Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Public Wireless Access Points - I Need Some Help
Me ^ | 6/13/16 | The LouisWu

Posted on 06/13/2016 5:59:30 PM PDT by The Louiswu

Greetings - My young business is being given an opportunity to set up new interior wireless access for two small restaurants along with point of sale access and I could use some advice and pointers on the best equipment to use and the best way to set up that equipment.

Thanks in advance, I always get good advice from the folks here on FR.


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: computernetworking; networking; wifi
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021 next last

1 posted on 06/13/2016 5:59:30 PM PDT by The Louiswu
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: The Louiswu

That’s a very complicated question and all the answers are
“it depends”

When all else fails though, consult the Hindmost.


2 posted on 06/13/2016 6:02:16 PM PDT by Malsua
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Malsua

...”consult the Hindmost”, I went there first, he said I should come to FR : )


3 posted on 06/13/2016 6:03:07 PM PDT by The Louiswu (Yes, I am voting for Donald Trump.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: The Louiswu

Short answer: Cisco commercial wireless gear and Micros POS.


4 posted on 06/13/2016 6:05:30 PM PDT by relictele (Principiis obsta & Finem respice - Resist The Beginnings & Consider The Ends.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: The Louiswu

Make certain of the separation of your public and private networks. Really, really certain.


5 posted on 06/13/2016 6:07:42 PM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: The Louiswu

You are talking about “functional allocation” of assets.

You must do a “requirements analysis” first, or else you will be doing a redo when what you build is not what they want.

Lots of questions to answer about “what you want” before you get to “here’s how you do it”.

Need lots of information about “it”


6 posted on 06/13/2016 6:08:10 PM PDT by calljack (Sometimes your worst nightmare is just a start.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: relictele

I was looking at the
Cisco Aironet 802.11ac Wave 1 Access Point


7 posted on 06/13/2016 6:08:26 PM PDT by The Louiswu (Yes, I am voting for Donald Trump.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: calljack
"Need lots of information about “it”"

Ok - Thanks for that - I felt like there was a lot of front end work to do, more than I had done...
8 posted on 06/13/2016 6:10:09 PM PDT by The Louiswu (Yes, I am voting for Donald Trump.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: The Louiswu

To echo the above posts, while “home grade” access points will work, they’re not very manageable nor robust. You have to buy commercial grade and Cisco makes good APs.

As far as a POS systems, I’ve designed and installed them in the past and how they are built and configured depends entirely on the business and how it works.

I will say this, don’t try to computerize everything. Some things just work better as a paper system. For example, in a small restaurant, it’s easier for the wait staff to write a ticket and hand it to the cook than it is for them “re-enter” it on a terminal that prints in the kitchen.
Once you get 30+ tops, digital order entry is the only way to go.

There are a million ways to go about it, you’d be best served to find a local company that can service you and provide service during your operating hours. It’s more expensive, but if it breaks, they have to fix it.


9 posted on 06/13/2016 6:12:51 PM PDT by Malsua
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: The Louiswu
Look at Small net builder.
10 posted on 06/13/2016 6:12:59 PM PDT by reg45 (Barack 0bama: Implementing class warfare by having no class.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: The Louiswu

Dont use the default username and password.


11 posted on 06/13/2016 6:13:00 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Noumenon

Ping.


12 posted on 06/13/2016 6:19:34 PM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: reg45

Thank you


13 posted on 06/13/2016 6:22:48 PM PDT by The Louiswu (Yes, I am voting for Donald Trump.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: The Louiswu

Save your money and look at Ubiquiti Networks. Far easier to set up and manage, easy to segment into guest and private access and blowtorch WiFi performance at a fraction of the cost of Cisco.

And remember, “Cisco” is Spanish for “bend over”


14 posted on 06/13/2016 6:30:00 PM PDT by Noumenon ("Objects in history may be closer than they appear")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: The Louiswu

Wait a sec...you have a business that sets up little Wifi spots for other businesses and you don’t know what to purchase for the install? I find this very weird and in need of more details.


15 posted on 06/13/2016 6:32:20 PM PDT by lefty-lie-spy (Stay metal. For the Horde \m/("_")\m/ - via iPhone from Tokyo.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lefty-lie-spy
"Wait a sec.." That's fair...I have a small computer shop, a friend if giving me a shot at this project - my tech and I have done work on existing networks so we have a very small foot in the door but I want to make sure we are doing this job correctly. The work we have done in the past has been to clean up other jobs that were poorly done and we've done well enough so that my friends feels we deserve a real shot on a new network from start to finish.

We have some direction on which was we think we should go, but I like to check in with folks here at FR from time to time, everyone is pretty helpful and I usually get some good advice.
16 posted on 06/13/2016 6:41:39 PM PDT by The Louiswu (Yes, I am voting for Donald Trump.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Noumenon
"“Cisco” is Spanish for “bend over”"

Thank you
17 posted on 06/13/2016 6:42:20 PM PDT by The Louiswu (Yes, I am voting for Donald Trump.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: The Louiswu

Those saying to use cisco don’t realize they we’re purchased by the Chinese and are the most frequently counterfeited systems.

That said as restaurants, they will need inventory management, sales management with predictive analytics, some form of marketing platform and accounting/tax systems. Realize payment is moving away from cash/card to Near field systems like apple pay. Nothing you can provided will last very long, unless you cloud almost all of the requirements. ( Think SAS or software as a service)

Not to be a big debby downer but an actual service as a small biz that you can provide (in house) is real time data backup, off site, with the ability to bring them back up quickly. Think disaster recovery. Say you place them on the amazon cloud platform and it crashes. (its happened) If you can step in and provide the basic functions to keep the company going, that’s an insurance product with a high value.


18 posted on 06/13/2016 6:53:03 PM PDT by waynesa98
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: The Louiswu

Smallnetbuilder.com


19 posted on 06/13/2016 7:02:43 PM PDT by ImJustAnotherOkie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: The Louiswu

Bump for later reading.


20 posted on 06/13/2016 7:49:56 PM PDT by TChad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson