CPE210 array installation
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CPE210 array installation
Region : Mexico
Model : CPE210
Hardware Version : V1
Firmware Version :
ISP :
Greetings. The following setup details and any recommendations thereafter may assist many other individuals with similar setup questions.
Since the manuals are too vague with installation details, I am now seeking serious and professional technical TP-Link advise in order setup Wi-Fi service for a rural area about 4Km wide by 4 Km long with rough topography and about 500 homes and small businesses.
The central office is a small cyber-cafe that receives internet service at 180Mbps download and upload each through a 5GHz antenna.
At this office they have a server running Antamedia HotSpot (throttling each connection to 320Kbps) and want to enable customers to access the Wi-Fi service, with a single SSID for everyone, from anywhere in the community, about a 2Km radius, without the need to have them come inside the central office or around it in order to connect to the internet.
Instead of obtaining a powerful access point with an external omnidirectional antenna I was provided with seven TP-Link CPE210 access points and asked to set them up properly.
I have some network knowledge but I need more specifics on the actual installation of these access points, such as:
how to properly inter-connect a group of CPE210's within the same tower
[*]what is the minimum distance between each access point in order to mount them on a tower
[*]proper distance setting to cover everyone within a 2Km radius
[*]maximum distance for an access point mounted as a repeater (range extender) that is facing away from the main Access Point
[*]how to extend the coverage with the equipment we have in order to enable more than 254 clients to connect simultaneously.
In the meantime I have temporarily (and not too confidently) set them up as follows:
The central office is located in the middle of the community.
[*]The central office is running a server for Antamedia HotSpot with two network cards: NIC1 connects to the ISP; NIC2 connects to the first CPE210 which I setup as the main Access Point.
[*]The first CPE210 Acess Point is mounted on a tower atop the central office, about 12 meters high.
[*]Since each CPE210 has a coverage angle of about 70 degrees, I have setup 6 of them, including the main Access Point, in a horizontal circular array in order to cover all 360 degrees around the central office. What is the minimum distance from each other the CPE210's need to be installed at? I did hear something about a signal noise that may cause the access points to not work properly when installed too closely together or without some kind of metal shield. Does this apply to the CPE210's?
[*]The Access Point is also running the DHCP server. Should I have a separate DHCP server/router in front of the main Access Point instead?
[*]The other five CPE210's are setup as repeaters, each one connected to its own POE separately. Each Repeater is locked to the main Access Point wirelessly. Should these Repeaters be connected with a network cable to each other instead? If so, how would I go about setting them up appropriately? If not, should I/could I connect two at a time by enabling passive POE passthrough? Could that affect each Repeater's network settings?
[*]The seventh CPE210 has been setup 300 meters away as another Repeater atop the school building, facing 180 degrees away from the central office, in order to improve the Wi-Fi signal behind the building. By the way, the school building is a very old construction that has 1 meter thick stone and concrete walls, and concrete and tile ceilings, as well as very small windows.
[*]The Repeater at the school is also connected to a wireless router via network cable to a non WAN port in order to improve the Wi-Fi signal inside the building.
When a customer wants to use the internet they first connect to the Wi-Fi network (open, no password). Then they must open their browsers and enter their account or ticket information and then the HotSpot server opens the internet connection for their equipment.
This setup works but not well since I am observing that clients loose connection all the time, or their equipment (cell phones, tablets, laptops and desktops) hang when trying to get a connection in the first place. Disabling their wireless adapters and re-enabling them mostly fix the problem. The server hardware and software has been properly setup by Antamedia HotSpot technicians.
Is it possible to have each Repeater have its own complete network (serving 254 IP addresses each) and be setup as a separate DHCP server in order to reduce the load on the main Access Point, such as in a normal ISP to Access Point setup, therefore enabling more than 254 clients to connect simultaneously?
[*]Would that create conflicts?
[*]Should the Repeaters instead be setup as individual Access Points?
[*]How could they all be setup with the same SSID?
If a detailed diagram with IP addresses and settings would help, please let me know so I may create one.
Thank you very much for any prompt and kind assistance on these matters.
Model : CPE210
Hardware Version : V1
Firmware Version :
ISP :
Greetings. The following setup details and any recommendations thereafter may assist many other individuals with similar setup questions.
Since the manuals are too vague with installation details, I am now seeking serious and professional technical TP-Link advise in order setup Wi-Fi service for a rural area about 4Km wide by 4 Km long with rough topography and about 500 homes and small businesses.
The central office is a small cyber-cafe that receives internet service at 180Mbps download and upload each through a 5GHz antenna.
At this office they have a server running Antamedia HotSpot (throttling each connection to 320Kbps) and want to enable customers to access the Wi-Fi service, with a single SSID for everyone, from anywhere in the community, about a 2Km radius, without the need to have them come inside the central office or around it in order to connect to the internet.
Instead of obtaining a powerful access point with an external omnidirectional antenna I was provided with seven TP-Link CPE210 access points and asked to set them up properly.
I have some network knowledge but I need more specifics on the actual installation of these access points, such as:
how to properly inter-connect a group of CPE210's within the same tower
[*]what is the minimum distance between each access point in order to mount them on a tower
[*]proper distance setting to cover everyone within a 2Km radius
[*]maximum distance for an access point mounted as a repeater (range extender) that is facing away from the main Access Point
[*]how to extend the coverage with the equipment we have in order to enable more than 254 clients to connect simultaneously.
In the meantime I have temporarily (and not too confidently) set them up as follows:
The central office is located in the middle of the community.
[*]The central office is running a server for Antamedia HotSpot with two network cards: NIC1 connects to the ISP; NIC2 connects to the first CPE210 which I setup as the main Access Point.
[*]The first CPE210 Acess Point is mounted on a tower atop the central office, about 12 meters high.
[*]Since each CPE210 has a coverage angle of about 70 degrees, I have setup 6 of them, including the main Access Point, in a horizontal circular array in order to cover all 360 degrees around the central office. What is the minimum distance from each other the CPE210's need to be installed at? I did hear something about a signal noise that may cause the access points to not work properly when installed too closely together or without some kind of metal shield. Does this apply to the CPE210's?
[*]The Access Point is also running the DHCP server. Should I have a separate DHCP server/router in front of the main Access Point instead?
[*]The other five CPE210's are setup as repeaters, each one connected to its own POE separately. Each Repeater is locked to the main Access Point wirelessly. Should these Repeaters be connected with a network cable to each other instead? If so, how would I go about setting them up appropriately? If not, should I/could I connect two at a time by enabling passive POE passthrough? Could that affect each Repeater's network settings?
[*]The seventh CPE210 has been setup 300 meters away as another Repeater atop the school building, facing 180 degrees away from the central office, in order to improve the Wi-Fi signal behind the building. By the way, the school building is a very old construction that has 1 meter thick stone and concrete walls, and concrete and tile ceilings, as well as very small windows.
[*]The Repeater at the school is also connected to a wireless router via network cable to a non WAN port in order to improve the Wi-Fi signal inside the building.
When a customer wants to use the internet they first connect to the Wi-Fi network (open, no password). Then they must open their browsers and enter their account or ticket information and then the HotSpot server opens the internet connection for their equipment.
This setup works but not well since I am observing that clients loose connection all the time, or their equipment (cell phones, tablets, laptops and desktops) hang when trying to get a connection in the first place. Disabling their wireless adapters and re-enabling them mostly fix the problem. The server hardware and software has been properly setup by Antamedia HotSpot technicians.
Is it possible to have each Repeater have its own complete network (serving 254 IP addresses each) and be setup as a separate DHCP server in order to reduce the load on the main Access Point, such as in a normal ISP to Access Point setup, therefore enabling more than 254 clients to connect simultaneously?
[*]Would that create conflicts?
[*]Should the Repeaters instead be setup as individual Access Points?
[*]How could they all be setup with the same SSID?
If a detailed diagram with IP addresses and settings would help, please let me know so I may create one.
Thank you very much for any prompt and kind assistance on these matters.