Build a portable battery powered 4G router for 40-100 clients

RouterOS Wireless Networking
1

Hi Guys, I just registered to this forum, I hope you can help me out :slight_smile:

I got Mikrotik recommended for the task that I need to achieve:

I need to build a portable device (that can be in a backpack / sidepack for example) that is strong enough to serve 40-100 users. By strong enough I mean it has enough memory and cpu, and also the antenna hardware is strong enough not to drop people all the time. By portable I mean that it fits in a backpack or side pack, and can be carried by anyone. The clients will not actively use internet on it, so I don’t expect 40-100 people using bittorrent for example, all of the clients will be phones, using facebook, twitter, etc.

All of the clients will be close maximum 10-15 meters from the device.
The device will need to have a 4G card. The limits of the 4G network does not matter, if it’s slow then it’s slow.
Once people connected to the wifi, it needs to give the clients limited access to internet, notably to only our website where they can register. If that is successful then another website has to be opened, and otherwise free internet access. I don’t need this to be configurable from menu items, I’m comfortable with scripting.
About battery power: I would like to have the device to operate at least for 6 hours. I’m planning to use powerbanks, or any suggestions that fits my use case.

Can you please advise? The price is less important then to have a working solution, so if possible please don’t outrule a working solution juts because you consider it too expensive.

Thanks a lot!
All the best
gargatok

2

Suitable products you can use as building blocks:

  • SXT-LTE if 4G band (3 and 7) are supported in your country. (5W)
  • hAP ac (17W)

Both support 11-57V DC range. Maximum consumption will be 23W.

No need for powerbanks; I’d look for either a couple of 12V 5Ah AGM batteries (15-20€ each), or build a pack from 4 lithium batteries minimum (>12V) (less weight per Ah). average power draw will be in the 200-300mA, so 5Ah will be enough for I’d say minimum 12 hours or more.

SXT-LTE can be aimed to get the best possible 4G throughput.

The back pack can contain the batteries (2x 12V 5Ah will set you around 3,5Kg weight). And a smart battery charger.

A small telescopic pole can be fixed to the backpack, holding the SXT-LTE and the hAP ac at the top inside a weatherproof box.

You could power the SXT-LTE through hAP ac ether5 poe-out, so only one cable (power from the batteries) will be needed to go from the backpack to the hAP ac on the pole).