hemmjonny Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Hi all, I am going to be doing a networking job at a hotel soon. The guy wants Wi-Fi in every room of the hotel so I have been looking into leaky feeders but I have never used them and just wondering if anyone has any info on it what brand's to go for / is it any good?. Am I right in thinking all I will need is Cat 5 from the switch to each floor to a AP then connect the leaky feeder to the N connector of the AP? Any info / help would be great. Thanks Jonathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobUK Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Have you had a look at http://www.solwise.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemmjonny Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 Thanks for the reply yeah i have seen that site. I am more looking for who is the best / info from someone who has used leaky feeder / knows about it. I have seen a few sales site and they all says its good just want to make sure before paying out 1000s. Thanks Jonathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ark Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Never used 'leaky feeders' but a quick bit of research says to me you don't want/need a system designed for use in mines. Base stations and repeaters are so cheap that you might as well run a little more cat5 and put the APs closer to the users. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biguns Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 ^^^Agree with that^^^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaveriK Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Cisco Mesh would be a good idea in this instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 depending on the size of the building, just put 2 ap's on each floor (more if required) and control them with a cisco wireless controller? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemmjonny Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 Never used 'leaky feeders' but a quick bit of research says to me you don't want/need a system designed for use in mines. Base stations and repeaters are so cheap that you might as well run a little more cat5 and put the APs closer to the users. Cheers mate, the reason I am looking into them is because the walls of this hotel are very thick and I think it would take a lot of AP's to get Wi-Fi in every room. Plus with the leaky feeder it can be hidden under the floor which will keep the hotel looking nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemmjonny Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 depending on the size of the building, just put 2 ap's on each floor (more if required) and control them with a cisco wireless controller? would be nice to have a play with a cisco wireless controller but they are a lot of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ark Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 the walls of this hotel are very thick... Right there is your reason NOT to use leaky feeders - they are short range and not capable of penetrating rock (or thick walls I would guess). If you're having signal problems, use amplified aerials. Or put the APs closer to the users...under the floor perhaps, to keep the hotel looking nice What you need to do is a site survey to figure how much signal loss you get through the walls. That'll let you figure how many rooms a single AP can service before it loses signal and a neighbouring device has to take over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemmjonny Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 Cisco Mesh would be a good idea in this instance. do you need to run a Cisco wireless controller and cisco APs with that? if so prob going to be to much money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozz Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 How many floors? I just bought a cisco wireless controller, only cost £1k and runs upto 6 APs, APs were £280 each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemmjonny Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 Right there is your reason NOT to use leaky feeders - they are short range and not capable of penetrating rock (or thick walls I would guess). If you're having signal problems, use amplified aerials. Or put the APs closer to the users...under the floor perhaps, to keep the hotel looking nice What you need to do is a site survey to figure how much signal loss you get through the walls. That'll let you figure how many rooms a single AP can service before it loses signal and a neighbouring device has to take over. That was the idea of using leaky feeder, it can be run under the floor of every room. I will try a few APs see how it goes. Thanks for your help bud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaveriK Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 do you need to run a Cisco wireless controller and cisco APs with that? if so prob going to be to much money. You would indeed sir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemmjonny Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 How many floors? I just bought a cisco wireless controller, only cost £1k and runs upto 6 APs, APs were £280 each. 8 floors i would think you would need at least 6 APs per floor to get every room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwarrior Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Have you looked at these?? cheap and cheerful Linksys WRE54G http://homesupport.cisco.com/en-us/wireless/lbc/WRE54G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ugp Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Personally I use the netgear kit. We recently purchased a controller, four 14 port poe switches and 40 ap's for less than 2k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemmjonny Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 Have you looked at these?? cheap and cheerful Linksys WRE54G http://homesupport.cisco.com/en-us/wireless/lbc/WRE54G Thanks mate, seems to be mixed reviews on that maybe just a little too cheap and cheerful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ugp Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 http://netgear.co.uk/business/products/access-points-wireless-controllers/access-points/WAG102.aspx? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemmjonny Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 Personally I use the netgear kit. We recently purchased a controller, four 14 port poe switches and 40 ap's for less than 2k. Thats not bad. How are you finding it any problems?? I have had netgear routers before and they have been a bit rubbish needing rebooting a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branners Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 We run Cisco 1130AGs in most venues, and HP 420 and 520 units in others. Just about to move to a Cisco management unit but horrified by the costs. £4k for the controller to control 12 APs, and another £7k for a 100 user AP licence. Scary stuff!! Just as a tip (and controlling them may be a bugger) but HP do a lovely bit of kit you could almost install in each room http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/sm/WF05a/12883-12883-1137927-4172284-4172284-4273525.html It is a POE and switch and wireless unit in one, fits in to a standard network box sized hole. Not used them but considering them for the next venue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobUK Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Branners that HP module is lovely but 270 per unit.... Ouch ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobUK Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Saying that I don't suppose the cisco kit is cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branners Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Cisco 1130AG is around £230 a throw, we run about 8 per venue, and have 9 venues. Not cheap. But yes, at £270 a throw for the HP thingy and with around 10 main rooms per venue it would be quite expensive. There seems to be no cheap option, I dont think I could install Netgear wifi units and face our customers when they ask what infrastructure we run, HP units that are set to use a central controller will apparently stop working if the controller goes off line, so Cisco is about the only option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purity14 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 We run Cisco 1130AGs in most venues, and HP 420 and 520 units in others. Just about to move to a Cisco management unit but horrified by the costs. £4k for the controller to control 12 APs, and another £7k for a 100 user AP licence. Scary stuff!! Just as a tip (and controlling them may be a bugger) but HP do a lovely bit of kit you could almost install in each room http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/sm/WF05a/12883-12883-1137927-4172284-4172284-4273525.html It is a POE and switch and wireless unit in one, fits in to a standard network box sized hole. Not used them but considering them for the next venue. Wow i like the look of that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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