wi-fi over a wide area - help needed.

Hi

I need to provide wireless internet access to a large green field site
(only a couple of buildings on site) - it's a 4 day festival of around
5000 people, most of whom will camp, and I think only a very small
proportion would use the facility.

We're starting from absolute scratch in providing this facility, and
will even be installing a new phone line for broadband.....at this point
I have two options,

1. I can provide internet access to artists and VIPs only, using a
standard 'home' wireless router - it would only need to cover a house
sized area with no brick walls to pass through. I think the maximum
users would be 2 or 3 at once.....this is the easy option, and one I'm
very comfortable with.

or

2. I can provide wi-fi to the full site (around 50 acres), from some
advice I've already had, I think I can run this from a wireless router
using a bridge and a powerful aerial.

What is there to stop me doing option 2? I have a couple of
worries...

I'm not sure how many people will use the service, so guess that speed
may be an issue if there are too many users (although I think it will
be used mainly for email).

I'm concerned that we may need a very robust router - is there a limit
to the amount of users that can the service at once?

What's a realistic range for 802.11g (if this is standard we should go
for)

What does the bridge do, and why do I need one?

cost (within reason) is not a massive issue, but I'd like to install
it myself if possible.

Apologies for all the questions, and any help and advice would be very
gratefully received.

Thanks
Neil

> 2. I can provide wi-fi to the full site (around 50 acres), from some
> advice I've already had, I think I can run this from a wireless router
> using a bridge and a powerful aerial.
> I'm not sure how many people will use the service, so guess that speed
> may be an issue if there are too many users (although I think it will
> be used mainly for email).
>
> I'm concerned that we may need a very robust router - is there a limit
> to the amount of users that can the service at once?

20-50 connections per AP, depending on the apps being run. You should
probably filter torrents, ftp and the like high-bandwidth traffic, imho.

> What does the bridge do, and why do I need one?

I'm assuming the person who told you this is thinking of you installing
the user APs and antennas in the center of the field. The wireless bridge
link is what will carry all the traffic out to your wired connection. You
would still need to provide power to the remote APs of course.

My own take is that you'd install a temporary tower in the center of the
field, with multiple semi-directional pie-shaped sector-antennas pointing
downwards at an angle, with an AP attached to each antenna. That's one
option, or use multiple planer antennas in a line along one side of the
area.

> cost (within reason) is not a massive issue, but I'd like to install
> it myself if possible.

If you do use a tower of some sort, there may be regulations covering
height and installation. That's another subject I know nothing about.

rms

<tireless.orion@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1189449435.589216.61590@w3g2000hsg.googlegrou ps.com...
> Hi
>
> I need to provide wireless internet access to a large green field site
> (only a couple of buildings on site) - it's a 4 day festival of around
> 5000 people, most of whom will camp, and I think only a very small
> proportion would use the facility.
>
> We're starting from absolute scratch in providing this facility, and
> will even be installing a new phone line for broadband.....at this point
> I have two options,
>
> 1. I can provide internet access to artists and VIPs only, using a
> standard 'home' wireless router - it would only need to cover a house
> sized area with no brick walls to pass through. I think the maximum
> users would be 2 or 3 at once.....this is the easy option, and one I'm
> very comfortable with.
>
> or
>
> 2. I can provide wi-fi to the full site (around 50 acres), from some
> advice I've already had, I think I can run this from a wireless router
> using a bridge and a powerful aerial.
>
> What is there to stop me doing option 2? I have a couple of
> worries...
>
> I'm not sure how many people will use the service, so guess that speed
> may be an issue if there are too many users (although I think it will
> be used mainly for email).
>
> I'm concerned that we may need a very robust router - is there a limit
> to the amount of users that can the service at once?
>
> What's a realistic range for 802.11g (if this is standard we should go
> for)
>
> What does the bridge do, and why do I need one?
>
> cost (within reason) is not a massive issue, but I'd like to install
> it myself if possible.
>
> Apologies for all the questions, and any help and advice would be very
> gratefully received.
>
> Thanks
> Neil

Being that this is just for a few days, you may want to just hook up a
hotspot in a designated area, close to where the DSL connection will be
coming in. This way users can come up with their laptops and access the
connection.
If you really want to cover the area, a mesh network will work. Using mesh
technology and being that this is only a temp situation it can easily set up
and torn down, IE you can avoid having to erect a tower.
You mentioned some buildings on site, you may be able to use them as
mounting locations.
One group who has products is Meraki, and the link is below.

http://meraki.com/solutions/

I like the meraki as it is easy to set up. And also includes the use of a
dashboard, that will redirect the users seeking access to a splash page
where you can display terms of use, and even news about the local event.
I am not a distributer of these guys, but I have set them up at some of the
hunting camps here as well as the library to be used as an access point for
free internet connection.
>

>
> Being that this is just for a few days, you may want to just hook up a
> hotspot in a designated area, close to where the DSL connection will be
> coming in. This way users can come up with their laptops and access the
> connection.
> If you really want to cover the area, a mesh network will work. Using mesh
> technology and being that this is only a temp situation it can easily set up
> and torn down, IE you can avoid having to erect a tower.
> You mentioned some buildings on site, you may be able to use them as
> mounting locations.
> One group who has products is Meraki, and the link is below.
>
> http://meraki.com/solutions/
>
> I like the meraki as it is easy to set up. And also includes the use of a
> dashboard, that will redirect the users seeking access to a splash page
> where you can display terms of use, and even news about the local event.
> I am not a distributer of these guys, but I have set them up at some of the
> hunting camps here as well as the library to be used as an access point for
> free internet connection.
>
>
Thanks.
I think a hotspot would be the best route, this is an additional (and
probably free) service we'll be offering so I'm too not convinced that
full on coverage is necessary. Will look at the meraki site, I've
heard their name a couple of times today.

<tireless.orion@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1189453565.087549.28670@22g2000hsm.googlegrou ps.com...
>
>>
>> Being that this is just for a few days, you may want to just hook up a
>> hotspot in a designated area, close to where the DSL connection will be
>> coming in. This way users can come up with their laptops and access the
>> connection.
>> If you really want to cover the area, a mesh network will work. Using
>> mesh
>> technology and being that this is only a temp situation it can easily set
>> up
>> and torn down, IE you can avoid having to erect a tower.
>> You mentioned some buildings on site, you may be able to use them as
>> mounting locations.
>> One group who has products is Meraki, and the link is below.
>>
>> http://meraki.com/solutions/
>>
>> I like the meraki as it is easy to set up. And also includes the use of a
>> dashboard, that will redirect the users seeking access to a splash page
>> where you can display terms of use, and even news about the local event.
>> I am not a distributer of these guys, but I have set them up at some of
>> the
>> hunting camps here as well as the library to be used as an access point
>> for
>> free internet connection.
>>
>>
> Thanks.
> I think a hotspot would be the best route, this is an additional (and
> probably free) service we'll be offering so I'm too not convinced that
> full on coverage is necessary. Will look at the meraki site, I've
> heard their name a couple of times today.

I tend to agree that the use of a hotspot is all you may need for the event
you are working on. Easy to set up and tear down, as well as a central point
for management. Also the time and material required is more in line with
what you want to accomplish. No need to worry about coverage, and the like.
>