Gaming WAN, advice needed on what to use

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Johan Vercuiel

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Mar 26, 2014
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Hi guys

Johan here

Ive been given a project where i need to create a big gaming WAN (wirelessly) between 5 locations

Each location holds 300 gamers

I have a middle point, where my servers and so on will be , here is the distance of all 5 locations from the middle point

Point 1 - 2.95 KM
Point 2 - 2.58 KM
Point 3 - 4.13 KM
Point 4 - 1.58 KM
Point 5 - 3.13 KM

I would like to use the same equiptment at each point, i do not have to setup the LAN's inside at all, only connect the 5 locations to create one big network

What Equiptment will i need at the 5 locations , the middle point, and also what server will be able to handle them, no internet connection will be supllied, only gaming "Locally"

Will apreciate all the help i can get :)

Greetings Johan
 
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The problem with going completely wireless is that, the more devices you need to be wireless the weaker everyone's connection becomes. For the 5 point location I would have used a hub with LAN connections going to multiple Linksys EA4500 wireless access points, since there is 300 people at each site I think 40 at each site would be sufficient, if say the routers hold 8 connections each. Then have the hubs use LAN connections to the main servers in the center. Otherwise there will be alot of repeaters and WAP everywhere. I couldn't imagine trying to connect them all wirelessly, the easier way is Ethernet cords. Only thing you need to do is make sure one is connected to another connected to another and in the end they all are...
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abailey

abailey

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Do your locations all have line of sight with no obstructions back to the main site?
Also what type games are you going to be running. You really need an estimate of how much bandwidth each client is going to need. For example I run a Minecraft server. Most of the time clients are using only about 100Kbits/s. You can see burst close to 256Kbits/s. I have not seen a game that needs more than 256Kbits/s. So if a location has 300 people at 256Kbits/s you would need a 75Mbit/s connection. That type of wireless P2P connection would be much much less expensive than if you needed a 1Gbit/s wireless link between locations.
 
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Mysteryman2000

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The problem with going completely wireless is that, the more devices you need to be wireless the weaker everyone's connection becomes. For the 5 point location I would have used a hub with LAN connections going to multiple Linksys EA4500 wireless access points, since there is 300 people at each site I think 40 at each site would be sufficient, if say the routers hold 8 connections each. Then have the hubs use LAN connections to the main servers in the center. Otherwise there will be alot of repeaters and WAP everywhere. I couldn't imagine trying to connect them all wirelessly, the easier way is Ethernet cords. Only thing you need to do is make sure one is connected to another connected to another and in the end they all are connected to the hubs and servers.
 
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Johan Vercuiel

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Mar 26, 2014
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As for the LANs on the inside i have nothing to do with them, im only incharge of connecting the 5 locations to each other, and also the 5 locations are in perfect sight with my middle point,
all i need is to connect each one of the 5 to the middle point (data centre if you must) and make one big network
Oh yeah and i have no limit as to what i may spend :)
I want only the best,
 
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bill001g

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You will need outdoor bridge equipment. Because you have such a large number of users you will be better off using a pair for each site rather than linking them all to one central radio. This would give you maybe 100m to each location rather than sharing 100m. With that large number of machine you will likely not get good performance if you are running site to site gaming.

Your largest issues is you must have clear line of site to each location...ie no building or trees in the way. Then because of the distance you are going and the beam spread you need to be at least 15ft above and obstruction. So if you have a 10ft house in the way you need to be at 25ft on both ends. You likely will need towers on both ends. If it were a large open field in all directions you could get by with mounting on top of a building since that would give you the 15ft above the ground. In many cases where you have 40-50ft trees you are going to need a 60-70ft tower and it get expensive quickly.

On top of all this it still likely will not work well unless you are just coping files from the central server if game traffic need to go back and forth with hundreds of concurrent session you do not have a chance. You need to run fiber so you can get gig speeds.
 
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abailey

abailey

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This is absolutely correct. If you don't know much about wireless you would be better served to hire someone to help you, especially if money is not an issue. The higher the frequency the less "buffer" (because of Fresnel zone) you will need, which bill001g alludes to. Many companies offer solutions. I like Ubiquiti wifi products. Their Airmax products are made for P2P bridging. I like their Nanostation M and Powerbridge M. If I were you I would stay away from the 900mghz and 2.4ghz frequencies. I would work with the 3,5, and maybe 10ghz. Alternate so not all 5 buildings are connected using the same frequencies. You can use this link to help see if the product will work for your install. http://www.ubnt.com/airlink/ Just remember this is for one P2P link and will not take into account having multiple links on the roof with competing frequencies.
 
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