NetStumbler.org Forums - View Single Post - Hardware questions for setting up a new HotSpot

contento · 12-16-2004

Hey all, I'm trying to layout a free HotSpot and I have some questions I could use some help with. This a novella length post...sorry!

We are looking to cover one of the local Marinas with WiFi. It's not overly large place which is good and has little interference except for the boats themselves, but I'd really like to get good coverage throughout. I need some help and general info before I start testing.

The main building that will house the gateway, connectivity, etc. does not sit dead center of the Marina; it's more like 3/4's to one side (most of the coverage needs to happen on the north side of the building and only a small portion to the south). The building sits right on the east dock and our target coverage is all out west from there (nothing behind the building); really, I need 180 degree coverage from the building extending ~200 feet to the south and 600 feet to the north. Imagine an 800' long x 180' wide rectangle of coverage.

We're going to use a Proxim router/gateway in the main building and pump our signal out from there. That device uses two Orinoco Gold cards, so I can plug antennas right into them (each). We are getting 2 3MB DSL service lines pumped in and I plan to use a Xincon Dual WAN router to "unite" the service bandwidth before pumping it to the gateway.

My initial plans were to put a panel type antenna on each side of the roof of the main building and just point it out at an angle over the north and south sections. This would be probably the easiest method, but am I going to be able to cover that kind of area? Do you have antenna recommendations for that type of setup? Some of the boats that will dock are taller than the building so I was thinking about mounting them pretty high and angling them downward a bit to clear the tops of the taller boats. Thoughts?

Then, I started toying with the idea of using a YAGI on the north side to push a signal to another AP up in the middle of the North section. THen the boats in that section would hit that AP for their signal. This is where my main questions rest. If I use a YAGI antenna to send signal to another AP, can that AP also then serve up the signal to the surrounding users? If so, is there a trick to it or will it just happen?

My next concern is with the boats themselves. Some are very tall and will interfer with the signal from the main building. More than that though are the antenna arrays that some of these huge boats have up top...tv, radio, sattelite, etc etc. I assume they will potentially offer up a fair amount of interference too right? Or will that purely depend on the frequency they are using?

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but thanks for any and all help!

12-16-2004	#1 (permalink)
contento Registered Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 13	Hardware questions for setting up a new HotSpot Hey all, I'm trying to layout a free HotSpot and I have some questions I could use some help with. This a novella length post...sorry! We are looking to cover one of the local Marinas with WiFi. It's not overly large place which is good and has little interference except for the boats themselves, but I'd really like to get good coverage throughout. I need some help and general info before I start testing. The main building that will house the gateway, connectivity, etc. does not sit dead center of the Marina; it's more like 3/4's to one side (most of the coverage needs to happen on the north side of the building and only a small portion to the south). The building sits right on the east dock and our target coverage is all out west from there (nothing behind the building); really, I need 180 degree coverage from the building extending ~200 feet to the south and 600 feet to the north. Imagine an 800' long x 180' wide rectangle of coverage. We're going to use a Proxim router/gateway in the main building and pump our signal out from there. That device uses two Orinoco Gold cards, so I can plug antennas right into them (each). We are getting 2 3MB DSL service lines pumped in and I plan to use a Xincon Dual WAN router to "unite" the service bandwidth before pumping it to the gateway. My initial plans were to put a panel type antenna on each side of the roof of the main building and just point it out at an angle over the north and south sections. This would be probably the easiest method, but am I going to be able to cover that kind of area? Do you have antenna recommendations for that type of setup? Some of the boats that will dock are taller than the building so I was thinking about mounting them pretty high and angling them downward a bit to clear the tops of the taller boats. Thoughts? Then, I started toying with the idea of using a YAGI on the north side to push a signal to another AP up in the middle of the North section. THen the boats in that section would hit that AP for their signal. This is where my main questions rest. If I use a YAGI antenna to send signal to another AP, can that AP also then serve up the signal to the surrounding users? If so, is there a trick to it or will it just happen? My next concern is with the boats themselves. Some are very tall and will interfer with the signal from the main building. More than that though are the antenna arrays that some of these huge boats have up top...tv, radio, sattelite, etc etc. I assume they will potentially offer up a fair amount of interference too right? Or will that purely depend on the frequency they are using? I'm sure I'll have more questions, but thanks for any and all help!