Alright Network people, I need some advice.
Hey guys/gals.
I've had a local motel ask me if I can come up with a better wireless network solution for them as their current one is aging, and customers are complaining that they cannot get on etc.
I'm looking at somewhere north of 27 rooms in a large L shaped building, with a couple of out-buildings.
The current setup will almost definitely need to be entirely scrapped, so using existing hardware is unlikely to be an option (pretty sure it's just retail grade routers set as access points).
My first inclination is to install a business grade router (which I will need to be able to connect a DSL connection and a Cable connection to, with separate settings and fail overs), with somewhere around 8 wireless access points. What I'm not sure about is what kind of equipment to get.
Keeping in mind that this is a local Motel, not a chain, getting the highest quality equipment is almost definitely out of the budget. So I'm trying to keep the equipment side of things reasonable considering it is not a huge chain with millions to blow.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to start, or what kind of equipment should be used? This isn't in a huge city so the cable connection and DSL connection really can't be upped to more than around 50Mbps for Cable and 5mbps for DSL. So I realistically don't need AP's that can push 1Gbps since it's pretty unlikely we'll be getting Fiber any time soon.
Just looking for a system that will be easy(ish) to maintain (they have no onsite IT obviously so remote access is a plus), and that will be able to provide coverage to the 27ish rooms without huge dead areas.
Any help or suggestions would be fantastic!
Posted Apr 10, 2015, 9:57 PM UTC
Unifi
https://www.ubnt.com/enterprise/
Second this, you cant really beat the price-to-quality. I use one AP at my house, and it kicks many rear-ends. The central management GUI is sleek, and really nice to use, and the ranges are awesome. I recommend these to every small business or large home.
Haha I just happened to be looking at their AP's on NeweggBusiness.
http://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-0ed-0005-00064
I just did exactly what you're describing in a hotel. Used the ubiquiti unifi AP's. They worked like a dream. Especially if they have an existing wireless setup, you can likely reuse the network cables that are already run.
I did this in my install, the only issue I had was one of the AP's kept dropping off the network. Ended up being that one of the cables was broken and needed to be rerun. So if you do this, its helpful to have a cable tester.
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My employer services some larger businesses and we use Meraki wireless and it's awesome. One 2000 square foot ballroom at a convention center, four access points, and 300 people. No problem. The WAN link gets saturated before the wireless does.
That being said, the good Meraki access points are $1000 a pop. Probably not good for what you're looking for.
Running a large environment on these suckers. We have 100 of them at our largest facility.
Love ubiquiti products. A local internet company uses their products abs they have had all good luck with them
Seconded, ubnt is fucking amazing. We use their APs and the interface is beautiful. Never had a problem.
A large hospital and church use them here. Probably more
And if they're willing to spend some money to get equipment that works: Ruckus.
This.