There are several things you have to avoid right away when planning a WiFi solution for a large venue or area. While such solutions may work in some situations if the right expectations have been set and performance limitations are viable and understood, it is recommended to avoid them altogether.
Double NAT Networks
Double network address translation or NAT is when one router is connected at the back of another router. A good example is connecting the TP-Link router at the back of your internet service provider’s router. While such approach lets you connect to the internet, technically, you are creating another new network instead of extending your existing one. You may even face problems when you play games online, connect to a VPN, open certain ports, or any other advanced networking configurations. Even when you broadcast similar network password and name across the two routers, you will still broadcast two different networks and won’t be able to communicate with the rest of the devices connected to a similar network.
Mesh WiFi Networks
Mesh network is the method of deploying several access points in one network without running Ethernet cable to every access point. Essentially, data is relayed from access point to access point wirelessly. This kind of solution is becoming more popular in the residential market and may also be a great solution, which depends on the required coverage area and how WiFi is going to be used in the area. The main disadvantage of deploying mesh WiFi network is speed loss you will experience. The speed loss can go up to as much as 50% with each hop in the mesh network. This might not be a big deal in some instances but when you need to support some activities that need high speed internet access, you might not get the kind of network performance you expect.
TradeShowInternet’s internet service for events will never make you experience any of these issues to ensure stable WiFi in a large event venue.
Originally posted 2019-01-17 00:20:06.
