Adding wireless network to church (walls are 14" thick...)

[joshbgosh10592]

So, here's my problem...
I'd tasked with the project of having wifi throughout my church. Sounds easy, until I mention that my church is large, and the walls are 14" thick... Oh yea, it's also 4 floors and pretty wide (I'd say 200 feet?)

Current setup (Please note, I did NOT set this up originally. It was a mess...)

Office - Main Comcast Business gateway/Linksys E2500 Wireless router.
Cat5e to pastor's office (about 200 feet away) down a hall.

Pastor's office - 10/100 unmanaged switch with a Cisco/Linksys WRT120 connected to it for wifi (we were having issues with devices down the chain, so I made is so the WRT120 is not in the mix of the flow.)

Choir room - US Robotics wireless router (I forget the model)

My thoughts: Leave the setup as is, and add Ethernet over Powerline adapters to make it fill the void.

What are you guys' thoughts? My budget is as cheap as possible.

 

[bill001g]

Powerline may be your only option but it really depends on the pathing of the wires. Distance does impact how well it works and since a church likely has a commercial electrical feed which can add more issues. To work best the powerline device like to be on the same circuit the more complex the path is the less likely it is to work.

All you can really do is get a pair of powerline modals and test and see if you can get a combination of outlets that work.

With think walls you are really stuck, wireless repeaters likely won't work and it likely is too costly to have ethernet run.

 

[christinebcw]

Remember that RJ45 cabling (Cat 5-5e-6) has a 100-meter limit (about 290 feet) without repeaters.

Can the overheads 'above' ceilings be accessed easily?

I think the "throughout the church" is going to create problems with interference of overlapping WiFi IF, indeed, "everything is WiFi'd".

That's one issue I'd re-examine. By having WiFi in dedicated (and hopefully physically distant spaces), you can have Good WiFi in those areas and not a lot of interference-laden zones. Those thick walls will not only restrict WiFi from getting in, but they can be bouncing and reflecting any WiFi insides inside them.

 

[joshbgosh10592]

There's no way I could have cabling running through the building - trustees would kill me if I even asked.
For the power adapters...
The building is wired vertically (don't ask...)I'm thinking having 3 different Ethernet over Power networks running vertically so even if the three "columns" met at all, they would ignore each other, unless I wanted them. Each column would be connected via one of the routers. Possibly have the EoP adapters (wireless adapters) all on different channels. Thinking systematically, I can't see any problems in terms of IP. What about you guys?

 

[bill001g]

You are going to have to experiment with the powerline. You could make them work in pairs but they tend to use less bandwidth if you can make them all one network. It depends if they can detect each other. If they can't then pairs will work well. If they can detect each other you are better off using them as 1 network...ie 1 at the router and a number of remote ones. The issue that comes if you run 2 pairs and they can actually hear each other they will interfere. Both will pair up but you will not get good bandwidth rates.

 

[joshbgosh10592]

The problem with them being on all one network is we have multiple circuit breakers, so I know there will be major issues with them trying to cross through the breakers.

 

[bill001g]

That is the whole problem. They do not cross breakers well but they DO actually cross them. So if you put one pair on one breaker and another pair on a different breaker they will still bleed signal into each other. A guy I work with can actually see a weak signal from his neighbor because of how the transformer connection in the road is made. Still in the long run it doesn't matter a lot it will work or it won't. I know of no way to filter the signal to prevent it from going everywhere. I would just buy the same exact brand and model for all your devices that way you can try both configurations and see what works best.

 

[joshbgosh10592]

That's why I'm starting to think that I can force the adapters to communicate on a different EoP network, by changing the way they actually communicate each other. They'll probably see each other (weakly) but will just ignore each other.

 

[bill001g]

One issue is a security concern and the other is a performance concern. You can keep the 2 connections separate just by using different security keys. This prevents the data from being mixed together. It does not though solve the issue that both are trying to use the same bandwidth on the cable. If the signal exists it will compete and interfere with the other.

 

[garrick]

Hard to say without seeing the way your church is set up but try putting an access point on each floor and try to make it as central as possible.
You'd also want to make sure your access points are not using the same channels & of course use WIFI N access points.