Ask Slashdot: Best Wi-Fi Solution For a Hotel?

dynamo52 writes "I have been tasked with replacing a managed Wi-Fi system for a mid-sized hotel. They have already selected Comcast to provide a 100mbps connection, which unfortunately must come in at one corner of the ~5-acre property. The hotel plans to provide this service for free, so there is no need for any type of billing management system, though it should be secured enough that the parking lot does not become a free Wi-Fi hotspot. Additionally, there is no ethernet infrastructure in place. The existing APs (hidden away in proprietary encasements) seem to be connected via telephone lines and the owners have strongly indicated they would prefer that no new wiring be installed. Have any Slashdotters implemented similar systems? Specifically, what hardware did you use and what special considerations should I take in designing this system?"

Comments

Dude, I don't wanna shit all over your question

[Anonymous Coward]

But it seems like there is an entire market of consultants whose entire job description is planning this sort of thing?

Dear slashdot

[Anonymous Coward]

Please do my job for me. I am too incompetent to do it myself.

Thanks.

Re:Wha?

[pikine]

I would appreciate that you keep quiet if you don't have anything constructive to offer. Your smart ass attitude of "let me think that straight for you" is what makes Slashdot such a painful place to hang out. If you are knowledgeable, you could still make educated assumptions to these supposedly key details and provide helpful answer. You inability to do so should not be blamed on the person asking the question. Besides, I think most of the detail you ask for are irrelevant.

What is the hotel using now and why does it want to replace it?

Why are you asking this? There is no reason you should need to know why they want to replace something.

What is a "proprietary encasement," and who put the APs there? Are you expected to put new APs in the same encasements? What will happen to the old APs? You say the hotel doesn't want to lay any new cable. That might just be too bad, but it also seems to imply that there is already some cable somewhere. Why not use the existing cable? You say the APs "seem to be connected by telephone wire," but you don't sound sure. Perhaps it's just long strings with tin cans at each end? Is there any way to find out?

I'm almost certain he means that the hotel uses leased lines (which is dedicate circuit telephone wire, not circuit switched like your typical telephone) and some sort of modem to connect the APs. There is ethernet over phone line and ethernet over coax cable adapters that he can use to avoid laying new ethernet wires. As a commentor, it is your job to mention these options, not to ask him back and blame him for not providing you with the detail.

If the existing network is as strange and nonstandard as you make it sound, why is that? Was there something unique to the property that made that the best solution, and is it smart for you to ignore that?

That is a ridiculous question from you. A building wiring is often a hack job just like how much of the programs are spaghetti code. Electricians who are good at wiring is hard to find. All you can do is to work with the mess and make it better.

Before you begin, have you verified that the hotel's contract with Comcast actually allows it to offer Internet access to the public?

He mentioned that it is 100Mbits, which is Business class Ethernet that typically requires you to work with a Comcast business representative and negotiate some form of agreement. Unless the hotel owner is falsifying his intent, I'm pretty sure the comcast representative would have brought up the use case of providing wifi to hotel customers. Besides, this is between the hotel owner and comcast. This is none of your business, really.

You say the hotel wants to provide the network for free, so there's no need for any billing management system. Are you then comfortable with the idea that there will be no logging of the network at all, and no record of who might have used it and when? Is BitTorrent OK? How about botnets?

Good that you brought it up, but why can't you answer your own questions?

If the patrons aren't expected to pay for the network, can they expect it to exist at all? That is, do you have a plan to test and verify that every room will have equal access to the network, and that a guest who came last summer won't return this summer and find out that the hotel doesn't seem to have WiFi anymore (when in fact it's just their new room)?

I'm sure they will take care of it. That's out of the scope of the original question. This is ridiculous. 802.11a/b/g/n uses unlicensed spectrum. And as long as his equipment is FCC compliant, he should not have to worry about this.

Does your task include just replacing the network or does it also include managing the network, making repairs, etc.? How much time do you plan to devote to that?

That's his business, not yours. If you offer him an option, it is up to him to ask how much maintenance effort is required of him or the hotel owner afterwards. You have not offered any options yet, so these questions cannot be asked.