I think we need three wireless access point routers, one each at Registration, Announcer's booth, and at the finish line. They need to be on the same network so that all laptops, computers, and cell phones using the wireless network can communicate with each other. Should we run them in WDS mode or wireless bridge repeater mode? If all three wrt54g routers run dd-wrt, and the one in the announcer's booth has the radio power cranked up to over 100 milliwatts, will everything work?
The registration area has six (6) computers and two printers. Coaches sign up each athlete for each event; the meetmanager software tracks payments, assign heats, lanes, numbers, and schedules. Logistically the people entering the data share the registration area with food and souvenir vendors so it is crowded.
The announcer watches meetmanager's scheduling screens to see which races and events to call. The athletes must gather and stage in certain areas and then be sent to the right lane at the right time. Only one machine is needed in the announcer's booth.
The finish line has the photo finish cameras and electronic timing. They take a feed from meetmanager to get their data set up and meetmanager takes their results electronically to record times and scores. There are usually three or four machines at the finish line running meet manager. One of them is tethered to a cell phone and it uploads results from meetmanager to the public Internet as the races finish. Dozens or a hundred fans are under the announcer in the stands. There are lots of coaches, athletes, and helpers running around with phones, wifi-capable devices, etc.
FAQ
- Are the three spots shown connected with wires?
No; there are no wires, just power at each location.
- A wired backbone?
No network wires of any kind anywhere.
- You may be using a mixed AP/peer-to-peer mode?
Yes. The AP’s must be joined by bridging, repeating, or wds.
- Do you have a line diagram you can draw on a white board of each connection?
No, but the idea is that there are about a dozen machines, 6 at registration 5 at the finish line, and 1 in the announcer’s booth on one net with 3 wireless routers and no wires.
