Wireless for huge home

[Dallascisco]

I have a new client I will be seeing later this week. He is having issues with wireless in is home and he has a huge one. nearly 8,000 square feet.

Current set up-

verizon fios g router with 4 range expanders


In my experience upgrading a client from a g router to an N solves the problem but this is in smaller homes.. I know you can add an N router to replace the wireless functions of the Fios router but I'm thinking even a N router would have trouble with a home this large. I'd like to get some opinions from others who have been faced with this situation.

 

[JackMDS]

Do WDS with more repeaters and use High Power Wireless Router like the

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833162031

 

[SammyJr]

With a house that big, think SMB, not home. He needs a wireless controller and multiple wired access points.

On the low end, a SonicWall NSA firewall (has a wireless controller) and several SonicPoint N's would do the trick. If not, its time to move up to Cisco or HP or one of the Enterprise vendors.

 

[Dallascisco]

How would you integrate that with the fios router/modem?

Do WDS with more repeaters and use High Power Wireless Router like the

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833162031

 

[JackMDS]

What you call range expenders are actualy Repeaters. If you will use Good Wireless Routers that can be configured as a repeaters and put them in strategic locations (chosen after wireless survey) you might be able to cover the House.

However it all depends on the physical environment of the House. At times the only solution is a combination of wires laid to strategic location and connecting additional Wireless Routers(Access Points) at the chosen locations.

 

[Dallascisco]

Can you stack repeaters on top of repeaters?

Verizon put the fios modem\router in the corner of the basement which compounds things.

What you call range expenders are actualy Repeaters. If you will use Good Wireless Routers that can be configured as a repeaters and put them in strategic locations (chosen after wireless survey) you might be able to cover the House.

However it all depends on the physical environment of the House. At times the only solution is a combination of wires laid to strategic location and connecting additional Wireless Routers(Access Points) at the chosen locations.

 

[alkemyst]

A home that big may benefit from a Cisco controller like the 526 or 2102 and a few AP's.

Repeaters cut your bandwidth in half, is a good budget solution if max bandwidth is not a consideration.

Benefit is you will have roaming coverage at full wireless speeds. You can probably do this with some consumer gear too.

It will be more pricey, but at 8k sq ft, there should be a budget for connectivity in that range.

 

[alkemyst]

Can you stack repeaters on top of repeaters?

Verizon put the fios modem\router in the corner of the basement which compounds things.

You can repeat, repeated traffic...you half the bandwidth at each hop though.

 

[spidey07]

I'd put a couple 5Ghz 802.11n access points in key locations and cable them all back to a switch and assign the APs from any of the non-overlapping channels. You've got 12 which is why 5Ghz is ideal for this.

 

[Ratman6161]

Or...do it the easy way. Sometimes running cable really is easier and cheaper. Particularly when you are talking about higher end wireless gear. Put the modem and first router in the middle of the house. Two two cable runs from the from the modem/router in the middle to a router configured as an access point on each end of the house. Since you have three, they don't have to be anything special. They can also be easily replaced by the user as technology improves.

Actually, in my house we had a cable bundle with two cat 5 and one coax run to each room - so I'm spoiled. but doing just a couple of cable runs can really make things a lot simpler.

 

[alkemyst]

Or...do it the easy way. Sometimes running cable really is easier and cheaper. Particularly when you are talking about higher end wireless gear. Put the modem and first router in the middle of the house. Two two cable runs from the from the modem/router in the middle to a router configured as an access point on each end of the house. Since you have three, they don't have to be anything special. They can also be easily replaced by the user as technology improves.

Actually, in my house we had a cable bundle with two cat 5 and one coax run to each room - so I'm spoiled. but doing just a couple of cable runs can really make things a lot simpler.

Many houses come with structured wiring over the last 5-10 years. Having a coax in every room was "80's" tech. Most today do not want to be cabled in. Also multiple access points in one home is not always

Cabling the access points is the best bet to a central controller. Seamless roaming and all that comes with it.

 

[dawks]

Many houses come with structured wiring over the last 5-10 years. Having a coax in every room was "80's" tech. Most today do not want to be cabled in. Also multiple access points in one home is not always

Cabling the access points is the best bet to a central controller. Seamless roaming and all that comes with it.

I've been looking for an SMB system like this for my setup.. Any recommendations for something I can research on? Not sure what to Google for..

Thanks.

 

[alkemyst]

526 controller and 521 APs is the lower end

For dual radio, it gets more pricey