[StuartHall]

We are hosting our annual auction off site at a local venue. We will be having our patrons bid online using our "roving" iPads or their smartphones. The venue has two separate rooms with a long hallway in between. The wifi access point for the venue is located in the ceiling in the middle of the hall to "cover" both rooms. The strength of the signal in the hal;l is great. The strength in the two rooms is dismal. I may or may not have access to the venue's network room and stringing CAT5 cable to connect other access points may not be an option either.  Since this is not a permanent installation, what are my options? Price is an issue, not the biggest but still an issue. Thoughts?

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http://www.staples.c...ZwxkaAv3Q8P8HAQ something like this should do the trick. you don't need access to the network equipment, just the network info

[dsenette]

http://www.staples.c...ZwxkaAv3Q8P8HAQ something like this should do the trick. you don't need access to the network equipment, just the network info

[StuartHall]

Thanks for that. Have you used this (or similar) device before? I'm worried about performance and bandwidth vs. the number of devices etc.

[dsenette]

not that exact one no, but I've used repeaters/extenders before. they basically just connect in to the wireless network and rebroadcast it. they're fairly well proven technology.

[terry1966]

i think i'd also be worried about the bandwidth using such devices too, especially if you plan on having 2 rooms full of people all trying to use wifi at the same time, i think you really need a stronger signal from the main wifi router to cover the area and may need to have a power booster aerial fitted, think i'm correct in saying using repeaters cuts the original router bandwidth in half straight away, they work great for home limited user use but for a such a large number of connections i'd be worried.

 

personally i'd contact a professional networking company for advice and maybe get them to setup a system that will have enough bandwidth so the network doesn't become overcrowded and slow to a crawl making the auction a complete failure.

 

Edited by terry1966, 21 January 2015 - 04:28 PM.

[terry1966]

might find this helpful :- http://www.securedge...ss-Point-Handle

 

[dsenette]

i think i'd also be worried about the bandwidth using such devices too, especially if you plan on having 2 rooms full of people all trying to use wifi at the same time, i think you really need a stronger signal from the main wifi router to cover the area and may need to have a power booster aerial fitted, think i'm correct in saying using repeaters cuts the original router bandwidth in half straight away, they work great for home limited user use but for a such a large number of connections i'd be worried.

 

personally i'd contact a professional networking company for advice and maybe get them to setup a system that will have enough bandwidth so the network doesn't become overcrowded and slow to a crawl making the auction a complete failure.

 

while the assessment of the speed reduction is somewhat correct, the original request is for a TEMPORARY (likely one time) installation. if this were going to be a permanently run system....the concern would be a lot greater

you might also look into powerline adapters like this http://www.netgear.c...e/XWNB5201.aspx  they pump the network connection through your electrical system out to the various adapters in different plugs in the home

 

[terry1966]

understand it's temporary and the reason for my first post was more to warn about the bandwidth limitations on using most repeaters.

 

the last thing i'd want is for it to be a failure because i didn't fully understand the full effect of having so many clients connecting at once would have on speed/bandwidth, signal strength is only one of many factors that need to be considered and networking is not really something i know a lot about anyway, i have used both repeaters (friends home) and the powerlines (daughters home) devices to set up a network, i couldn't tell you how well the setups would work with more than a few people connecting at once, and why i'd call in an expert to look at the venues current setup and capabilities then suggest my best options depending on expected number of connections that are going to be made to make for a successful auction.

 

if they can't run cable then powerlines i think could work a lot better than repeaters would, they could use 4 of them and create an extra access point/ wifi router in each room without having the loss of bandwidth caused by repeaters then, depending on electric wiring of the venue of course.

 

more access points are going to be needed though in my opinion, unlike the stronger signal for the single access point that first popped into my head when i made my first post.