Hotel hotspot

Hi I am new to all this so rather ignorant.
I wish to set up a wireless network for the cottage accommodation that I run so that our guests could use either my laptop or theirs to connect to my satelite internet connection.
I'm am going to use PublicIP software, I think, but I would like help choosing gear. I need a wireless router to cover a 70 meters radius, more would be beter and also anticipate adding a web-cam which might be wireless. We will eventually have 6 cottages each with a wired star configuation.
ANY help would be much appreciated!!

That PublicIP software looks pretty decent!

Looking at their diagram, you shouldn't need a wireless router; just a simple inexpensive access point like the Linksys WAP54G would do nicely provided you have the rest of the infrastructure they show in place. Most wireless products will cover 70m off the shelf if there are not too many walls, etc to penetrate, although you might need a slightly gruntier antenna for the best performance (about NZ$20-35 from www.gowifi.co.nz for example).

If you need better range down the track, simply install extra access points (ideally of the same type) in repeater mode around the cottages.

One question I do have is how does your satellite connection work? The ones I have seen require a PCI card in a computer to operate. I would not recommend sharing the internet connection directly off your own personal computer. Ideally having it run through a separate router (either an off-the-shelf unit or a Linux box) would be the best way to go so you can limit access to any PCs you have from guests.

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Jeremy

Marlborough WiFi Project

Hi from Golden Bay. Thanks, I don't have anything in place except the satelite connection (as of last week) going straight into my office computer.
I am going to buy an old computer from GB High School to run PublicIP but I need the 6 LANs and the wireless downsteam from this. Does this need a router or just an access point? I see they have both a router and a wireless router in the diagram http://www.publicip.net/zonecd/how.php can I put just a access point or wireless router in the position of the wireless router and run the cat5 wires from here? What about using the printer attached to the office computer? Will this still be possible from the cottages?

So far I can see you invisaging a setup similar to the attached diagram. The key problem here is that you are allowing clients access to your computer which is not really good practice. Even if you trust the users you still don't know if they have viruses, etc. on their laptops. If your printer is network capable, consider connecting it to your network instead of directly to the office PC. Also consider installing a good firewall on the office PC to give you better control over incoming traffic and block anything malicious.

Satellite internet will be the most interesting part in a situation like this. Unlike normal broadband connections (e.g. ADSL) which you could just 'plug and play' to get this going, you may need to install proprietry software on your PC. Some satellite connections also use a proxy server and/or a dialup modem for uploading data, and in this type of situation you might find it very difficult to share the connection over a local network without lots of fiddling.

You may be able to set up a separate Linux-based computer set up with your satellite equipment and use this as an internet gateway.

Sorry if this sounds all doom and gloom, I'm not trying to put you off the whole plan as it sounds like a good idea! I'm just trying to point out a few possible issues I can see that might bite back later.

Attached Images

 

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Jeremy

Marlborough WiFi Project

Thanks again Jeremy. Yes somthing like the diagram is what I had in mind. The satelite doesn't use the phone for upload its from www.farmside.co.nz and was just plug and play which surprised me. Printer access isn't a big issue to do without if it complicates matters. Public IP is Linux-based and runs on a dedicated machine and I think is set up with a firewall. Back to my original question is a wireless router what I need or do you need more info?

Just an access point will be fine in your case, it will also be easier to set up

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Jeremy

Marlborough WiFi Project

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