Which wireless solution can help?

[adebowalen]

I need to provide wireless Internet accesss to many customers that already have Cisco 340 series client adapters installed on there systems. Some of these customers are 20-30KM aways. Can 340 Series base station do this job.

[mococa]

No, you´ll need to use Bridges, both side, to get this distance.

[colin-lim]

==Access Points==

The Access Point is designed to serve a cell size of only up to 300 meters. All antennas for Access Points are designed for indoor use only. Moreover, the futherest distance it can reach is about 200+ meters (based on indoor use @ 1Mbps).

==Wireless Bridge==

The Wireless Bridge, though can reach a further distance (up to 40km), is designed to connect two or more networks, and NOT serve as a cell for wireless clients.

My best advice would be to use wireless bridges in a point-to-multipoint setup, to connect to your uses at different sites. At each site, setup the access points which are connected to your wireless bridge via the backbone.

Your customers would then have access to the wireless LAN via the access points at each site.

[blue.modal]

If you are facing a situation where NOT connecting these clients means going out of business and providing bridges to each one will also put you out of business, you will have to find a way to install repeaters (Access Points) closer to the clients.

802.11b specifies a maximum distance of 1 mile (1.2Km) to the client. Bridges use proprietary signalling to go further, so don't mix manufacturers.

Nokia has an interesting approach wherein each subscriber unit becomes a repeater for other subscribers. This has been done by Wireless ISPs using Cisco and other products, Nokia just makes it simpler.

[j-mason]

You will want to look at using the Aironet 350 series equipment. The bridge will be your best bet, but remember, anything over 1 mile is not covered under the 802.11b spects.

The bridges can be configured as a access point as well as a bridge.