Pico or Nano

[bobcopro]

I need a little purchase help here. I have multiple internet sources at my location and have blended them together using a couple of dual WAN SysWan routers.

I would like to provide internet service to my neighbors. Each house is approximately 200 to 500 feet apart, going back probably 20 houses. I was thinking I could use the Pico's as bridge repeaters or just as repeaters and keep pushing the signal from house to house, with each one tapping off for their connection.

I currently am doing my adjacent neighbors already using an EnGenius AP on my roof and basic Linksys routers running DD-WRT located inside the houses. I have no confidence in these Linksys in their ability to retransmit with the required power.

Here's the questions:

Is the Pico right for this or should I use the Nano?

Lot of scrub brush and small trees between houses. Currently my antenna is on my roof. Would I be better off locating it at around 6 to 8' where there is a bit of a break in the foliage when it comes back in? I can see these houses (and them each other), but there is brush and leaves and such.

How many jumps can I make with these before the signal or bandwidth becomes an issue. I could use a pair of PS2's to push the signal back in a ways and move on from there.

Better sender than the EnGenius? Maybe the PS2 with the external connector and one of those antennas that look like a ring of soda cans?

Any ideas on limiting bandwidth per user without a degree or $4000 router?

I'm trying to make a little money and provide high speed where no one (utility) is willing to put in the infrastructure. I do not have a lot of cash and like the value to cost ratio of the UBNT stuff, so if someone can give me some general idea if I'm heading in the right direction I would really appriate it.

[ngds]

My suggestion...put up decent omni antenna on the roof, get a Routerboard 4xx series to act as your core and base AP with all the QoS and bandwidth limiting features, put an SR2 in it.

Without seeing your idea of trees/brush in the area, I would suggest trying Pico's for the close range stuff, and Nano's further out. Keeping in mind with a little creativity you can run WDS and use the Pico's to feed Nano's/Pico's that are non-LOS to the base omni.

Even if you come up with a nice network layout try at all costs to avoid putting any dependancy on other houses. If someone trips over a PoE cable and knocks out service to 5 other houses then even the most perfect design is a failure.

So to answer your question, Pico's should be fine if the access area is "local", if your trying to reach out to a mile or more, go Nano. A Nano will also have a better chance of blasting a signal back through trees assuming you're running a decent omni and a higher output card on the base.

[bobcopro]

ngds,

Thanks for the info. I have a lot of computer and electronics experience, but lack in this particular area. A basic question; these router boards I see and hear about. What are they? They look like they should fit a specific case? I'm happy to get one and educate myself on it, but I need to know what else I need to make it functional and get started.

Your information is very clear and to the point. I appreciate the trip over cord issue. I'm thinking if I get stuck in the position of having to rely on a client location, it will have to be one that routes to a power source in the basement and be secure, otherwise I'll try to avoid it if I can.

I appreciate your taking the time to read these.

[ngds]

Routerboards are just another system on the market, they have a ton of features but that tends to come at a small price of stability. They are made by Mikrotik which develops the RouterOS software. http://routerboard.com and http://mikrotik.com

So if you look at both Mikrotik gear and Ubiquiti, Mikrotik has a ton more features with the typical software quirks whereas Ubiquiti has less features but a more solid device/software. That’s not saying either of them are bad it’s just that they seem to fit in different parts of the network. Ubiquiti is awesome for CPE gear and smaller point to point setups. However they don’t have things like OSPF and (easy to use) VLANs to run on the distribution layers of the network. Ubiquiti devices look like something you’d buy in a nice computer/electronics store, Routerboards will look like the OEM stuff that you hide off in a corner somewhere.

In my large setups I run Cisco on the core where I can’t afford a failure, Mikrotik on the distribution layer, and Ubiquiti on the CPE side OR as special application backhauls when I need a simple bridge between two points. In your case you don’t seem to need the large core part of it, so you can use a single Routerboard to handle core routing and distribution out to the CPE’s. The RouterOS software can handle your main routing, PPPoE auth (if you use it), QoS and ratelimits, plus advanced firewall features.

You can’t go wrong getting a Routerboard to play with, even if you don’t use it on this project, you’ll end up with something you will use it for. A Routerboard 433 or 493 might do the trick for you depending on the number of ports you need for your plans. A Routerboard with a wireless card going to an omni on the roof will create a nice little base station, then take a Ubiquiti box and start playing with the setup to see what result you want.

[ralburqu]

I use a Draytek and works just fine, it is simple of use and cheap there are a lot of models, with or without AV, AntiSPAM, VPN, FXO and FXS ports, etc.