Installation Options

Whether your customers are indoors or outdoors or a mix of both, dSpot can provide a range of installations that can offer reliable WiFi Internet access at all times.

To begin with you need a fast Broadband Internet connection to your location - either Cable or DSL will work fine as long as you have DHCP and not a fixed IP address.

We can then supply you with one of our pre-configured custom interface 'nodes' which connects to the Broadband Internet service. If you already have a suitable WiFi router then you can download the firmware for free if you understand how to update your equipment. The node is equipped with dual antennas for internal use. In most cases this is is sufficient for a small indoor location with up to a 100' omni directional range.

When the location is larger or an increased range is needed, perhaps to cover the street outside, then we can provide one or two hi gain omni directional antennas that provide up to 3 times the signal strength.

For a large auditorium or inside venue we can provide a corner mounted directional antenna that throws a powerful signal out from the corner of the room out to 250'.

When it comes to outside locations we have two specific solutions.

The wall mounted external hi-gain directional antenna throws a strong signal up to 500' in a semicircular pattern and is ideal for a courtyard or a street frontage.

The omni-directional antenna throws a strong wireless signal out in all directions and is especially useful when customers can be using the system in any direction from the base.

In specific circumstances, a wireless signal booster can be provided that increases the signal strength up to 5 times. However it is far better to obtain the quality of signal through correct choice and placement of the antenna than through signal boosters.

We can supply all of equipment but you are responsible for installation. Where necessary we can refer you to a specialist engineer to evaluate your site and recommend and install the equipment, however in 99% of cases a simple node box is sufficient.

Tips

dSpot Free WiFi Hotspots operate at a very high frequency and the clients laptops and PDAs usually have very small antennas so maintaining the best possible signal is vital.

Whilst dSpot only uses the best equipment, including cables and antennas, the cable remains the biggest degrader of the signal - the difference between 10 feet and 30 feet can be 3dBi - that's a reduction of HALF the signal strength.

Therefore plan for any external antenna to be as close to the Node as possible - if you need to extend then have an engineer install another DSL access point close to where the antenna and equipment will be located.

Whilst we are able to supply antenna extension cables up to 30 feet in length we don't recommend anything more than 7 feet.