Setting up a WLAN: Assistance please

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pofadder

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Setting up a WISP: Assistance please

Hi all :)

My apologies if this is a repeat thread - if this has already been answered, please point me to the appropriate thread.

The division I work for has tentatively approved setting up a wireless network for the township (remote area). Although I've done a fair bit of research, my knowledge on the subject is very limited. We've had a consultant come out to look at our area, and he is in the process of drafting a quote for setting up the network for us. However, should it turn out that his quote is beyond our budget limits; I'm hoping we can do the set-up ourselves (at cost), and later get a consultant out to do the fine-tuning.

This is the set-up we are looking at:
1) A single 60/120-degree sectorised 2.4Ghz 17dBi 802.11g/b panel antenna, acting as the main access point, will be mounted on an existing tower on top of a small koppie (+-160m high). A dedicated Internet signal will be transmitted wirelessly to this antenna from a remote server room.
2) Each user would require a 12dBi Yagi antenna, Linksys WRT54G wireless router (housed in a weatherproof box) and associated cabling to access this wireless signal from their homes. The furthest home is about 2.1km from the tower on the koppie. Each house has a direct line of sight to the koppie, although some houses might require 5m masts to clear treetops.
3) A Proxy server will be set up to manage the Internet connection.

Could anyone please indicate whether a system like this posts many challenges? Is a high level of expertise required to set up and manage a wireless system like this? Can one set a system like this up, and request a consultant to assist with post-installation issues? :confused:

Any advice on this would be deeply appreciated. :cool:
 
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Again, if there is anyone out there that could comment on this, it would help a lot! :confused:
 
smells whispy, rather make the topic "I need help setting up a WISP"
 
o...k....Is it going to make any difference if I mention that it's non-profit, and within legal limits?
 
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pofadder said:
We've had a consultant come out to look at our area, and he is in the process of drafting a quote for setting up the network for us. However, should it turn out that his quote is beyond our budget limits; I'm hoping we can do the set-up ourselves (at cost), and later get a consultant out to do the fine-tuning.
Click to expand...

There is a reason why a consultant charges money to setup these things.

Just give some thought to the fact that if you DIY then bring in a consultant afterwards they might want to rip it out and start again.

the sad fact is sometimes even the consultants dont know what they doing.

the general setup sounds ok. but remember that it takes skill to setup a wireless network (Read WISP)
 
Thanks for the feedback Skydog. I can appreciate that it takes skills to set-up a WISP, hence my post on this site.

As far as the consultants are concerned: I'm sure that would probably be the case. That is why I'm doing this questioning, as to try and do it correct from the start, for as cheap as possible (but also not sacrifising quality).

I can understand why a consultant would want to charge more, but there's a fine line between charging for expert service and milking the cow dry. My feeling is that this consultant might quote us an astronomical amount, way more than what would make realistic sense. But we'll have to wait and see.

I have another question: Can a wireless antenna only carry a certain amount of traffic?

I've been reading some of the other posts here on this site, and it seems to me that there is some touchy-feelingness on this site with regards to WISP. I need to make it absolutely clear to everyone that this is not a money-making venture. I work for a company that does not have any affiliation with ISP's or Telecoms with regards to financial gains. Heck, my line of work is not even CLOSE to IT related matters. The only reason I'm doing this is out of desperation and passion, as no one else (where I'm based at the moment) seems to have to motivation to go ahead with this project. If this project fails, we'll probably end up putting up a WLAN so that we can use the wireless network for local gaming.

I've gone through the ammendment of the Telecommunications Act (and had someone with a strong law background go through it as well), and as far as we can deduce, we are within legal limits (i.e. we won't be broadcasting a signal accross a public road or property boundaries and it would be a totally free service (for the locals). And as per the act:
41. (1)
(a) A person providing a telecommunication network for purposes principally or integrally related to the operations of such person (hereinafter referred to as a private telecommunication network), shall, notwithstanding the provisions of sections 32(1) and 33(1) and regardless of whether or not such network is utilised by means of telecommunication facilities made available by Telkom, or the second national operator, not require a licence except as contemplated in paragraph (b).
Although, later in the act, this is contradicted. So we are slightly confused.
 
So if i understand you correctly, you gonna offer free internet to users who connect to the network?
 
That's correct. But each user would get logon credentials, although, those details have not been finalised yet. As I said, I'm not IT, so I'm not sure how that part would work.
 
Wel thats good news, your the first person i hear about thats giving out free internet. Maybe you should extend to Cape Town aswell. Best of luck.
 
Well, I'm not paying to rig the service up, so in effect, I'm not giving out anything.
 
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