wi-fi Wi-Fi for faculty building

[EvilDevil]

Hello, everyone.

I'm part of my faculty's student union and I'm looking for ways to improve our Wi-Fi network because it is horrible. It consists of many wireless networks, originating from different "wireless routers", and there are even places without any coverage. I suspect they are even interfering.

The building is 85m by 20m and is 6 storeys high. The construction is brick and concrete and there are a lot of walls on every floor. Half of the lowest floor is underground and there are a couple of half-floors between the top two. Peek load of the wireless network would be 2000 people or slightly less (mostly uniformly distributed). I was looking into Ubiquiti APs and think HD or EDU(if we find a use for the PA) would be best. Walking around the building without disconnections is desirable.

 

What would you consider being the best for our case (number and model of APs)? I'm open for every suggestion and would greatly appreciate any help.

 

Excuse my paint skills, but that is roughly what the floor composition looks like.

[captain_to_fire]

https://youtu.be/XUBdUJjgmQY 

 

[Lurick]

I know enterprise APs usually have a block and contain option which broadcasts a counter-signal of sorts to attempt and contain rogue APs and at least contain the area of the SSID, when setup with other infrastructure they can pretty much kill the AP from accessing and broadcasting on the network. Not sure if Ubiquity has this ability or not, it might but just check. Since there is a lot of concrete and whatnot in the building you're going to need probably 1 AP per room and several, spaced properly, along the hallways.

 

You're going to need a beefy controller as well that can handle a few thousand users, even if peak is 2000, I would look for something that can handle more, just for overhead and room to grow.

[EvilDevil]

A friend had mention a "mast" like the ones for mobile. Is there even a Wi-Fi equivalent and would it be appropriate?

[kasugatei]

I would personally go to multiple indoor units. You will get more performance per user and avoid single point failure.

 

If I remember correctly, airMAX software from Ubiquiti enables you to use your building plans and see the expected signal propagation. That can also help you to see how many units do you need. Also, configuring them as a mesh will also spare you from the headaches.

 

As alternative to Ubiquiti you can check Mikrotik as well. However, they are not as easy to setup as Ubiquiti.