WLAN proposal.. will it work?

[Omar78]

We have a building which is fully networked.. now there is a new building being built no more than 10 meters away.. and we want to provide wireless access to users in the new building.

My plan so far:

find the nearest network point in the main building and run a RJ45 cable to the new building.

plug a wireless router (4 port) into the network point in the new building

plug a laser printer (via HP JedDirect External Print Server) into one of the ports in the router.

there will be 8 laptops which will want to surf the net.. and possibly access a shared area on the network..

im planning on using D-Links 54Mbps 802.11g products..

My Questions:

Will it work!?
does the network point that i'll be using in the main building have to be plugged in to the uplink port on the switch?
would i need another access point in the new building (its just one big room) or a better antenna to cope with 8 laptops?

is there anything iv missed out that i should consider?

any help appreciated..

[M/Q]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like a pretty good plan. I would like to know more about the existing network. Is there a wireless system in the existing building? If so what equipment is being used and how is that working? Will the clients in the new building be using the same applications and amount of bandwidth. These two questions will help determine what you need to make it work right.

As for the Cat5 cable, you may know this, but want to make sure. If it is an outside run, please make sure to use outdoor CAT5 or have it in a conduit. Now for using the nearest network point scares me a little. That connection should be straight the the backbone switch or what ever you have as the main artery/controller. It will eliminate a possible bottleneck from occurring.

Now the new building, not knowing the applications and bandwidth required it is hard to say if one node will be enough. I am also going to give my sermon here about separate devices. I would consider using a wired router/switch at the entrance to the new building and then place an AP where it will do the most good for the 8 clients. If one is not enough then you can add another AP later. See where I am going, combo units are a compromise and do not scale well. This is a business so you are going to want to do it right. I also would like to see you use enterprise grade equipment. DLink is not bad for home use, but again businesses are a different matter, time is money and you do not want any trouble with the network. I would suggest looking at Cisco, Proxim and 3Com for the wireless devices and you already are using some switches/routers and have confidence in them. So that part would be easy.

Depending on how/where you connect the linking CAT5 cable on the backbone will depend where you connect it. Also it obviously will depend on the device you use. In the new building you are not going to be using the router part of the device whether it is a wireless or wired router, so you would just connect it to the wired switch portion of the device. You may have to use a crossover cable depending on whether the devices are auto sensing or not.

[Omar78]

thanks for replying mpkn3rd

i hope to answer some of ur questions..

no there is curerntly no wireless network in place..
the main use will be for net access .. and microsoft office applications..
im 99% sure the network points goes directly into th
e patch panel/switch

i'll go with ur plan on the Switch/AP method..
Will look at 3Com's range of products..

would i need a lightening arrestor?
is there also a need for a repeater in the network?

[M/Q]

I am not quite sure why you mentioned a lightning arrestor, as there should not be any outside antennas. As for the repeater, if you mean in the new building, I would consider that a bad idea. That is why I mentioned the switch and ability to add additional AP's to the wired switch.

If you are considering a wireless link between the buildings that is a different matter, and we can discuss that if you would like to.

[Omar78]

no i dont want to create a wireless link between the two buildings..i did initially but thought id be compromising performance.

so the plain is..

run outdoor cat5..into a switch..connect an access point or two.. and a laser printer into the switch.. and hopefully that should be fine..

thanks for your input..