Golden Villas Installation Planning

Note: This document was a 'living' document during the planning phase, and as such was never quite up to date. And so far it has not been updated to reflect the final outcome on the installation day. However we're leaving it here in this state to serve as a guide for the next install and/or interested readers. Please don't mistake it as "The whole truth and nothing but the truth.".

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This document is a central planning document for the Golden Villa installation day. The address is
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=3385%20Elm%20St%2C%20san%20diego%2C%20ca and the start time is 10am.

The installation has four parts:

1. Installing the main wireless node above the office
2. Installing the repeater wireless node
3. Installing and configuring the common room computer lab
4. Helping residents get online

Below are the details for each part of the installation.

Main Wireless AP and Office Router

Requirements

The main AP will be located on the peak of the roof which contains the office. The AP will be mounted directly on the wall and the antenna will be in a short pole screwed directly onto the roof peak. A supplied Cat-5 cable will run down the roof and through a new hole into the office where it will be connected to a router which will split the cable internet between the office network and wireless network.

The network configuration is detailed here and there is a separate step by step covering the m0n0wall configuration and Netgate HS3000 AP configuration.

Challenges

• The 50ft pre-made cable supplied with the AP might be too short to go all the way from the rooftop to the office, and it has a proprietary plug on one end. We may have to join the cable outside.
• The AP has a mounting plate that we should be able to mount directly to the wood face board, but if not, we may need to mount all the equipment on the pole.

Equipment List

The following equipment has been purchased for the installation:

Netgate HS3000 which includes a 50 ft outdoor cat-5 cable
SuperPass 8dBi 10 degree downtilt omni
Hyperlinktech Lightning Protector
Soekris 4501 in case with m0n0wall

Still to be Done

Purchase a drill bit to put the cable through the office wall
Purchase sealant to fill the hole after we put the cable through
Solve the problem of extending the ethernet cable if necessary.
Configure the MikroTik
Configure the AP

General Comments

Wireless Repeater

Requirements

The second wireless AP will be mounted at the other end of the complex. It will operate in repeater mode.

Challenges

• The 50ft pre-made cable supplied with the AP might be too short to go all the way from the rooftop to the office, and it has a proprietary plug on one end. We may have to join the cable outside.

Equipment List

The following equipment has been purchased for the installation:

Still to be Done

General Comments

Computer Lab Installation

Requirements

We will receive 6 computers running fresh installations of either Win2k or WinXP, complete with keyboard, mouse and monitors. They need to be hooked together into a switch with a D-Link kit which will get the signal from the main AP.

Equipment List

The following equipment has been purchased for the installation:

D-Link Bridge Kit to hook up the lab to the network
Cat-5 cables

Still to be Done

Need an 8 port hub
Need a few power strips
Pick up the donated computers

General Comments

Resident Installation

Requirements

Challenges

Equipment List

The following equipment has been purchased for the installation:

Eight D-Link Kits - already programmed for socalfreenet.org (thanks John Kim!)

Still to be Done

General Comments

Home Depot Shopping List

Ground lug
"U" clamps and matching wood screww
Radiator clamps

Golden Villas Site Survey Report (South Park)

Drew, Seren, Jason and Michael did a site survey today at Golden Villa affordable housing apartments. Here's the report.

Results Summary

Two access points mounted at each end of the L shaped layout should be sufficient to provide adequate coverage throughout the complex. The buildings are 2 story with 4 units per building and attenuate the signal markedly. However the proposed AP layout allows most units in the buildings to receive a direct signal.

For equipment, we could either go our usual route and have a main AP with both 802.11a and 802.11b radios and a second AP relaying from there. Total cost approx $1300.

Alternatively, we could use a WDS-based solution either based on an inside AP-160 and two Sputnik AP 200 or the Netgate HS3000 (both about $900).

In addition, in the main office we'd either place an embedded PC running m0n0wall or a Sputnik 160 is possible if we go the WDS route.

In short, we could build a system for all 44 occupants and the computer lab for $1000 - $1500.

We saw 4-5 APs during out site survey - much fewer than normal.

Layout Details

The buildings form a rough L shape, with the office located on the leg of the L but towards the corner. It is wrapped around a road on the inside of the L with a gorge on the outside all around. Single dwelling houses are on the opposite side of the road.

The office has an existing Cox business cable connection and is the rooftop we used to place the test equipment (there are also 4 apartments in the building). The test AP was a 200mW Senao CB3 plus, http://www.wlanparts.com/product/NL2611CB3PLUS, with an 8.5 dBi 10 degree downtilt antenna, http://www.superpass.com/SPDG6O-D10.html. Right opposite the office is a community building where they plan to create a small computer lab.

Testing details

With three laptops containing various combinations of built-in (Centrino) and external cards (30mW Atheros-based Netgear and 50mw? D-Link non-prism) we walked around all the buildings while running a continuous 1500 byte ping to the AP. When the pings started dropping we marked that as the edge of useful range.

Using this criteria, we determined that over half the buildings could be covered with one AP. Two remaining buildings had incomplete coverage. Some of those apartments could get good coverage from their front windows, but not beyond. Assuming the same propagation, we concluded that another AP mounted on the last roof of the tip of the L, but closer to the L corner would provide the whole complex with good coverage. The houses across the road on the inside of the L would also get good coverage, and likely the houses across the gorge (though there weren't many, and the downtilt makes it less likely).

Mounting details

None of the rooftops are flat. We decided that mounting a standard L shaped bracket like that used for satellite dishes on the end of the building at the peak of the roof would be simple and effective and allow the antenna to rise about 1 foot above the roofline. We could route outdoor Cat-5 cable to the roof via the water downpipes which are open at the bottom and then up to the box following side roof trim panels. A tall ladder will be needed for the installation day.

At the office location we will need to drill through the office walls like cable TV installers do. Inside will be power and the internet feed.

At the other building location the power box has a double outlet underneath the main meter box (5 meters - 4 units plus 'house'). We would need to add a water-resistant housing for the PoE. A simple 4x4x4 electrical box would suffice and could be mounted directly on the wall (perhaps even surrounding the double outlet box?).

Dirt surrounds all buildings so driving a grounding rod for lightning protection should be straight forward.

Pricing details

Standard relay:

$ 40      - 2 x LMR-400 N-male N-male cables
$ 20      - lightning arrestor
$ 45      - PoE
$ 65      - downtilt 8.5 dBi omni
$ 50      - 802.11a 'backfire' antenna
$ 14      - U.FL pigtail
$ 70      - 802.11a radio
$320      - Metrix kit (with 200mW 802.11b radio)
$ 20      - misc fittings (copper, cat-5, hose clamps)
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~$650 each radio

Sputnik based:

$ 20      - 1 x LMR-400 N-male N-male cables
$ 20      - lightning arrestor
$ 45      - PoE
$ 65      - downtilt 8.5 dBi omni
$290      - www.sputnik.com/products/aps/ap200.html
$ 20      - misc futtings
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~$460      - includes tax on sputnik

Netgate HS3000 based:

$ 20      - lightning arrestor
$ 65      - downtilt 8.5 dBi omni
$355      - www.netgate.com/product_info.php?products_id=41
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~$440     - 250mW HS3000 comes with lots of odds/ends

Base Station Options

Sputnik 160 (WDS only)
~$110 - with tax and ship

M0n0wall based Nokia IP110

$100  - Nokia IP110 from Ebay ???
$ 20  - HD to CF adapter (mini-box)
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$130  - with ship - very approx!

M0n0wall based Soekris:

$161  - net4501 with case
$  9  - power supply
$  10 - CF card
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~$190 - includes tax

This started out being short but ended up pretty complete. Please ask any questions about anything that isn't clear.

If we can get the go ahead fairly quickly, we could schedule this installation quite soon. This will be a very worthwhile addition to this community as well as a great wireless learning experience for everyone, so I hope to see a few new faces on install day :-) .

Golden Villas Wireless Internet Installation Report

Our intrepid band of volunteers really pulled through today with the most complex single-day install we've ever accomplished!

For starters, there was the common room that become a computer lab. Then there was the dual node installation of a main AP and a second rooftop repeater AP. These were all driven by a newly installed router, firewall and captive portal box (a soekris box running m0n0wall). Many, many thanks to all of you, both the regulars and the newcomers. With one less person, it would have been hard to finish in one day.

Things that went well

We've learnt a lot in the past year and are applying it more consistently. In particular, we've found that the more work we can do before getting onsite, the smoother the day will go. This allows more time to cope with the unexpected.

Some specific things we've learnt previously and applied well this time:

• a solid site survey with the intended installation equipment, including antennas. This meant we didn't have to do any testing or relocation of gear on the day.
• timely purchase and assembly of all the equipment -- physically assembling all the gear beforehand eliminates surprises like: missing small but critical components (zip ties, sealant goop) and catches problems like incompatible mounting hardware (though see below)
  
• network planning -- we designed and fully documented the network layout, including all equipment interface IP assignment, subnets etc. We've always done the design before, but never documented it so well (still room to improve)
• preconfigure settings and end-to-end test, and document it -- this was probably the first hard learnt lesson and we've taken it to heart, though this was the first time we'd documented it. Each piece of gear was configured according to the network plan and documented as we went (gateway router, HS3000 AP). Then, and this is the crucial step, it was all hooked together and connected to a live internet feed. However even this wasn't a perfect test, see below.
  
• project planning -- Also for the first time we put together a planning document. This was the largest install by far that we've ever attempted in one day. We usually do one node, period. This was two nodes and a lab. So we decided to split out the tasks and divvy up responsibilities ahead of time. This allowed some of the work to be frontloaded before the day and also allowed tasks to proceed in parallel on the day. We have more work to do on this approach, but it was a promising start.
• start early -- 10am was on the early side for an install day, but with the ambitious schedule we planned, it was a good move.
  
• standard gear -- for a while we've tried to find a standard set of gear and stick to it. This simplifies ordering and stocking (e.g. we always use 48" LMR 400 N-male to N-male cables and hence N-connectors on all radios). Although we used new radios this time and a new relay approach (WDS), the rest of the install followed a familiar pattern: SBC m0n0wall based gateway/router, PoE powered rooftop gear, lightning protector and 8 gauge copper ground to a solid ground rod or equivalent, our usual Superpass omni downtilt antenna and small stuff like UV-rated zip ties, hose clamps for mounting, duct goop for waterproofing etc.
• volunteers rule -- Last but not least, our many skilled volunteers made the day the great success it was. Given how we're structured and our educational emphasis, we often don't know until the day exactly who will turn up apart from the core team. However it never fails (so far!) that everyone who does show up brings some vital piece of gear or some special skill that makes a unique contribution to the day.

Many, many thanks to the volunteers who showed up on the day and who provided critical support beforehand, including: Seren, Drew, Jason, Michael, Dave, Dlan, Stewart, Marc, Joe, Ben, Matt and Mike S. Not to forget our president Lee, who also wrote a wonderful thank you. All your contributions were vital.

Things we learnt

Although all's well that ended well, there were some 'learning opportunities' during the day. The reason for mentioning them here is not to dwell on them, but rather to make note so we can avoid these problems in the future if possible.

• always put all the gear together before getting on site - in this case the 1" mounting poles didn't fit securely in the 1" mounting brackets leading to a last minute scramble to find an appropriate mounting solution. Fortunately we've learnt this lesson already with the electronics, and all of that worked great, with no onsite configuration necessary.
  
• Double check the configuration as applied - for the first time we completely documened the planned network IP layout, but the gateway WLAN IP was erroneously set to the base network address of 10.12.11.128 instead of the first IP value of 10.12.11.129. Strangely, this worked during testing and also for the laptops we tried which were running WinXP, but not for the lab computers rnning Win2k. (The symptom was DNS not working).
• Plan on making an extra trip to Home Depot - the best laid plans oft go awry. Ideally a trip offsite to get odds and ends won't be necessary, but better to plan for one anyway and then be thankful if you don't need to go.

Equipment Used

Used for	Name & Link	Approx Price	Qty
Gateway	Soekris 4501	$206	1
	8MB CF card, cables	$15	1
Radios	HS3000	$320	2
Antennas	downtilt 8dBi	$65	2
	lightning protector	$20	2
Cables	1.5M N-Male N-Male	$18	2
Masts	1" aluminum offcuts	$5	2
Misc	Mounting hardware, electrical hardware	~$50	1
Volunteers	Pizza Lunch	$50	1

a work in progress - the final tally is still being worked out