Add ultra-low cost wireless Internet to your apartment complex.

Make money on your Wi-Fi Network; get paid to allow ads on your network, advisetize your business, collect rent through Paypal, charge for Wi-Fi service, or use it to market your complex with FREE Wi-Fi.

We communicate with our residents at Queen's Point Apartments through our splash page - see example below.

Ultra low-cost wireless network solution that spreads an Internet connection throughout an entire apartment complex. The dashboard is the hub of your network. It is a FREE, hosted solution that gives you complete control from a browser anywhere in the world.

We provide all the components you need: mini routers, indoor wall-plug and/or outdoor housings (w/ POE), free hosted management / control software, and an ethernet cable to connect one mini router to the Internet.

With your control software you can set the bandwidth users get, view usage & block users, view & edit node list, view a network diagram, design your own splash pages, and even easily add billing and user management options via several third-party solutions. The system has excellant security, you can actually prevent users on the wireless network from accesssing your wired LAN, and/or prevent your wireless users from being able to access each other's computers. In additon a seperate private secure network (mysecure) with its own (WPA-PSK Key) password is provided "FREE" where ever your resident Wi-Fi can be accessed.

The magic that makes this work is the mini routers (about the size of a pack of cards) that can spread a single DSL across multiple apartment units. A typical network consists of 2 or more routers, one connected to your DSL or cable modem, and others plugged into outlets around the area you'd like to cover.

In a traditional network (like you might have in your home or at the office), each computer has to be connected to the Internet via a hard-wired cable. The expense and inconvenience of retrofitting apartment buildings with cabling is usually prohibitive. The professional mini routers solve this problem by spreading a wireless signal across many apartment units - far beyond the range of a single wireless router.

The criteria we used in adapting a Wi-Fi network into low-income apartment communities was as follows:

• It must be affordable

• It must not require any configuration and be installable by volunteers, property managers or residents.

• It must be manageable by non-trained property managers.

• It must provide a connectible signal indoors without additional equipment.

• It must be able to let a manager know when there is a problem.

Selecting an Internet provider

The first step is to figure out where you will get your Internet connection.

Usually this will be DSL (thru Qwest Business Internet), or cable (thru Comcast Business class), or satellite (thru HughesNet).

Picking a location for the DSL/Cable/Satellite

If you only have a single Internet connection feeding your network, it is desirable to have the Gateway be as central to the area you want to cover as possible. The reason for this is that for each Repeater you pass through to get to the Gateway the maximum speed is cut roughly in half. So if most of your Repeaters have a direct (or single "hop") connection to the Gateway, speed is maximized. The easiest way to accomplish this is to put your DSL/cable/fiber connection as close to the middle of the area you want to cover.Another way is to have multiple DSL's. In fact, it is often better to have multiple lower-speed DSL's feeding your Network than a single high-speed DSL. If one DSL were to go down, your network will switch-over to the other DSL(s) keeping your network up, if a bit slower. Plus, by having multiple DSL's spread throughout your network, you minimize the speed loss of “hopping” the signal over several Repeaters to get from Internet to user.

How many professional mini routers do I need?

In apartments application, we recommend that you have one professional mini-router for every 4-6 units that you want to cover, on average. This will vary depending upon the type of construction used for the apartments. If concrete/brick/stone or other “dense” materials, you may need one for every 3 or 4 units. For wood frame construction, 5-6 seems about right.

Indoor vs. Outdoor installation?

Indoor vs. outdoor nodes?  Some things to keep in mind:

• Outdoor nodes are expensive to install

• Often require an electrician to install power

• Often involve getting up on ladders or rooftops

• Long Ethernet cables need to be installed and secured

• Lightning protection needed in many areas

• They are unsightly and often violate apartment/condo CC&Rs

• Strongest signals are outdoors - weakest are indoors, the opposite of what you want

So why are outdoors nodes used? Historically they were used, as mesh repeaters were expensive so you wanted to install as few as possible. This meant big antennas to both broadcast and be able to pickup tiny incoming wireless signals.

With the advent of very low cost mini router, this often isn't necessary any more. Let's face it - you typically don't care about outdoor wireless. You want it indoors. So we suggest turning the historical installation approach "inside out" and instead use a greater number of very low cost devices indoors (where the people and computers are) and save money on installation (which goes to nearly zero $). By deploying densely indoors (e.g., one indoor device for 4-6 apartments), your total cost is lower and you will have better indoor performance.

We usually don't do outdoor installations or limit the number of outdoor nodes to provide only "back-haul" connection over longer distances. In many situations they aren't needed and the $ they consume is often better spent in more densely deploying indoor nodes. Before installing an outdoor node, please ask yourself if this is needed. You'll often save yourself time, money and grief by deploying indoor, where possible.

Here are some important installation suggestions:

• First, remember that it will really help if the DSL can be central to the area being covered. If you put it on the edge, you'll likely find that users far away from the DSL will have slower speed than the users close in. Residents computer must have wireless capability and Internet Explorer 8 or better

• Each node can cover an area that is roughly a 50-150 foot "sphere" indoors, depending upon the number of walls and their construction. You will want to have the edges of these spheres overlap so that each node can talk to at least one (and preferably two) other node, with good signal quality.

• For multi-story buildings, you'll want to think vertically as well. If you have 2-3 floors to cover, placing the nodes on the second floor is a good idea. This keeps them centered between the floors where they can provide coverage above and below. If you have more than 3 floors, then repeating the installation on every other floor will usually do the trick.

• If the building has brick, cement or stone on the outside walls (or lots of fireplaces indoors), your range will be significantly reduced. In this case, you may want to keep everything (all Repeaters and Gateways) indoors to avoid having to penetrate stonewalls.

• In an apartment complex with internal hallways, we **HIGHLY** recommend putting the routers there. There are a few reasons for this: First, as this is common space, you'll have access to it without disturbing residents. Secondly, placing the routers down a long corridor means they can all see each other without having to go through walls. This maximizes the signal between the Minis and minimizes potential "hops" that will slow down the network. Our wall plug housings put the routers in a secure case that doesn't look like something valuable people should steal. Note that our wall plug housings cover one plug of an outlet (required by most building and fire codes). This also leaves a plug for vacuum cleaners, etc.

We have a plan for everyone, whether you are a "do it yourself" kind of person or an "I just want Wi-Fi and everything working" kind of person. Contact us, this is what we do.

Below is an example of the cost of an entry level Wi-Fi setup for approx. 16-20 apartment units.

$399 for 4 mini routers (covers approx. 16-20 apartment units), includes indoor or outdoor housings and a 50ft ethernet cable. You provide Internet service through a cable or DSL multi port router.  **add our optional planning, installation and setup for an additional $399 (Albuquerque-Rio Rancho, NM / Denver-Fort Collins, CO. ONLY)

E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   or  Call: Mark Levy @ (970) 221-9066