Wireless problem

proxis

proxis

proxis

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Joined
10 Feb 2013
Posts
13
Hi everyone
Will keep this short, sweet and straight to the point.
Basically i work in a care home which is situated within an old Victorian style mansion house. Within this building wireless cover is very poor due to the thick walls etc however this is somewhat combated with the use of wireless boosters. The ISP we currently use is eclipse which provide us with a business broadband package for the small sum of 20 pounds a month. Recently the number of people which require internet access has increased and as a result the old hardware which we are using does not seem to be able to do an adequate job of providing internet to everyone. If certain people are using the internet other people cannot access the internet at all.

I have contacted eclipse to try and get some new hard ware sent out as currently we have a speedtouch ( ST 516 to my knowledge) which is connected to a belkin wireless router (surf n300 wireless N router). Eclipse have said that they can send out new hardware which would solve the problems we are having however they would wish to renegotiate the contract which would result in a monthly bill of around 50/60 pounds.

We are willing to pay for high end hardware if it is going to fix the problems as in the long run it would be a cheaper option than renegotiating the contract. However i am not confident enough to pick the hardware which we might require incase it turns out it is not compatible or eclipse have "locked" the line to their brand of equipment? :S

Any help would be greatly appreciated as i am not really confident to make recommendations on what should be bought in case it turns out that it cannot be used and would just be a waste of money.

Thanks a lot in advance
Proxis
 
Proxis, with a bit more information I'm sure the forum can help:

-What package are you on with Eclipse? i.e. Business Broadband (ADSL), Business Fibre (VDSL) etc.
-What type of devices are accessing the network? i.e. Phones, tablets, laptops all on Wi-Fi or more wired desktop machines?
-How many devices in total are we talking roughly, 5, 10, 50?
-How many floors is the building and what rough sort of area (as in square footage)?

If you're based in London and the care home is registered, I'll happily help with advice/install FOC.
 
Hi i am in a registered case home near Edinburgh so a wee bit far away from you :P

It is business broadband (ADSL) from what i can see, things are kind of difficult as bills and things are all over the place seeing as there are 5 different houses within the complex and the person who initially set up the broadband has left. As for devices there is one computer which is wired, and then there are around 5 laptops which run on the wireless as members of staff also live within the care home. There are a number of phones which are also linked to the wireless however the number depends on who is working etc however usually it is just 1 or 2.

The building is over 4 floors and the access point is currently on the 1st floor. Access is required on the ground floor first floor and 2nd floor which is being achieved somewhat at the moment with boosters. While it would be helpful to also have access in the basement this is not a major concern at the present moment in time. Most of the devices are one the 1st floor with one device on the 2nd floor and one on the ground floor. The phones accessing the internet are not a major concern either as they are only really used by members of staff who are working on the 1st floor near the access point.

In area terms it is kind of difficult to tell as the house is not really a standard size, the first floor is an L shape and most of the rooms which require access are based around this L shape either a floor up or a floor down. In terms of size it is probably in the region of 20 metres by 20 metres however this is a rough estimate. It would be perhaps easier for me to post a diagram of where access is required in relation to the access point?

I have already tried to connect a netgear n300 router to the access point however had no luck in gaining an internet connection, was under the understanding that that router was also a modem which would take away the need for a separate modem but my networking knowledge is fairly limited.
 
Ok good feedback. :)

My top suggestion (depending on budget) would be to employ a local IT company to carry out the install for you, as they would deliver a more robust network than you doing it solo.

Nonetheless if you wish to go ahead and do it yourself, this is how I would do it (note others on the forum may well recommend different brands/products but in the end they all do largely the same thing):

1. Remove all existing hardware.
2. Replace the ISP supplied modem and the Belkin router, with a single modem/router.*
3. Install three Wireless Access Points (WAPs) on the remaining three floors.
4. To give the best performance you will need to run Cat5e cable from the router to the three points where the WAPs are located, note that each WAP will also need a 13A mains socket.

*To configure this, you will need the broadband username/password and other settings which Eclipse will supply to you as the account holder.

With the above installed and configured correctly, you should have a good (note I could not give you a true estimate of the wireless coverage without doing a survey) wireless coverage on each floor. There will still be likely dead spots on each floor, but they will be minimised.

Shopping list:

1 x DrayTek 2710n Router
3 x DrayTek AP700 Wireless Access Point
1 x Cat5e Cable 305m Box
20 x RJ45 Connectors (to terminate the cable and connect router to WAPs)
1 x RJ45 Crimp Tool
Add a couple of boxes of 5mm cable clips (to tack the Cat5e cable to the skirting boards).

Place the router and three WAPs at opposite ends of the building as you go up each floor like the letter "Z". Ensuring each of the router/WAPs are on a different Wi-Fi channel as follows:

Floor 1: CH1
Floor 2: CH6
Floor 3: CH11
Floor 4: CH1

As I said you will need a certain amount of knowledge to configure the router and WAPs, as well as run/terminate the Cat5e cable.

This is not necessarily the cheapest method, but will give the best long lasting performance for an important network in the workplace.

Any questions - just ask, happy to help.
 
Wow haha awesome reply.

In terms of cost any ideas on what we would be looking at roughly for a company to come in and do this?

Maybe i can clear things up a little bit too in terms of network use it is mainly personal use. As in each live in member of staff has a computer in their room and then there is a computer which the residents have access to. In terms of dead spots it does not really matter a whole lot if there are dead spots within the house as 99% of the time people will be using the internet in their rooms or on the floor which the original access point is located.

In terms of a robust network obviously running wires to the wireless access points is the best way to go i am assuming. Due to the layout of the house i believe that possibly 2 access points as opposed to 3 may give the required coverage. If we don't take in to consideration access to the basement which is not really required at this moment in the i think the set up would run a little like this.

Ground floor - access is required in a single room which is located below an area in which an access point could be placed on the 1st floor.
1st floor- router and 1 access point
2nd floor 1 access point

In terms of doing the job myself there is a maintenance guy that is employed within the complex who is a registered electrician i am sure running the wires would not be a major job for him and i rekon worst comes to the worst with a bit of reading it wouldnt be beyond my capabilities as i am a fairly practical guy. giving that i could get the electrician to run the wires to the access points how much of a job would it be configuring the access points and router correctly?

And just a quick note i am assuming that these brands will be compatible with the line?

Thanks a lot for your help so far has really cleared things up for me.
 
isolation would provide better security? does this have any effect on the speed of the networks?

In terms of wired connection points it would depend on the difference in price? there are some people which would prefer wireless in order to use their phones and laptops in certain areas.

There is one static computer on level 2 which would only require a cable so that may bring the costs/hassle down a bit?
 
Makes sense would seem that perhaps the best idea is to have a wire going up to the 2nd floor and then a wireless access point in the other area of the 1st floor.
So just to confirm a DrayTek 2710n Router will be compatible?

And as for wire, crimp tools and RJ45 connectors the electrician already has some of these so that should not be a major problem.
 
proxis said:
In terms of cost any ideas on what we would be looking at roughly for a company to come in and do this?

If the cabling was in place ready to go, a good company could do this in less than a day for you, I would suggest day rates of £500-1000 depending on geolocation, quality etc. You could get it cheaper if you went down the 'friends of friends' route.

Ground floor - access is required in a single room which is located below an area in which an access point could be placed on the 1st floor.
1st floor- router and 1 access point
2nd floor 1 access point

Put the router in the Ground floor room and work from there.

In terms of doing the job myself there is a maintenance guy that is employed within the complex who is a registered electrician i am sure running the wires would not be a major job for him and i rekon worst comes to the worst with a bit of reading it wouldnt be beyond my capabilities as i am a fairly practical guy. giving that i could get the electrician to run the wires to the access points how much of a job would it be configuring the access points and router correctly?

Yes

And just a quick note i am assuming that these brands will be compatible with the line?

Yes
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