reason I have always seemed to have better luck with one strong AP vs many small/weak ones.

These physicians cover alot of ground - they carry their laptops around accross office, into exam rooms etc. Most of the time things are good but 95% up time is 6% too little for Drs.

Thanks for the feedback so far.

ideally you want a bunch spread accross and a wireless manager so you can roam better then just having same SSID and channel.

no single AP will cover a larger place. try Engenius its 600mw but dunno if it will do what you want.

Another option would be Ruckus Wireless. I've seen them, but have not had the opportunity to install/play with a system yet....

^ those looks cool.

know any pricing?

wow looked quickly - bout 800 an acceess point, 1200 a controller =)

you're going to need multiple access points and a wireless controller system to adequately cover all of that. The Cisco Express APs and Controller will work nicely and aren't too horribly expensive. If there is a half-decent budget I would look at a couple Cisco 1141 APs. A/B/G/N radios, dynamic frequency selection, great range.

The ruckus stuff is pretty good (note: haven't used it in a horribly overcrowded environment) and if you're in education, they have super-good edu pricing.

Used the Ruckus gear in a few locations, it works fantastic and I enjoy the zonedirector that meshes everything. Very impressed with it compared to the other solution we've deployed (tropos).