Ask Slashdot: Can You Install a Wifi Mesh Network in a Barn? (slashdot.org)

Long-time Slashdot reader pikester has a friend running a museum "looking to make it more interactive for visitors." To make this happen, the museum is going to need to have good WiFi connectivity throughout the premises. The good news is that the museum is pretty small. The bad news is that it is located in an old horse barn with many metal walls. I'm hoping to put in a mesh network for him, but most solutions I've seen are pretty bulky. I'm looking for recommendations for a solution that is easily mountable in the building. Long-time Slashdot reader Spazmania suggests it's "not terribly complicated." After setting access points to same SSID but different channels (and with the transmit power down), "walk around with a piece of free software such as Wifi Analyzer and tweak the positions and transmit power on the access points until the signal levels look good in wifi analyzer." But are there other solutions? Leave your own best answers in the comments.

Can you install a wifi mesh network in a barn?

Comments

Re: Yes

[tysonedwards]

802.11ac Wave 2 devices are mesh capable. That means as long as theyâ(TM)re in range of one another, they will use MU-MIMO to maintain a trunk back to whichever devices have Ethernet available and allow users to roam between devices freely without being disconnected. However... prior to enabling mesh, yes it is advised to do as the summary says to ensure there arenâ(TM)t dead spots and be able to track down the effective range of each AP and any localized interference that may call for devices to be a little closer together or moved.

+50

[Anonymous Coward]

This is the best advice.
Ubiquiti isn't cheap like used APs, but it isn't expensive like all their competition.
It has a centralized management solution that can be hosted anywhere with connectivity, even Amazon EC2. You can put a raspberry pi in the location and have management run on it too or any other existing Windows/Linux/OSX system there. It is java (eew), but it is java (runs everywhere) too.
It understands "grid" and will setup power output to limit overlap in a good way.
So, if your time is free, get a bunch of used APs, find power for each location, get wired ethernet to each location and fight for about a week to get things working.
Or
Install PoE Ubuiquiti APs, have the management system set the needed power for each node, and be done in a day.

Get some cheap commercial stuff. Dont hacktogether

[kaptink]

Not sure one your budget but - You will need access points that will seamlessly move clients to one another (Aruba IAP105's are cheap - forget the fancy newer HT80+ stuff) or something similar from a competitor. Checkout Aruba, Aerohive, Ubiquit, Rukus, etc. Do a search for Aruba HAT - "home agent table" to get an idea of the idea of how a user is moved around between nodes. Mikrotik also has some cool stuff. Havent check them in a while. Think DD-WRT just does relay which is pretty nasty.

If it were me, i'd grab a bunch of ebayed IAP105's, or 205's if they had the cash, and link them via EoP (ethernet over power) so no backhaul wireless needed. You can stick em anywhere on that phase of the power. (check if three phase power and design accordingly)