Create Public WIFI

haliparotin

hi! anyone can help me how to create a public wifi good for 1 to 7 Floors Condo.. i hope anyone can help what i am do. i want use an open source for this.. THANK YOU.. very much...

saqman2060

You can use a PC with a distro like ClearOS installed and configure it to be an AP. This will be tricky. Instead, try something simple first. Get yourself a wireless N router that supports the maximum Wireless range. Set the router in the middle of the building and have all PCs connect to it. You can also use multiple routers that are wired to the central router so you can cover more range.

haliparotin

Hi! Thank you very much for your help.. its big help to me to give me an idea about this.. itry that but can you give a a spec or list of Router i can use? and what means of AP? THANK YOU...

mfillpot

AP = Access Point

There is a tutorial at http://www.linux.com/archive/feed/55617 which will guide you to make a Linux based system with a wifi card a Wireless Access Point.

However you must consider a few things with this setup, The quantity of users and the range. The quantity of users can be an issue because most "home" wifi access points only have enough memory for 20-50 attached devices. In addition the quanity of users also effects the throughput of each antenna, having 100 users on one antenna would make it horribly slow.The ranges for each wifi type are listed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11#Protocols, most likely one device will not cover the entire building, you will need multiple WAPs or to use wireless extenders (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833995002) in strategic points.

Based upon my interpretation of the network the best approach would be to setup a mulitple WAPs (wifi routers) about 100 meters apart, this would limit the users per WAP to fit the limitations of the router and reduce the load on each network device antenna. In addition if you plan to service that entire building with a single internet connection you can also run into bottleneck issues, you will need to consider getting multiple ISP connections coming in to increase the throughput per user.

haliparotin

Thank you for reply.. but i have some question ClearOs or other open source firewall have an IP/MAC address Bandwith controller (every User).

haliparotin

thank you for your reply.. they have a way have many WIFI access point but only 1(one) SSID? how can i do that? what the best step i can make?

woboyle

In this sort of situation what I usually do for my clients is install a good router/AP centrally located (as previously suggested), but I will then install additional bridged AP's on each floor so that everybody gets a good connection - make sure that each AP uses a different channel so you get best throughput. Each AP then is a bridge to the main (central) AP/router. Using 802.11n with maximum range, and (if possible) high-gain antennas, is also recommended.

haliparotin

Thank you for reply.. If i have Multiple AP but i need only one SSID, how can i make this? and what Ideal AP can you suggest? and Open Source Firewall for this? THANK YOU..