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Wireless Mesh setup assistance for a Large Church building
I am looking to setup a wireless mesh network for a church. Building is 3 stories + a balcony. 16,600 sq ft. total.
Currently have qty 3 cable modems with built in wifi installed as seperate Verizon FIOS accounts: 1cable modem on the balcony, 1 cable modem on the 3rd floor, (which is the main administration offices and Pastor offices floor), and 1 cable modem on the 1st floor. This setup was done mainly because WiFi is needed throughout the building and this was the solution for it at the time. I want to eliminate 2 of the cable modems, only keeping the 1 modem on the main floor in the main office. From there, I want to have centralized administration of the whole network. My solution is to install an wireless mesh system, setting the primary mesh router next to the cable modem and then deploying satellites throughout the building. I've looked into powerline adapters and also extenders and none of them are reliable enough for me. I can pitch this mesh systems initial setup cost to the Church Management because I will be eliminating the monthly cost of 2 of the Cable Modem accounts + the monthly modem rental fee on those 2 modems. The main reason for those was just for Wifi coverage so Mesh System can replace that...
My primary questions are:
1. Has anyone on this community setup Orbi Home or Orbi pro in a building this big or bigger?
2. Should i be looking at; Orbi Home + x amount of sattelites for this 16,600 sq ft building, OR, Orbi Pro + x amount of sattelites?
2. How many Satelites should I need for this space? 1 for each floor, (other than the main floor where the primary router will be located?)
3. Can the sattelites communicate with each other thru concrete floors?
1. Has anyone on this community setup Orbi Home or Orbi pro in a building this big or bigger?
I have not yet tried setting up this kind of scenario. I will leave this forum thread open for new replies so that other community members may chime in and share their experience.
2. Should i be looking at; Orbi Home + x amount of sattelites for this 16,600 sq ft building, OR, Orbi Pro + x amount of sattelites?
I recommend you the Orbi Pro WiFi System. One (1) Orbi Pro router (SRR60) can now support up to seven (7) Orbi Pro satellites which is either the Orbi Pro Add-on Satellite (SRS60) or the Orbi Pro Add-on Ceiling Satellite (SRC60). Be reminded that the firmware of the Orbi Pro devices should be updated to the latest firmware version.
Note: The Orbi Pro WiFI System is NOT compatible to pair with the Orbi Home WiFi System.
2. How many Satelites should I need for this space? 1 for each floor, (other than the main floor where the primary router will be located?)
An Orbi Pro router and Orbi Pro satellite pair can cover up to 5,000 square feet. Each additional add-on satellite (either the Orbi Pro Add-on Satellite [SRS60] or the Orbi Pro Add-on Ceiling Satellite [SRC60]) can cover up to 2,500 square feet. Again, One (1) Orbi Pro router (SRR60) can now support up to seven (7) Orbi Pro satellites. As reference, kindly access the article below:
3. Can the sattelites communicate with each other thru concrete floors?
It depends on the existing environment. For me, it is still advisable that the Orbi Pro satellites have a line-of-sight to the Orbi Pro router. Let me inform you that the Orbi Pro WiFi System supports both daisy-chain topology and ethernet backhaul.
With the support of daisy-chain topology, this allows an Orbi Pro satellite to connect to another Orbi Pro satellite or to the Orbi Pro router. This increases the reach of the system and is especially useful for cases where a long stretch of space needs WiFi coverage.
With the support of ethernet backhaul, this allows Orbi Pro satellites to connect to the Orbi Pro router using an Ethernet cable. The benefit of this feature is hard to penetrate areas such as thick concrete walls or walls with metal studs or when the router might be on the ground floor and the satellite needs to be on the second or third floor and there is an Ethernet cable already in place and could act as the preferred backhaul.
To know more about the specifications of the Orbi Pro router (SRR60), Orbi Pro Add-on Satellite (SRS60) and the Orbi Pro Add-on Ceiling Satellite (SRC60), kindly access their respective data sheet below:
If ever your concern has been addressed or resolved, I encourage you to mark the appropriate reply as the “Accepted Solution” so others can be confident in benefiting from the solution. The NETGEAR Community looks forward to hearing from you and being a helpful resource in the future!
1. Has anyone on this community setup Orbi Home or Orbi pro in a building this big or bigger?
I have not yet tried setting up this kind of scenario. I will leave this forum thread open for new replies so that other community members may chime in and share their experience.
2. Should i be looking at; Orbi Home + x amount of sattelites for this 16,600 sq ft building, OR, Orbi Pro + x amount of sattelites?
I recommend you the Orbi Pro WiFi System. One (1) Orbi Pro router (SRR60) can now support up to seven (7) Orbi Pro satellites which is either the Orbi Pro Add-on Satellite (SRS60) or the Orbi Pro Add-on Ceiling Satellite (SRC60). Be reminded that the firmware of the Orbi Pro devices should be updated to the latest firmware version.
Note: The Orbi Pro WiFI System is NOT compatible to pair with the Orbi Home WiFi System.
2. How many Satelites should I need for this space? 1 for each floor, (other than the main floor where the primary router will be located?)
An Orbi Pro router and Orbi Pro satellite pair can cover up to 5,000 square feet. Each additional add-on satellite (either the Orbi Pro Add-on Satellite [SRS60] or the Orbi Pro Add-on Ceiling Satellite [SRC60]) can cover up to 2,500 square feet. Again, One (1) Orbi Pro router (SRR60) can now support up to seven (7) Orbi Pro satellites. As reference, kindly access the article below:
3. Can the sattelites communicate with each other thru concrete floors?
It depends on the existing environment. For me, it is still advisable that the Orbi Pro satellites have a line-of-sight to the Orbi Pro router. Let me inform you that the Orbi Pro WiFi System supports both daisy-chain topology and ethernet backhaul.
With the support of daisy-chain topology, this allows an Orbi Pro satellite to connect to another Orbi Pro satellite or to the Orbi Pro router. This increases the reach of the system and is especially useful for cases where a long stretch of space needs WiFi coverage.
With the support of ethernet backhaul, this allows Orbi Pro satellites to connect to the Orbi Pro router using an Ethernet cable. The benefit of this feature is hard to penetrate areas such as thick concrete walls or walls with metal studs or when the router might be on the ground floor and the satellite needs to be on the second or third floor and there is an Ethernet cable already in place and could act as the preferred backhaul.
To know more about the specifications of the Orbi Pro router (SRR60), Orbi Pro Add-on Satellite (SRS60) and the Orbi Pro Add-on Ceiling Satellite (SRC60), kindly access their respective data sheet below:
If ever your concern has been addressed or resolved, I encourage you to mark the appropriate reply as the “Accepted Solution” so others can be confident in benefiting from the solution. The NETGEAR Community looks forward to hearing from you and being a helpful resource in the future!
Re: Wireless Mesh setup assistance for a Large Church building
Thanks for the great question @PitBullFan01 and answer @DaneA . @PitBullFan01 We'd really love to hear what you choose for your deployment and let us know how it worked out for you. Photos etc. would be awesome!
