Hi All,

Currently our network is setup to have one main Windows Server 2003 DHCP Server, which links up through a WatchGuard Firebox Firewall, and from there goes through our DS3's Router.

From the Windows Server coming back internal to the network, we have our core switches, which from there optical links link up our other buildings around our 86 achres. At each building we have network switches then linking up all rooms.

We are kind of like a small business, but at the same time our college has a lot of residents, both the business and residents make use of the same DS3.

Currently we have setup in our switches for the residents buildings, each resident's MAC address is entered in for what ever network port their apartment is hooked up to. So if they went next door and plugged in, they wouldnt be able to connect to the internet because the switch isnt allowing them.

Anyways, we are wanting to open up all our ports over the campus, and replace the current DHCP server with a Mikrotik Routerboard 1000 controller, from the main controller using its RADIUS server, link up to multiple smaller routerboards which check back with the main controller's RADIUS server for its DHCP authentication. So in theory if the resident went next door and plugged in, it would work because their MAC is know campus wide from the RADIUS server.

My question really is will the RB1000 be able to handle so many connections? on average we have roughly 1800 live connections to the internet, in the evenings of course these connections get less.

We at the same time want to setup a campus wide hotspot. We already have the wired infrastructure, as mentioned, for our whole campus. I had asked a while ago how it would work to 'maintain' the wireless connection by walking through the campus, and somebody suggested I look into WDS. I had a look and WDS seems to bridge wirelessly rather than through the wire.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think WDS can work for me then. I looked around and it seems EoIP is my solution. For the wireless clients, I guess it would be best for their DHCP lease to appear on the main controller, so when they hop hotspots, their lease isn't 'lost'. If anybody has experience with such things, I would appreciate the help.

Thank you,

Regards
ChildOTK

Mikrotik can do this, it would depend on the usage etc, if the 1000 can handle the load. There are x86 Options out there too. http://www.mikrotikrouter.com is one of them.

I am sure any MT consultant can help you out, but there are some tips and tricks that can make this process much simpler. We have experience with this type of setup.

Thanks for your reply.

Ok, so, We have a DS3 (45MB up and 45MB down), will a RB1000 be able to handle this efficiently? Would you recomend we keep our current Windows 2003 server to be the DHCP server but working with the RB1000's RADIUS server? Or will it all be ok to put on the RB1000?

Thanks.

Let RB1000 do all the job. It isn't a lazy guy :)