Wi-Fi in very long building

Hi there.

I need to organize WiFi in very long building.
3 access points so that they all have the same SSID but working on different channels.
They should be smart to know how to work in team.
So when client moving through building his laptop/smartphone is switching from one access point to another one.
They should be mounted on ceiling and support POE.

Please recommend Mikrotik access points.

Thank you.

How did you come to number of 3 Ap?

What about Leaky Feeder Cable (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaky_feeder)

Never heard of it before. This cable is wonderful!

Leaky feeder cable will grab the interference from all around and also will make all the clients to share one ap radio. This is not enough advantageous according to my opinion.

I would go by whatever xxx-2hnd device from mikrotik that would suit your needs by its other capabilities. For example the RB951Ui-2HnD looks to be the best for me. Sure you can use mAP or hAP but they have only single chain radios…

me too.
But Jarda, is there anything else special is needed to run with this Leaky feader?

and I’m agree with RB951 because i see it better that Cisco AP!

Just to correct what I wrote before. HAP is dual chain. And mAP could be used also but is again single chain.

Leaky feeder cable will grab the interference from all around and also will make all the clients to share one ap radio. This is not enough advantageous according to my opinion.

That depends entirely on what the OP intends to use it for and the number of active clients he wishes to serve.

Either RBMetal5SHPn or the RBMetal2SHPn will connect directly with properly terminated Leaky Feeder easily (Don’t forget to have a matched Terminator i.e. dumy load at the other end/s).

You could also run two lengths of Leaky feeder in parallel (Sufficiently spaced apart) and connect up a dual chain radio such as any of the NetMetals or BaseBox series to improve throughput and coverage etc. just use the appropriate pigtails to match it all up.


In more regular shapes such as square building you could also try dual chain centre fed leaky feeder in a cross shape or other combinations. There is just an additional dB loss to be factored in for centre fed systems when calculating losses and power.


In long or large buildings this often provides a good coverage solution without saturating the whole band. This then leaves you some of the band available to pop AP’s in any hard to cover places where required.


It’s not a one solution fits all but it’s worth considering and offers simplified deployment in appropriate situations.

an interesting read https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/m/R-REC-M.1075-0-199409-I!!PDF-E.pdf