New to WLAN and wondering about setting up a low cost WLAN between 8 villages (not more than 100 clients) in a rectangle area of 3.5 miles x
2 miles, LOS with threes.
Is it possible to use few, not more than 3, properly positioned Alvarion BreezeNET DS.11 Outdoor Point to Multi Point repeaters and some AP in the villages, I mean less than 1 AP per house?
Do you know about other WLAN repeater that best fit our needs? The gool is to keep a low entry cost for clients avoiding if possible one AP per client.
Trees are bad. 2 mile radius will work, but only with high gain antennas on all the clients. BreezeNet DS.11 is limited to 128 client connections.
To the best of my limited knowledge, there's no such thing as a BreezeNet DS.11 point to multipoint repeater.
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the Breezenet DS.11 is 802.11b, you could use any commercial repeater for the purpose, but there's no guarantee that it will work. I would also advise against repeaters, especially with a large number of connections, as it really slows things down.
No. I have a very bad attitude about repeaters (and mesh networks). You'll need to ask someone that has actually used repeaters successfully. I haven't.
Alvarion is excellent high quality hardware, but rather expensive. It has the advantage of reliable operation, but at somewhat higher initial cost. I suggest you look into something more up to date (possibly WiMax) and a central tower that will offer line of sight. This will reduce (but not eliminate) the need for a big directional antenna at all the clients, and eliminate any repeaters. Lacking line of sight, I suggest you bury cable or fiber between multiple access points with sector antennas. Also note that wireless regulations are different in foreign countries and will need to be accommodated.
Since you're a beginner, I strongly suggest you contact someone that has had experience in installing rural wireless systems. There are many pitfalls, all of which have a price tag attached.
You will also find that you cannot just deploy a 100 user system and let it free-run. One file sharing user will bring the entire system to a grinding halt. You need some sort of bandwidth management, abuse detection, abuser disconnects, and traffic monitoring system. Also, don't forget about tech support. In other words, you need everything that a wire line ISP requires, with the added enjoyment of an unreliable wireless delivery mechanism. Are you sure you want to do this?
Some light reading and a WISP mailing list:
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are people on this list that have done isolated village systems. Some How-to articles:
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Also, look into hardware from Motorola:
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If terrain is a problem, try 900Mhz (if legally available whever your village is located from:
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