Which APs are suitable for the job?

LightraysWiFi

LightraysWiFi

LightraysWiFi

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Joined
19 Apr 2013
Posts
31
Hi all, we are looking to extend a wifi coverage of an existing BT homehub 3.0 in the office upstairs. As the building (35m x 19m) consists of 2 floors and half of the rooms (and even some corridors) have exisitng network points which go all the way to an existing Belkin 24-port switch in the network cabinet (also upstairs), we are looking for 4 wifi APs / Range Extenders / Bridge WiFi with power adapters (as the current switch does NOT have PoE faciliy) and they need to be hooked up to existing network points to extend wifi with maximum speeds they can offer without losing half of the bandwidth. Can you please tell me whether these items - Linksys Wireless AP N300 Dual-band wireless-n or are good for the job so that 100 customers can roam between them without any problems (even between 2 floors). They will broadcast the same SSID but will be set up on different channels to avoid interference.
Regards,
Simon
 
I have just found out that Linksys WAP300N dual-band Wireless-N access point does not do dual bands (2.4Ghz and 5.0Ghz) simultaneously which may be a problem :(

Can you please recommend an access point which satisfies the following criterias :-
(1) broadcast the same SSID as the main router
(2) will be used as WiFi access point / extender / repeater (whatever it's called) which will be networked to the same switch as the BT router without losing half of the bandwidth in return
(3) have power AC adapter
(4) wall-mountable
(5) broadcast frequencies 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz simultaneously
(6) Wireless-N and backward compatible with a,b and g
(7) does not depend on wireless controller at all - just a normal network switch
(8) larger wifi range
(9) 4 APs will be used on the same network

Regards,
Simon
 
I'd really look to do this using a controller and more than 4 AP's. if one thing has taught me, you need more AP's thank you think in a busy office environment! Plus whatever you assume will been there, it'll be a lot more. Dual band AP's will do the job you want without a controller. Cisco 1142's is what we use and they can be brought with or without a controller. I'm having a play with some Cisco 3600 APs at the moment to try and boost coverage and run clean-air, but the upgrade path is massive as we're trying to bolt in Internet access for personal devices at the same time, which requires lots of changes to the backend infrastructure.
 
Ubiquiti UniFi Pros seems to be quite expensive. I am looking in the regions £50 - £70 per AP. I notice some wireless-n routers will work in AP mode too. If so, which one do you recommend that satisfy all the criteria listed above.

Anyway, thanks for all your comments. The company is not going to spend on wireless controller at all.
 
For 100 users you need to look into some proper cisco gear, or other brand.
Home equipment will likely just crumble under that amount of traffic.
 
The cheapest access points that I know of that will fit your requirements are probably the Ubiquiti Unifi standard AP and they can be had for around £65 each. The only thing it doesn't meet is that is needs a controller to work, but this is a free bit of software they give away which could run on an existing computer/server you already have.
 
Thanks for the advices from everybody. Buying a wireless controller is out of question as far as the company is concerned. The customers they get do NOT carry their laptops around; most of them have smartphones which could access internet via WiFi APs. Just to let all you know that the company is actually Social Rugby and Snooker clubs and they come in for drinks, entertainments, snookers and sport functions.

TheKnat, what software is it? Where do I get it? Can it be installed on a normal networked PC?

Lastly, do these Ubiquiti Unifi APs have separate power adapters and ethernet sockets?

Thanks in advance.
 
The Unifi APs come with PoE injectors (proprietary on the non-pro APs). You just insert them in the network cabling somewhere convenient between the switch and the AP.
 
I'm fairly sure the injectors that came with the non-pro APs I installed used a standard kettle lead. The actual injector was basically the size of a small laptop adapter with two network ports on the end.
 
Thank you - you have been great!

Do you think 3 of these units could support 100 wireless devices (mostly smartphones and only few laptop users)?

I have just realised that the Ubiquiti UniFi UAP Indoor Scalable WiFi Access Point can only support 2.4GhZ wireless-n and not 5.0Ghz :S
 
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