wireless??

[QwertyJuan]

made my proposal today for the new network and was asked about wireless.... I already know it's ALOT slower and not secure(not as much a problem since we live out in the middle of nowhere ) question is.... if I bought an 8port switch with one gigabit uplink to the server and plugged 6 108Mbps wireless routers into it... could it possibly be done?? Only have lets say 7 users per router??? This has to do with some wiring issues we have with conventional networks.... if you guys say it's a rotten idea I am pretty sure that I can go the regular cat5e route

Thanx, QwertyJuan

 

[bigstusexy]

I'm no expert on wireless but this is how I see it.

If you try running the 7 108 APs (what is 108Mbps .11A?) you'll have to run 7 different networks on 7 different chanels with 7 different recieving units and still you'll probally run into the problems with RF cross talk between the systems and I doublt it would work without a lot of work and just for "I did that once" purposes.

Having the number of clients per AP seems possible and fesable although your AP locations should be physically diversed.


IMO: I seem to think of wirless as I thought of VPN a while ago. That is to say its only there for the clients that are already moving around and absoutly need need to connect to the network while roaming.

 

[Dracul]

why do you need 6 wireless routers?
how many users are going to be plugged in and how many wireless?
also if a distance issue is why you think you need more routers, you could always just get repeaters, and bigger antenna's.

also if you don't need the wireless to do the routing, you could go for access points.

 

[skritch]

Originally posted by Dracul
why do you need 6 wireless routers?
how many users are going to be plugged in and how many wireless?
also if a distance issue is why you think you need more routers, you could always just get repeaters, and bigger antenna's.

also if you don't need the wireless to do the routing, you could go for access points.

Actually, purely from a speed perspective, it's not a bad idea. There's been a study that shows that the optimal number of users for an AP is extremely low, if you want to maintain maximum throughput for everyone connected at all times.

 

[ktwebb]

You couldn't run 7 AP's, or wireless Routers for that matter, in the same air space. 3 Non-overlapping channels for the 2.4 Ghz gear, .11b and .11g. You can actually use 4 under alot of circumstances but the rule of thumb is to use the 3 frequency bases. Now if you were spreading these AP's out then that would be ok. You'd still need to do a site survey with some link quality and strength measuring software. The "turbo" .11g (108 Mbps is theoretical but I assume you know that) is turning out some good numbers when you configure the AP's in a specific mode, which is compression on and Turbo G clients only. Close to 50 Mbps raw throughput under optimal conditions. As the user moves away from the AP or puts obstacles in the path that obviously starts to drop, sometimes dramatically. This is shared bandwidth and half duplex, akin to a hub so keep that in mind when running your numbers. Repeaters is a bad idea unless you absolutely cannot cable to additional AP's. Lots of variables and you didn't give much info. Even if you do, without doing a detailed site survey it's really hard to give detailed advice.