Cheap CPE?

[savagedavid]

Hi thought the forum might be interested.

I am currently experimenting with building a cheap CPE. I am basing it on the WRT54G / OpenWRT system. I am using a homebuilt flat panel biquad antenna (good for about 11-12 dB gain) and homebuilt POE (about R60 including 20M cable). I have mounted it all in a weatherproof box.

Total cost of system about R900

My first attempt worked quite well and I am currently using it at a client (who is also a good friend!) as an experiment. Distance is about 3 KM.

I am thinking of building these and selling them for about R1000 rand or so. If anyone wants to atempt it themselves I will furnish more detail.

Cheers
David

[Pox]

This would have been helpfull 2 days ago....before I went and bought all that ;)

[savagedavid]

Sorry - only joined today!

[nyven]

This sounds exactly what we are looking for (I think).

I have just had a chat with my landlord and they are also interested in joining up with the mesh here in CT.

Since i am a real noob at the wifi type of stuff, can you please give me a quick rundown of what exactly this solution will give me? And will this be sufficient to join up with the mesh ?

[savagedavid]

You will get the following:
1 x waterproof outdoor exclosure with mounting bolts (40 - 50 mm mast compatible)
1 x internal biquad antenna (gain ~ 11dB beamwidth about 40 degrees)
20 metres ethernet cable
Power over Ethernet unit
WRT 54G with alternate firmware (capable of Access Point mode, client bridged mode)


For an extra R300 I can upgrade to the base station version which gives you far more features such as power boost to 250mW, bandwidth control, QOS, VLAN and many other features

If you used this with an external antenna you could have quite a powerfull base station system

In short everything you need to become a low level wisp

If youlike I can also come around and advise on the best route for you guys to take (it is what I do for a living after all!)

[FxpForce]

Can u post some pics ?

[daffy]

So for R300 you'll load a Sveasoft firmware on it?

Waste of time and money.

Load FrieFunk. Its free, flexible (based on OpenWRT, but it has a web interface) and it supports OLSR.
We use OLSR on Jawug for the dynamic routing.

[Mufasa]

why would you pay R300 extra for something you can do yourself ?

[savagedavid]

Like servicing your car, I guess - you'ld rather pay someone else to do it for you.

[savagedavid]

So Daffy, you are saying that paying R1200 for a fully operational base station including antenna is a waste of money? I happen to think it is a pretty good deal, considering an average CPE price of about R1600 frommost suppliers. The software is not free and I paid my money to use it. I also put a lot of time into assembling and testing the system.

As I said, if anyone wants to do it themselves they are welcome to and I will gladly help them with any advice I can give. I don't beleive in holding any information secret and I have listed all my costs above. As I have indicated elsewhere, I also need to make a living from this.

Cheers
david

[Mufasa]

are you operating as a WISP ?

[savagedavid]

Yes

[savagedavid]

Perhaps I should give more detail. I started out messing around with wireless systems as part of my normal job (which is computer support and networking). As a natural progression I started connecting up my friends who are close to me to give them shared internet access from my system. I charge an amount which is enough to cover the cost of my connection and recoup some of my hardware costs. It is still essentially a hobby and not my fulltime job. But at least now I get to buy cool wireless toys and play with them!

[nyven]

What are the chances that you can come out to where I stay with one of your Boxes and have a look at the connections that you can get? I would like to buy one of your boxes, but I need to ensure that it will be worthwhile.

[savagedavid]

What area are you in?

[nyven]

Plattekloof, the old section. Second last row of houses. We have line of site from centruy city to the other side of libertas.