Best way to set up a school Whireless network over two buildings ?

Question

Hello there

I'm going to help a public school in setting up a wireless network with shared internet business connection.

What i want to know is what's the best way to do this, and the hardware is not a problem, they want a reliable network. So whatever it takes is possible.

There are two parts in the building that are far away from each other,
what i was thinking is to put one router on each side and connect the two routers with a twisted pair cable, but the distance is gonna be around 150 meters , so im not sure if a 150m length cable is gonna do it, Will i need to install a bridge half the way or not ?

Each router is gonna be connected to two access points, one on the right, and the other on the left. The access points will be connected to the router by a cable too.
Then the access points will distribute the connection to the computers around it.
Is that a good choice, or do you have any suggestions ?

Answer 1

Max length for UTP cable is 100m, you would need a device inline for 150m a switch would be best. If this school has a server thats configured to have DHCP assign Ip addresses adding routers could cause problems. also you should check with state laws, some state boards of education have laws regarding wireless (how it must be secured) in the schools. If the school has no server and just wants simple internet access in the buildings I would use one router where your internet comes in the building run a WAP off of one port on the router, from a second port on the router run 75m of UTP cable to a switch than run another 75m of UTP to the second WAP.


P.S. For the last post I dont think cat6e will run 1000 meters (without a some form of switch or repeater) you may be thinking 1000 mbps. and some fiber can run close to 30 miles.

Answer 2

... .. .. .. ... I want to scream. A set of cheap wireless kit will give you problems, if you pay for a good setup and good atenas a few trees will not be a problem, especially if you design the antennas properly, ie higher than the trees and houses at both sides. I recommend a VPN over a standard DSL from both sites as its cheaper and someone else has already mentioned this also. If you have money then an ethernet circuit wouldnt be too bad as you will probably be on the same exchange due to your proximity.. Either way you need to think like a business and work out how important this link is and let the business justify the expense, sometimes quick fixes end up being sxit fixes and the people you think you are doing favours for will drop you straight in the brown.. Justify a LL.

Answer 3

Exscuse me cat 6e???? There is no such utp cable their is cat 6 which will run at a gig, there is cat6a which will run at ten gig. enough about that. The longest a copper unshielded twisted pair cable can be is 100 meters. Yes it will work at a longer distance, but performance will suffer. All you need is 2 transceivers. All they do is change the signal from copper to fiber. That is the cheap way. Being that this is for a public school I would invest in cisco switches that have fiber ports.

Answer 4

I remember installing a Network setup between 2 offices at an apartment complex, and the distance between them was about 200 Meters. I remember that the Max distance on Cat 5 was only 100 meters, so my choice was to either install a repeater in between or go with Fiber. Since there was no logical place for me to put a repeater anywhere (in the middle of the parking lot), I had no choice but to go with Fiber. Fiber can run a max distance of around 500 meters or so.

Also, you CAN run Cat 6e up to 1000 Meters, but it depends PURELY on your signal source. Depending on how you're setting things up, either one would be pricey, but in some situations the Cat 6 setup would be more and in others the Fiber would be more, just depends on what you're doing and what type of equipment you're using.

By the way, the comment above on using Gigabit ethernet, that won't work at this distance, unless of course you go with Fiber.

Answer 5

yikes...there are much easier ways to do that

1st...you want to use Gigabit Ethernet (1000Base-SX or LX) for the network segment between the two parts in the building that are far away.

2nd...you don't need 2 routers when you can use 2 Layer 3 switches that are cheaper and will provide greater functionality and scalability for the future...