High performance AP for public WiFi

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mrnaz
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:00 am

High performance AP for public WiFi

Post by mrnaz »

Hi all,
I have been tasked with setting up a public WiFi AP at a community center. There are likely to be up to 100 people trying to use it simultaneously, and so choosing the right AP is crucial.

I also want to use Gargoyle as a router so I can provide quotas and limits to each user. So I have the following questions:

1. Are there any routers that can handle this sort of load that will also run Gargoyle? If not, could I use a high-end AP and then use a Gargoyle router behind it to provide quota functionality?

2. Can Gargoyle effectively manage quotas and bandwidth tracking for a network with this sort of load?

3. Is Gargoyle even the right tool for this job, or is there "business grade" (whatever that means) hardware that I should be considering instead?

Thanks y'all!
- Naz.

Lantis
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Posts: 7063
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 5:33 am
Location: Australia

Re: High performance AP for public WiFi

Post by Lantis »

I would use a high end AP with a gargoyle managing the quotas and limits.

What is the connection speed that will be supplying this access point? Above 100Mbps you'll need a fast router, and above about 200Mbps I think you're going to start throttling due to bottlenecks. (These figures are top of my head).

There are business grade access points of course.
https://lantisproject.com/downloads/gargoylebuilds for the latest releases
Please be respectful when posting. I do this in my free time on a volunteer basis.

ispyisail
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Posts: 5212
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:15 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: High performance AP for public WiFi

Post by ispyisail »

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac/

wifi can be a bit shaky with gargoyle at times

but Ethernet data control is rock solid with gargoyle

unfi + gargoyle = thumbs up

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