I have built a large area WiFi network from scratch. Here is the topography.
We are located in a remote area of the "stan" countries and internet access is via satellite. I am operating a single dish with modem at 4M X 1M @10:1 bandwidth/contention ration. The satellite modem feeds a single Linksys switch running to four Ubiquiti Rocket M5's each connected to a Ubiquiti 120 degree 19dbi antenna. The outlying access points are 6 to 10 meter towers with Ubiquiti Nano M5's connected to Ubiquiti PowerAP N wireless routers acting as the access points. I have a high density population in the area and support over 100 users of which 45 to 65 are on-line at any given time. I do not try and be a fiber optic speed supplier, I simply supply internet access for a fair price.
I have teamed with HSS to manage my billing and what a team we make. Profits are very healthy.
I have assisted another WiFi Newbie in another area and here is my original message to him.
Step 1. Get rid of Antamedia. Not only is it hard to use, it is unreliable and has questionable on-line and telephone support. They NEVER fixed a single problem for me. I had to figure each problem on my own and still never got the billing to work correctly.
Step 2. Go to HSS and explore their system and how it works.
Step 3. Set up your system conecting your satellite modem to a switch or switches to your wireless routers. No computer required. You can extend your reach by putting up Wireless Distribution System (WDS) Access Points (AP's). You and I would normally call these repeaters. This is when you use DD-WRT firmware. I had used DD-WRT firmware but have switched over to Ubiquiti AirOS firmware. No slam on DD-WRT but I find AirOS firmware much easier to use as I am a rookie not an advanced techie. I have also gone to a 5ghz distro system as the 2.4ghz distro system I originally operated just wasn't reliable enough. Considering there are probably 400 - 500 transceivers within 2 miles that are operating in the 2.4 band I had to do something to get my reliability rating up. The 5ghz band is the answer.
Good luck out there, HSS is the way to go.
Smokin J HotSpot
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