[SOLVED] Is deco M5 enough for big user and company ?

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hakim.homecentra

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Mar 26, 2018
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Hello, we want to upgrade our WIFI Connection

currently we are using three router, so it has three WIFI Connection, but it really is bad. our company is a retailer it only has one floor but its pretty huge more than 300m length is more than 200 Meter, our sales use a smartphone to scan our product to get the current price and sell it to our customer, so when they walk around the store, WIFI might get disconnected and our sales to reconnect to another closer WIFI Router which is bad especially on rush hour

recently i just open the TP Link website and it has a great technology like Deco M5 that can be use to roaming seamlessly with three or more device and ONE WIFI, it really is a great solution for us
but is it really good enough for us ?
  • we have 50 people for our sales that use smart phone to connect to WIFI, 30 on weekday and fuil 50 on weekend, even worse when we do a Stock Opname all of our employee use the smart phone so it about 95 to 110 people connect at once.
  • it has a pretty big range, about 300m the length is more than 200 Meter, as for the width about 50 to 80 i think...
  • can the device do a restricted user, like if our sales connected it just get an IP to connect to our database, but does not have an internet connection but if back-office employee use the WIFI, it will have an internet connection. [we have a mikrotik too, if it does not possible for deco m5 only , can it be integrated with our mikrotik to do this ?]
if deco M5 not good enough, any other device that can fulfill our requirement ? any advice is appreciated, thanks in advance
 
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Solution
kanewolf
hakim.homecentra said:
so it will has a multiple WIFI name huh, actually that is one of our dilemma too since many of our sales person is outdated people who think that WIFI can be automatically change when their position change so they always complain to us when WIFI is slow but actually they just need to change to the closer WIFI

as for the deco mesh advertises, here some link https://www.tp-link.com/id/landing/decowifi/ if you scroll down a bit there some GIF image which ilustrate how their Deco Mesh works. and that is what we actually needed though if possible...
Click to expand...
I talked about roaming. It is up to the device. WIFI was not designed for seamless roaming. There have been things added to help, but it is not guaranteed. This is where...
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In addition to the above you have to be very careful about believing the marketing hype. Wifi was never designed to be a mobile platform so you are not really going to get "seamless" roaming. They try to pretend that these "mesh" systems magically solved all these problems even though corporate installation have been trying to get this to work for years with limited success. They mesh systems talk about 802.11r,k,v etc but these are nothing new they have been in existence for at least 10yrs and commercial systems with almost unlimited money have trouble making it work.

Key factor is the end device not the network decides what to connect to. Some of the newer end devices now support these so called roaming protocols but it still tends to not work real well at times.

The best roaming tool is not some fancy software it is the human using the device. They generally know when there is a better source to connect to.

In your case I would make all the SSID the same. If the signal gets low the device will by itself look for a better signal. If the performance is poor it is purely a matter of clicking stop and start on the wifi and it will reconnect likely as fast as the person pushing the buttons can go. Now if you are using enterprise mode with a radus server then these so called roaming systems become more important to speed it up. These consumer mesh systems do not even really support the main bottleneck on roaming in a corporate install. In any case it should switch in maybe 1 or 2 seconds after you click connect....it will not be truly seamless but so called seamless hand off is more of a cell phone concept where you do not want your conversations interrupted even for a second or two.
 
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jojesa said:
Is that 300 sq. meters?
If it isn't, could you provide the square measurement?

For large areas, you might need to look into business mesh systems like AmpliFi HD WiFi System by Ubiquiti.
Click to expand...

unfortunately i don't know exactly the measurement but i do know it length is more than 200 meter since we have bought on one box of LAN Cable to put a CCTV from server to the edge of the store which has 200 meter cable and it still not enough

i see, i will take a look at that wifi
 
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hakim.homecentra said:
unfortunately i don't know exactly the measurement but i do know it length is more than 200 meter since we have bought on one box of LAN Cable to put a CCTV from server to the edge of the store which has 200 meter cable and it still not enough

i see, i will take a look at that wifi
Click to expand...
A square, 200 meters on a side, is 40,000 square meters.
Significantly different than 300.
 
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hakim.homecentra said:
Unfortunately i'm the "Head IT Guy", i'm specialized on software, but nothing on Networking. i don't know even know how to operate mikrotik withouth seeing tutorial
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Then this is when you turn yourself into the Project Manager, and contract this out. Both the WiFi and your server(s).

Hire a good local networking guy for the WiFi and other networking, and contact Dell or HP for the server(s).
 
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kanewolf said:
Home WIFI is not designed for commercial use. If you want light commercial network hardware, look at Ubiquiti for WIFI.
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hello, i have take a loot at this. it range is very big too. but is it can handle more than 90 people connected at once ? we actually has bought many WIFI device and not once device we bought can handle when there is more than 50 user connected.
is maybe technology is still not supported it ? please help. we really are literally more than 100 people use the same WIFI together
 
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USAFRet said:
Then this is when you turn yourself into the Project Manager, and contract this out. Both the WiFi and your server(s).

Hire a good local networking guy for the WiFi and other networking, and contact Dell or HP for the server(s).
Click to expand...

well i think the retailer shop that use Smart Phone and WIFI Conection for the selling it product in our local is ours only as every local major shop or tech that i asked only have experience for a home connection or school connection which both doesn't necessary need a full network connection from morning until nigh time with a more than 100 User connected at the same time which i don't really joke about this.
we have doing the Stock Opname to re count all of our stock using our smart phone and our wifi so that the counted item can be saved to database as fast as possible without need to use any paper that cost more every year, even with the 3 Router we use currently more than half of our employee can't connect to the WIFI anymore after some people connecting. the WIFI just can't connect, i even restart the device many times too.
so for a backup i made another software that has the same function but use own packet data (Internet) to connect to database for counting the item
but it only is the temporary solution and many of our employee don't want to use their own internet, thats why i'm asking this question. is it really possible, i don't care even if the speed will be slower i just want all 100 user can be connected at once.
 
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hakim.homecentra said:
well i think the retailer shop that use Smart Phone and WIFI Conection for the selling it product in our local is ours only as every local major shop or tech that i asked only have experience for a home connection or school connection which both doesn't necessary need a full network connection from morning until nigh time with a more than 100 User connected at the same time which i don't really joke about this.
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You're looking in the wrong place for a consultant.

What do other businesses do in your area?
 
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USAFRet said:
You're looking in the wrong place for a consultant.

What do other businesses do in your area?
Click to expand...

unfortunately the super major network retailer branch like TP Link or Ubiquiti is no where to be found in our local except the retailer that sell their item. we live in country Indonesia, its nation capital is Jakarta and we live on Medan, even if there is TP Link or Ubiquiti branch it might have some in Jakarta but nothing on Medan.

do you have any advice on this sir ?
 
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I hope you didn't make runs that long. Ethernet cable is limited to 100 meters per run. You would have to put switches in every 100 meters to get the distance longer. Most people just use fiber.

In a building that big you would need a lot of AP.

I am sure there are professional wifi installers that can get equipment. If you are willing to pay the big dollars you can use HP or Cisco but I suspect there is someone cheaper.
 
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bill001g said:
I hope you didn't make runs that long. Ethernet cable is limited to 100 meters per run. You would have to put switches in every 100 meters to get the distance longer. Most people just use fiber.

In a building that big you would need a lot of AP.

I am sure there are professional wifi installers that can get equipment. If you are willing to pay the big dollars you can use HP or Cisco but I suspect there is someone cheaper.
Click to expand...

if we use deco m5 with many access point lets say, about 15 to 20. will it be enough to cover our building? and is it still can handle up to 100 connected at once? what is your opinion sir?
 
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hakim.homecentra said:
well sorry about that, lets see,at least the LENGTH is more than 200 Meter, not 200 Meter Square but it has more than 200 Meter, i'm sure of this...
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You need to start with basics, which is finding the size of the area that needs WiFi coverage.
It is very simple to find the square measurements, just multiply the length by the width.
Also, you need a very simple to setup system...if you're planning to install it and troubleshoot it.
Do you use voice and messaging apps? Are you ok with basic performance?

hakim.homecentra said:
...i just want all 100 user can be connected at once.
Click to expand...
Then you need Business/Enterprise grade hardware. Home network devices are not designed to have more than 25 users at once.

hakim.homecentra said:
..unfortunately the super major network retailer branch like TP Link or Ubiquiti is no where to be found in our local except the retailer
Click to expand...
Which network retailers are available on your area (Cisco, Juniper, Aruba, etc.)?
 
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jojesa said:
You need to start with basics, which is finding the size of the area that needs WiFi coverage.
It is very simple to find the square measurements, just multiply the length by the width.
Also, you need a very simple to setup system...if you're planning to install it and troubleshoot it.
Do you use voice and messaging apps? Are you ok with basic performance?


Which network retailers are available on your area (Cisco, Juniper, Aruba, etc.)?
Click to expand...

no we do not use voice and messaging apps, just some simple apps that read and write data into our database, and it not even use internet at all as long as device connected to the same network, they can read and write the data

so yeah just basic performance is ok as long it can handle up to 100 user at the same time.

i have done some research even now and stumbled some high end wifi router like UAP-AC-PRO, UAP-AC-HD and ubiquiti amplifi HD. is one of those device can be used for our requirement ? and if we want to use it for mesh compatible do we need to buy exactly same model ?
 
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hakim.homecentra said:
i have done some research even now and stumbled some high end wifi router like UAP-AC-PRO, UAP-AC-HD and ubiquiti amplifi HD. is one of those device can be used for our requirement ? and if we want to use it for mesh compatible do we need to buy exactly same model ?
Click to expand...
A single WIFI source is good for about 45m radius in clear line of sight and it is limited by the transmit power of your hand-held device. ANY obstructions lowers that number significantly. Your 200m distance would need about 5 APs. If your 200m really is a square, then 20+ access points for minimum coverage. Walls, obstructions, you need more. You need a knowledgeable WIFI engineer to survey your site and provide you a proposal.
The models you listed are not routers. They are access points ONLY. You still have to have a primary router. The AC-HD model is intended for high density environments, like a classroom auditorium. You probably don't want the AC-HD units.
 
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kanewolf said:
A single WIFI source is good for about 45m radius in clear line of sight and it is limited by the transmit power of your hand-held device. ANY obstructions lowers that number significantly. Your 200m distance would need about 5 APs. If your 200m really is a square, then 20+ access points for minimum coverage. Walls, obstructions, you need more. You need a knowledgeable WIFI engineer to survey your site and provide you a proposal.
The models you listed are not routers. They are access points ONLY. You still have to have a primary router. The AC-HD model is intended for high density environments, like a classroom auditorium. You probably don't want the AC-HD units.
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i see, 5 AP huh. as for the wall there is absolutely no wall obstruction since its like a long hallway with some product line up

as for the router, is our mikrotik router fine and support mesh all of those component? or do we need to buy a same brand router?
 
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hakim.homecentra said:
i see, 5 AP huh. as for the wall there is absolutely no wall obstruction since its like a long hallway with some product line up

as for the router, is our mikrotik router fine and support mesh all of those component? or do we need to buy a same brand router?
Click to expand...
Yes your mikrotik router would be acceptable.
"Mesh" is not what you want. Mesh is a wireless uplink between APs. You want single SSID. You can configure Ubiquiti APs with the same SSID. In fact you can have multiple SSIDs per AP.
 
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