Need recommendation for networking solution

[newman4ever]

I need some advise from someone more knowledgable than myself regarding networking. Here's the scenario....

My wife's family owns a language school in the Dominican Republic, pretty big business here. There are 4 separate building, but all are not directly adjacent to one another. I want to install a LAN setup connecting all the PC's in all 4 buildings. There are not alot of PC's involved here, total around 30 PC's between all buildings.

Now, my question is, I wanted to have an unmanaged switch in each building, all interconnected to one another, but from what I recall, the max distance for a CAT5 cable run is approx 100yds (300 ft)

If its not possible to connect the switches within this distance limitation, what are my options??

I thought about using the internet to connect the seperate lans, problem is, internet speed suck in this country, so it would be really slow.

Any advice here would really be appreciated.

Thanks.

[johnwill]

First off, running copper between the buildings is a bad idea, even if it's possible. Unless you have the proper equipment and expertise, the grounding and lightning protection issues may bite you in the butt!

I'd use fiber links between the buildings, there are a number of fairly inexpensive fiber to Ethernet converters available. Here's one example of many: http://www.lanshack.com/UTP-to-Multi...rters-C87.aspx

[newman4ever]

Just to be sure I understand...I've never worked with fiber optics before.

I can purchase those multimode converters to interconnect my switches between the buildings and it basically just converts the CAT5 signal to digital for transfer over fiber optic?

If so, I assume I would need 1 converter in each of the 4 buildings next to the switch, then I connect the converters via fiber optic cables and the converters to the switches using CAT5? Is this correct?

From what I read at the website you gave me, I would use the multimode fiber media converter, correct? And there are 2 versions with SC connector and ST connector. Does it make a difference which I use?

Thanks so much for your help.

One final question... is wireless bridging a viable option if I have a direct line of sight between buildings and used high gain antennas to interconnect the LANs?

[johnwill]

You'll need one converter at each end of a fiber run. For four buildings you'll need eight of them. The type of connector is determined by the fiber you buy, either should work.

http://www.tech-faq.com/sc-connector.shtml

http://www.tech-faq.com/st-connector.shtml

Using a wireless bridge would be an alternative that should work if you can put the antennas outside with direct line-of-sight. Note that a wireless connection will be considerably slower than a wired connection, something to consider. If you go wireless, I'd probably consider the 802.11n (draft) equipment for the added speed.

Hawking Tech has a number of products that will help you increase your wireless range. The root page is Hawking Hi-Gain™ WiFi Range Extending Products.

Some of the more interesting products are this Hawking [HSB2] Hi-Gain WiFi Signal Booster, which can be used on either end of a wireless connection to boost the signal power.

Another way to increase your signal strength is by the use of hi-gain antennas. You can choose from omni-directional or directional models, here are a some examples.

Hawking [HAI7SIP] Hi-Gain 7dBi Omni-Directional Antenna

Hawking [HAI15SC] Hi-Gain 15dBi Corner Antenna

[HAO14SD] Outdoor Hi-Gain 14dBi Directional Antenna Kit