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Small Business Server Support Forum    
Forums > Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 & 2000 > Get the right hardware...not an easy decision
Subject: Recommend a wireless access point
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luke wilby User is Offline
Australia
Member since
9/16/2007

Registered Users
Posts: 20
3/20/2008 02:55 AM  
I'm working on adding wireless capability to an existing SBS 2003 Premium, 2 NIC setup.

The building is a 3 story, ex-townhouse, many rooms, mostly brick.
 
The crucial requirement at the moment is to have wireless access in a single ground floor meeting room, but I'm very confident that once that is running, they'll be wanting to connect wirelessly throughout the building, right up to the top floor.
 
So, can I have recommendations for a single wireless access point that will cover the whole building that is fully compatible with SBS 2003 Premium?
 
The site is running mostly Netgear equipment, so I guess I'd like to stick with Netgear.
 
Any advice much appreciated.
 
Thanks
 
Luke.
Mick Malloy User is Offline
Australia
Member since
4/6/2007

Microsoft MVP
Posts: 309
3/20/2008 10:55 AM  
TTBOMK there is no impact to this about SBS vs non_SBS. An Access Point (AP) centrally located may do what you require but is not particularly impacted about being connected to SBS. I would seriously consider putting an AP in the meeting room and another in another location but some of my reasons are more about differing access requirements than WiFi coverage.

Bricks, particularly those with a high iron content, can interfere with reception. As can the steel reinforcement in concrete buildings.

Three stories high but only a room and a half wide and maybe 2-3 rooms deep (my expectation of a 'townhouse' or 'terrace house') is all within claimed radio ranges of a central point, it is only interference particular to the building that would limit connectivity.
luke wilby User is Offline
Australia
Member since
9/16/2007

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3/21/2008 04:08 AM  
Thanks Mick. You description of the townhouse-terrace is pretty much spot on.
I've found a Microsoft document that mention the requirements:

The wireless access points (APs) that you deploy must meet the following requirements:

·      Support for the IEEE standard 802.1X authentication.
·      Support for Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is preferred. WPA is supported by Windows XP with SP2. To deploy WPA, use wireless network adapters and wireless access points that also support WPA.
·      Support for RADIUS authentication and RADIUS accounting.

In addition, there are some filtering features that the access points must support in order to help provide enhanced security for the network. These filtering options include the following:

·      DHCP filtering. The access point must filter on IP ports to prevent the transmission of DHCP broadcast messages in the instance that the client computer is a DHCP server. The access point must block the client computer from sending IP packets from port 68 onto the network.
·      DNS filtering. The access point must filter on IP ports to prevent a client computer from performing as a DNS server. The access point must block the client computer from sending IP packets from port 53 onto the network.

For consistency and to simplify wireless implementation, it is recommended that you use wireless APs of the same brand and model.

It looks like only the Netgear Prosafe range support RADIUS, so I'm looking at the WG102.
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Forums > Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 & 2000 > Get the right hardware...not an easy decision > Recommend a wireless access point


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