How to? Install Wifi in sports club

clint_silver

GAA club, small reception and bar.

Getting a small mast installed to get wifi in, theyll drop cable to a port we come off. Anything internal after that is our own concern.

What can we do to ensure we have wifi in all areas of the club from that point?

Wifi extenders? Run cable? Install a switch?

If we run cable to bar and have merchant terminals do they need static IPs?

tazzzZ

Likes of that I'd recommend something like a Unifi Dream Machine pro, POE switch and AP's where you need them. Its pretty much made for that kind of thing. Its expensive (prosumer level) so you would need to consider what budget you have for it.

You could definitely get away with cheaper options but would have a lot less control of the network and would be less secure IMO.

Personally I wouldn't go with WIFI extenders for that kind of deployment. I'd try to wire the AP's to the locations you want.

In terms of your merchant terminals... im not a network engineer and have 0 experience with merchant terminals but its very easy to assign static IPs to any devices on your network. Also this deployment would allow you to create several WIFI networks so you could isolate such devices to their own WIFI/VLAN to ensure security.

I'm sure there is plenty of network engineers on here who can give you even better advice but just my 2c.

KildareP

Would recommend Ubiquiti as above.

A UAP-AC-LITE AP is a good price/performance mix and will allow you broadcast separate, isolated WiFi networks (e.g. Club-Tills, Club-Office, Club-Members, etc.), for example POS terminals should always be kept on their own network to anything else, using separate VLAN's and IP ranges. Each should be physically cabled back to a switch. Repeaters will work at home where you might have 2-3 devices actually active at a time, they will quickly crumble if you have tens of devices connected and active.

The WiFi should have a password - the password for the network used for terminals and POS should only be known by those managing those units and nothing else should be connected to that network for any reason.

A US-8-150W switch will provide up to 7 ports (+1 you'll need for your internet line) and will also power the AP's over the same cable. Tills, computers, terminals, etc. should ideally be hardwired rather than going over WiFi. You may need a bigger switch as a result.

Then you'll need a firewall. I'm not too keen on UniFi's solution as it's very tied to their cloud which I don't like (and their cloud platform was recently compromised). Need to be looking more towards a Netgate, Fortigate or Sonicwall. These can quickly become quite pricey though.

If you do intend to allow members of the public to have casual access to your WiFi, think very carefully about this. It can become both a PR and legal minefield.

At a minimum, you should draw up a list of rules ("Acceptable Usage Policy") that all members must agree to before using the WiFi: in short, don't do anything illegal on it, don't share the WiFi password with under-18 members and don't take the p--- uploading your 100GB home video or photo collection to the cloud on it.

But you also need to think about implementing content filtering as well, which stops inappropriate activity from being able to happen in the first place.

For example, the club will be held responsible for all and any activity on it's broadband line, including illegal activity (filesharing, underage porn, etc.) What happens in the real world when this happens is everyone directs the Gardaí in the direction of the guy who set it all up (you!)

There is also an assumed responsibility for your members who are under the age of 18 - if they can access age-inappropriate material through your WiFi, you could have some very irate parents demanding answers. Doesn't matter if you have five bars of 4G on all the mobile networks in the club or that most kids these days have unfiltered data plans on their phone anyway - if it happened through your WiFi, you'll be held responsible.