contento

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!

wrzwaldo

Anything of use in here?

The Others

Just a quick reply, you don't want to be using directional antennas for this project. I grew up in a very boaty place and I've seen how the marinas round there are running hotspots. They place a omnidirectional antenna (6, maybe 8 dB, you'll have to decide that based on your circumstances) on the top of a big pole. The one's I've witnessed have had enormous ranges on them.

A final thought: The setup you are describing will allow anyone to access the network. You might want to consider using different access point hardware so you have more control over the network.

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contento

You think then maybe two omnis on the roof would do it? Maybe different heights/tilts? I'm not too concerned about covering behind the building if it happens. The gateway allows for the construction of user authentication tables for access. The marina customers will be given user accounts.

The Others

Just one would probably do it. Sounds like you've got the gateway sorted too; good stuff.

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contento

Well, I really HAVE to use two antennas. I want the benefit of using both cards in the gateway so I'll need to run antennas to both. Would I benefit from using two of the same antenna at the same height, etc just set apart on oposite sides of the roof..or..

would different omni's benefit more (strength, height, tilt, etc) to give me a more varied coverage?

Thanks again for the reply

The Others

I guess so, yes. But, this is really something that you will have to experiment with on site. I can tell you how I might do it, but, that could all be wrong when you actually come to installing the setup.

I suggest you spend a bit of time getting things into place, wandering around with a laptop and trying new combinations. It's a pain that you have to buy the hardware first, but, you can calculate various "link budgets" (search for the term here for the details) and buy something you think will be appropriate. Then, spend an afternoon or two wondering around the boats with netstumbler. Sounds like a good time to me!

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The Others

Thinking about it a little more. I would set up one antenna first and Identify and blackspots you may have, I'd then use a second antenna to fill these holes. Good luck!

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MikeP928

A pair of flat panel directionals aimed at the far corners of the marina would give better coverage. Something like this - / \. And set them on different channels.

That should also minimize the parking lot coverage and keep those nasty little wardrivers from hacking your network.

I have also used your first scenario to cover downtown areas. Dual card APs with one card/yagi configured as point-to-point and the other card/omni set to workgroup. Works great.

MikeP

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contento

I'm hoping the the testing hardware we invest in will prove to be the pieces we select to use. Then, it's not money ill spent.

Mike, the dual card AP is going to be the gateway. I think the plan I had was a bit different from what you are talking about. You're saying that the AP the users actually connect to was the two-card box, right? In my scenario/question, the AP that I was going to setup out in the marina was just going to be a regular ole AP. I just didn't know if a regular AP could take on both roles (recieving the bandwidth wirelessly AND serving it up to the users).

I kind of like Others' plan of using one omni first to identify dead spots and go from there. That acutually WAS the orginal plan since it involved the least financial out-lay at the get go and will help map the coverage.

I think we'll try that. AP, Omni, and a day clammoring about on luxury yachts with the beautiful people (and my laptop).

Next question with that said: should I try to get the Omni above the highest boat in the yard? I'll play with this of course, but I'd like a recommendation to start with. That way, if you think I do, I can come prepared with lots of conduit and cable!