wireless for an 8 story condo?

My condo association wants to put in WiFi. What this will likely involve is
getting a T1 Internet connection from a local ISP, putting a wireless router
in, and then having wireless NIC cards for each user.

Is this realistic for an 8 story building? If not are there ways to deal
with the size of the building, such as daisy chaining routers and maybe
having one on the ground floor and one on, say, the 4th floor? Or are there
other ways to solve the problem?

Thanks!

Robert

Robert Cooper wrote:
>
> Is this realistic for an 8 story building?

You have to be very careful about setting expectations. The odds are
overwhelming that there will be some extremely dissatisfied would-be users.
The smart money would bet that a wireless scheme of this type will be
abandoned before it's completed.

> If not are there ways to deal
> with the size of the building, such as daisy chaining routers

No. One router, multiple access points.

> and maybe
> having one on the ground floor and one on, say, the 4th floor? Or are
> there other ways to solve the problem?

Wire the building. If there are any residents who really have their hearts
set on wireless, let them roll their own, starting with a wired connection
in their unit.
--
John Miller
My email address: domain, n4vu.com; username, jsm

The animals are not as stupid as one thinks -- they have neither
doctors nor lawyers.
-L. Docquier

"John Miller" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:burl36$mmn$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Robert Cooper wrote:
> >
> > Is this realistic for an 8 story building?
>
> You have to be very careful about setting expectations. The odds are
> overwhelming that there will be some extremely dissatisfied would-be
users.
> The smart money would bet that a wireless scheme of this type will be
> abandoned before it's completed.

Why do you say that? Is there any reason that repeaters could not be put on
each floor?

> Wire the building. If there are any residents who really have their
hearts
> set on wireless, let them roll their own, starting with a wired connection
> in their unit.

Wouldn't that be very expensive?

Robert

It very much depends on the construction of the building. You will probably
need multiple access points. You really need to do some experimentation to
determine the optimal access point locations to provide the best coverage.

Mike Schumann

"Robert Cooper" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> My condo association wants to put in WiFi. What this will likely involve
is
> getting a T1 Internet connection from a local ISP, putting a wireless
router
> in, and then having wireless NIC cards for each user.
>
> Is this realistic for an 8 story building? If not are there ways to deal
> with the size of the building, such as daisy chaining routers and maybe
> having one on the ground floor and one on, say, the 4th floor? Or are
there
> other ways to solve the problem?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Robert
>
>

Mike Schumann wrote:
> It very much depends on the construction of the building. You will
> probably
> need multiple access points. You really need to do some experimentation
> to determine the optimal access point locations to provide the best
> coverage.

Robert --

What Mike says, and while, given enough time and money, you can futz around
and *maybe* provide full coverage to every location anyone wants to use in
every unit, by the time you're done, you'll probably wish you'd just used
wire.

There's no way to predict how many access points you'll need without
experimentation, and that means physical access to all units, and all
points in those units that someone might want to use a computer, at a time
that's mutually convenient for the owner and the technician(s). Some of
those locations are likely to make *you* look like you don't know what
you're doing, in the eyes of a condo owner.

Then, when you're done, some new source of interference (microwave oven,
baby monitor, cordless phone, etc., etc.) appears and part or all of the
network is crippled or disabled. Yes, that's the pessimistic view, but one
you've got to prepare for.

Wireless is a wonderful technology, but what you've described isn't a good
application for it.
--
John Miller
My email address: domain, n4vu.com; username, jsm

COBOL:
An exercise in Artificial Inelegance.

On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 08:58:34 -0800, "Robert Cooper"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Is this realistic for an 8 story building? If not are there ways to deal
>with the size of the building, such as daisy chaining routers and maybe
>having one on the ground floor and one on, say, the 4th floor? Or are there
>other ways to solve the problem?

Check out this article from a recent Detroit Free Press, about an
18-building rental complex that is doing this.

http://www.freep.com/money/tech/mwend19_20040119.htm

John Jones, Detroit

Water pipes, yes thats good for wifi

Why would I be impressed by wifi in my appartment? Its just spillage of my
privacy for no big benifit except 1" added to yer knob.


"Mike Schumann" <mike-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:40116001$0$437$(E-Mail Removed)...
> It very much depends on the construction of the building. You will
probably
> need multiple access points. You really need to do some experimentation
to
> determine the optimal access point locations to provide the best coverage.
>
> Mike Schumann
>
> "Robert Cooper" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> > My condo association wants to put in WiFi. What this will likely involve
> is
> > getting a T1 Internet connection from a local ISP, putting a wireless
> router
> > in, and then having wireless NIC cards for each user.
> >
> > Is this realistic for an 8 story building? If not are there ways to deal
> > with the size of the building, such as daisy chaining routers and maybe
> > having one on the ground floor and one on, say, the 4th floor? Or are
> there
> > other ways to solve the problem?
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Robert
> >
> >
>
>

"Mike Schumann" <mike-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:40116001$0$437$(E-Mail Removed)...
> It very much depends on the construction of the building. You will
probably
> need multiple access points. You really need to do some experimentation
to
> determine the optimal access point locations to provide the best coverage.

What exactly does multiple access points mean?

Thanks.

Robert

More than one 802.11 Access Point


"Robert Cooper" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Mike Schumann" <mike-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:40116001$0$437$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > It very much depends on the construction of the building. You will
> probably
> > need multiple access points. You really need to do some experimentation
> to
> > determine the optimal access point locations to provide the best
coverage.
>
> What exactly does multiple access points mean?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Robert
>
>

John Jones wrote:

> On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 08:58:34 -0800, "Robert Cooper"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>
>>Is this realistic for an 8 story building? If not are there ways to deal
>>with the size of the building, such as daisy chaining routers and maybe
>>having one on the ground floor and one on, say, the 4th floor? Or are there
>>other ways to solve the problem?
>
>
> Check out this article from a recent Detroit Free Press, about an
> 18-building rental complex that is doing this.
>
> http://www.freep.com/money/tech/mwend19_20040119.htm
>
> John Jones, Detroit

And note that they used roughly 1 WAP for every 5 units: 256 units in
18 buildings, with 3 WAPs per building.
--
Cheers, Bob