Hi. I’ve only been able to read a few of the posts in the various forums but now I have a general idea how I would like to setup my Wi-Fi and I would like to post it now and get some feedback.

First off let me describe my location and requirements etc …

The area that I have to cover is only about 1½ - 2 miles in radius … flat terrain … my mounting point for my central AP will be about 40ft off the ground … there are no buildings over 1 story … and all WDS AP’s will be in LOS of the central AP … need to be able to eventually support 200+ users …

For my Central AP I plan to use a 433AH with 3 SR2 radio cards … I decided on the SR2 because I read a lot of posts on the R52H and high failure rate … As per dsobin’s post I will configure the radio cards like this…

http://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=27857 …

“Configure all 3 radio cards as mode = AP-bridge. Let's call the 3 cards wlan1, wlan2, wlan3.
Set the freq and SSID as required on each card.
Create a bridge.
Add wlan1, wlan2, wlan3 as ports on the bridge.
Give the bridge an IP address. Do NOT give each of the interfaces an IP address.

This is not an application for WDS. WDS is used to connect AP's on different nodes across a wireless link. All of your AP's are on the same node, so you just bridge them internally.

Your single board will now have 3 AP's all bridged together as one.
If you are building a hotspot, tell the hotspot to use interface = bridge1 (assuming your bridge was given the usual default name of bridge1).”

As for an antenna for the central AP… Pacific Wireless makes a 15dB 2.4 GHz VPOL Sectorized Omni that is actually a 3 120degree sector antenna array housed in a central radome ….
http://www.pacwireless.com/products/SO24.shtml
…. Which is perfect because I can have each radio on the 433 connected to each of the sectionals ... and still cover 360 degrees …

Now I have also purchased several Ubiquiti NanoStations2 with 15dB Omni’s as well … I will place the NS2’s in a modified Star of David pattern around the Central AP … these will operate in AP WDS mode …
I will also be using MikroTik RB/1000 as the GW/Hotspot/User Management and Bandwidth Management Router going to the VSAT terminal that will be providing the internet …
That is an overview …

My questions are …

I know the NS2 each only support about 25 users effectively … the 433AH … how many concurrent users, including the WDS’s, can I expect to be able to support???

And the RB/1000 what is its max throughput?

Also, with the NS2 I’ve ordered regular 15dB Omni’s … should I go back and order Omni MESH … and what is the difference between a regular Omni and Omni MESH???

Any suggestions or comments on what i want to do?

thanks for the feedback ...

With a radius of only 2 miles, you should have no trouble. However, 15 db antennas on the client sides is probably overkill. Will all your clients be reporting back to the central 3 ap's, or, are you trying to build a mesh system throughout the entire circle?

Also, are all your clients connected to individual radios, or are you building out smaller AP's at each client location? In other words, are your clients wireless laptops that connect to a local AP that then connects to your main 3 AP's?

I use the 3 sector antenna unit from PacWireless. Works very well, but is fragile. Be VERY careful not to drop it or you will bust off the radome and there's no repair for that.

John ... thanks for the reply ...

the AP's will have the 15dB antennas ... the clients will just have their wireless cards in their laptops ...

I will have on central AP in the almost very center of the base ... and i was planing to have other AP's that will be WDS ...

right now i think i use the 433AH with 3 radios 2.4G and the pacwireless ant. as the main AP ... with the NS2's as WDS secondarys ... eventually i will have the 433AH with 2 2.4G radios for clients ... a 5G for backbone ...

then i will switch out the NS2's OR add to the MESH other 433AH with 2 radios ... 2.4G for clients ... and 5G for backhaul to the Main AP ...

or if i can find 133 .. they will work better .. they have 2 miniPCI ... a 433AH as WDS secondary AP's might be overkill ... but the 133 is EOL ... but ideal as an AP/backhaul link function ... i hope MT will come out with a comparable function board in the future ...