[ale] Ultra-cheap wireless gear - slightly [OT]

[Christopher Hagler]

Could you not pick up a couple of old routers from a pawn shop and flash
them with dd-wrt? I have heard a few friends talking about this before.

On Sep 13, 2017 1:34 AM, "Alex Carver" <agcarver+ale at acarver.net> wrote:

> On 2017-09-12 22:13, Beddingfield, Allen wrote:
> > This is an impoverished shoe-string budget project.  I am helping with
> the IT "stuff" at a community center in a small town nearby.  They are in
> an OLD cement block schoolhouse.  They have a single CenturyLink 25mbs
> connection in an office in the center of the building (the only ISP and
> highest speed available).  The wireless does not penetrate those walls
> well, so it sucks if you get more than a couple of offices away.  The
> building is laid out as such that 3 access points should cover it
> adequately.  I'm thinking of running a single CAT5 to an unmanaged 100MB
> switch in the middle of the building,running the runs of CAT5 from there to
> the optimal places for access points, and connecting up some cheap/consumer
> grade access points there.  (Naming them "EAST-WIFI", "MIDDLE-WIFI",
> "WEST-WIFI", etc..).
> > Question:  It seems that dumb access points are harder to come by and
> more expensive than routers. Do any of you have an recommendations for just
> an access point (keep in mind, I need CHEAP), or for a router that is known
> to work well in access point mode?  (Keep in mind, I'm looking at sub-$30
> wifi routers on NewEgg and trying to remember what was on the shelf at the
> thrift store at this point).
> > Any recommendations on cobbling this together on the cheap?  I need
> either a good access point, or a router that I can easily put in access
> point mode.
> > FYI, performance is not much of a concern.  The kids won't be using
> this, it will just be for a few staff computers. Main issue is
> reliability.  I am about 20miles away, and their on-site technical ability
> is low.
> > Alternatively, any opinions on wireless repeaters?
>
> I think for the costs you're looking at, even at $30 per router, you
> might be able to pull off something like Eero, Plume, Netgear Orbi, or
> one of the other wireless mesh systems which means you wouldn't need the
> switch nor the long cabling.
>
> At the speeds you're talking about, even any interference in the Wifi
> signal will not really register on applications, the bottleneck will
> still be the ISP link.
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