I need to connect 30 15" Macbook Pros via a wireless network. Initial tests with a Linksys/Cisco WRT54G v6 indicate that it tops out at 10 devices simultaneously, and any further connection attempts are rejected. I need all 30 to be connected simultaneously. What are my options? Cost is somewhat an option (this is for a student organization, so we can get money, but not big money); we're willing to spend extra money for convenience. Things I've considered:
- Multiple Access Points, each with a different SSID/channel, all connected to a single DHCP server; manually load-balance (ie, "you, you, and you, connect too Foobar_1; you, you, and you, Foobar_2," etc).
- Better access points. Would a 54GL running DD-WRT support more concurrent devices?
- Multiple better access points serving as repeaters, wired or wireless?
Also, the environment we're operating in has about 20 existing 802.11b/g networks. We were able to get plausible performance for 10 machines by selecting an unused channel after looking at Kismac to determine what channels the existing networks were on. Would it be worth looking into 802.11a, since that uses 5ghz vs 2.4ghz? I've never needed to simultaneously connect this many machines at once..
Best Answer
I would check out http://www.xirrus.com/ I saw a demo where 96 iPads were connected to a single AP from Xirrus. Half of the iPads were streaming a live video feed and the other half had a script that was browsing the web. I don't know cost but I know from experience getting 30 computers on a wireless connection is not an easy task. The school system I worked for 5 years ago never got it figured out. Technology was different then but Xirrus looks promising.