Hello,
I’m looking to deploy a bunch of the AR150s in a MESH net. The long version of the background is below. My big question is can I configure them in a way that is cost effective. What I’d like to do is have 3 SSIDs on the single on-board radio:
MESH net to Internet Gateway - All traffic crosses this to get to the Internet, walled garden controller, RADIUS, etc. - WPK2 PSK
SSID1 for Staff - used for registration, card processing, VOIP etc. - WPA2 PSK
SSID2 for Vendors - used for card processing and email - WPA1/2 EAP via RADIUS
The captive portal, RADIUS, and Internet routing will be handled by a separate controller so the AR150 won’t have to deal with these other than pass EAP to the RADIUS server to see what’s up. It would be nice, but not critical to have OpenVPN support for the RADIUS traffic.
So is it reasonably possible to configure OpenWRT to support this configuration with the AR150?
The background:
This client has moved from 30,000 sq ft site to a 250,000 sq ft site. There’s no power at the new site so everything has to run from batteries or generators. I guess they thought I could use a challenge. Based on the EIRP of 22 dBm and -98 dBm sensitivity with the external antenna it looks like 7 units will cover the site with the required overlap for the MESH to be reliable. They’ll be 9 to 16 feet off the ground so all units will have a clear line of sight on each other. Power will be coming from a set of USB Power Packs and so long as I don’t require a USB radio should power everything for 12 hours. The 0.6W power requirement is pretty impressive on that AR150. Everything will be mounted in water resistant enclosures and the antenna will be mounted on the underside of the enclosure. They are reflective to prevent heat buildup.
Any thoughts are welcomed.