Router for Large-ish Business, Clueless

D

Deeky

Gawd
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Feb 7, 2008
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I don't know poo-doo about wireless routers. I'm looking to purchase something to support several desk/laptops throughout a somewhat sizable complex, though not so large that everything won't be within range of a single, decent router. We also hope to offer "free wireless" to our customers (w/ password, of course), so there's that to consider. No one will be chewing up massive amounts of bandwidth, but there will always be multiple people online at once. Assuming I know absolutely jack squat about wireless internet and routers, what would y'all suggest?

Thanks.
 
Some details about the building would be needed how big is it?, is this a single floor, largely open? or milktiple floors, office spaces, etc.
 
When you get larger than a small small business network...you'll want to separate your router from your wireless, get a good business grade router..no wireless built into it. From there...hang your wireless access point(s) around the premises.

Plenty of business grade access points offer "wireless client isolation" ..basically each wireless client can be put in their own VLAN so "guests" cannot see/touch your business network. And the ability to host multiple SSIDs..so you can have a wireless for your business laptops, and another one for your guests. I like HP ProCurve wireless APs.
 
This first...
Some details about the building would be needed how big is it?, is this a single floor, largely open? or milktiple floors, office spaces, etc.
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Then probably this...
When you get larger than a small small business network...you'll want to separate your router from your wireless, get a good business grade router..no wireless built into it. From there...hang your wireless access point(s) around the premises.

Plenty of business grade access points offer "wireless client isolation" ..basically each wireless client can be put in their own VLAN so "guests" cannot see/touch your business network. And the ability to host multiple SSIDs..so you can have a wireless for your business laptops, and another one for your guests. I like HP ProCurve wireless APs.
Click to expand...



 
if you are stuck on an "all in one" a Cisco 1811W might do the trick?
 
Thanks for the responses so far!

I don't know the exact square footage, but here's an aerial shot from Google Earth:

arielexcalibur.jpg


Hopefully you can tell something of the scale based on the vehicles parked around it, etc. There are two floors. It's not a huge complex, but definitely larger than a single storefront. It's a small-ish industrial complex, concrete walls, lots of fire breaks and old wiring. We've had wireless set up before and it worked (super cheap router), though a tad weak from one end to the other and never supporting a heavy load.
 
Like I said, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff. I'm not sure what to expect in terms of pricing for a quality wireless solution. $100 would be nice, but we'd go higher if it means the difference between making or breaking the setup.
 
Deeky said:
Like I said, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff. I'm not sure what to expect in terms of pricing for a quality wireless solution. $100 would be nice, but we'd go higher if it means the difference between making or breaking the setup.
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You'll be multiplying that by a factor of 10 in the least. to cover all those builings. from the looks they're good solid i-beam & concrete. Which arent very wireless friendly. So you'll need several AP's.
 
Bummer. That would be out of the question. Unfortunately we cannot afford $1000+, not even close. Like I said, we DID have a cheap-o wireless solution previously, a crap $30 router. It managed to provide a signal from one end to the other ... mind you, not very strong, but it did the job. Would we really have to increase the budget that much? It's actually only two buidlings with a storage unit in between.

Thanks for the reality check, though. This is exactly what I need to hear.
 
If a cheap budget is all you have..and nuttin else.....
Pickup some routers that support DD-WRT or Tomato (preferred) (price..70 bucks each)
Pickup some 9db hi gain antennas...and slap 'em on there. (price..38 bucks per pair)
Bump the wireless transmit power to 85
Flip the wireless routers to access point mode
Separate channels on them..I bet you could get by with 2 or 3.

Price for going with 2 of them...what..320 bucks?

I'm at a nursing home client right now...VERY tight budget. I had to blanket all 5 wings of this 2 story building with wireless...and they didn't have the 12-15 grade minimum to do it with 1/2 decent biz rated gear.

10x wrt54gl units, flashed with DD, and 10x pair of those hi gain antennas....going on 2nd year of working great.
It ain't pretty, it ain't something you're proud to deploy, you don't want to sign your name on it..but it works.
 
best i could think of was maybe trying a ubiquiti or an engenius unit for the wireless and then a decent router. The ubiquiti and engenius units range from about $50-$100 depending on which one you get. I have used the engenius units and they allow you to broadcast seperate ssids and put each one on a different vlan. Then you just need a decent router

EDIT:

You can also put ddwrt on the engenius products.
 
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with that budget, go with 2 or 3 pico station 2hp, and a RV as the main router.
 
Terminology! Acronyms! :p

Thanks guys. At least now I have a place to start. Seems that a decent router with several WAPs might be the best way to go? I could see pushing the budget to $300-ish. I don't have anyone to answer to but the purse strings are pretty tight atm, as we're reno'ing the majority of the complex.
 
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