Hi Everyone,

I want to replace various TP-Links that form our current WiFi with RouterBoard APs and am looking for suggestions.

The main work does a CCR1009-8G-1S in the office where it handles 3 LANs (one of which is the WiFi and connect that to the outside world).
The WiFi is running over some 1500m2 in two buildings up to 3 floors high.
The main problem is that the walls of the buildings are mainly up to 1m thick adobe walls (I am in Bolivia) and (at least with the TP Links) those Adobe walls kill the WiFi signal. (If I am behind 2 walls, but only some 5m away from the TP-Link AP my MacBook only gets 1 bar.)
Currently I have some 7 TP-Link APs around the building and still have a few blind spots.
The most frequented area of the hostel is covered with a RBcAP2n.

The WiFi itself would have to deal with up to 300 connected clients at any given time.

Which RP hardware would you suggest in this case? Should I look for just one or two much stronger APs or replace the all the TP-Links with various smaller RouterBoards?


Thanks

The optimal solution in your case would be yo have many low power APs.
Few high power ones will give a readable signal to the clients, but they will fail to hear your client's signals, rendering the network unusable.

Thank you docmarius, how low would you go?
https://routerboard.com/products/group/20

Thanks

As Marius already said, go for a large number of low-power AP's like the wAP or cAP or even cAP lite and configure
them in the CCR using capsman. Don't try to beat the walls.

Thanks Guys,

I'll check what I can find here in the altitude of the Andes...

i think the suggested model is
wap ac
https://routerboard.com/RBwAPG-5HacT2HnD

this model gives you the versatility needed to most environments

if you are on a limited budget go with hap ac lite
https://routerboard.com/RB952Ui-5ac2nD

you lost some functions but is still a concurrent dual band, this is very important taking in count the increasing amount of 5ghz client on today wlans

but the most important element of the wlan is design, do a predictive site survey to preview and estimate the amount of ap needed quickly, then before cabling or installing anything do a ap on stick pre-instalation survey to collect specific details of environment and ap interaction, and the required configuration tuning on ap (tx power, channel assignment etc), whit the information of this survey you have defined the design then do the installation, and a post installation survey to verify that the result is coherent with your desing, if not take the correctives to polish the implementation.

search google about the folling topics, you will find very usefull design guides and webinars:

wireless lan site survey
common mistakes on site survey
high density design wlan
high capacity design of wlan
common mistakes locating aps

if your implementation is an hotel, search for specific infomration about that implementations