I know the basics about networking. I've dealt with home routers such as Linksys, D-Link, and Netgear. I know about port forwarding and securing a wireless network and basic things like that. However, that is about the extent of my knowledge. I've been presented with an offer to set up a wireless network for a 5-acre location. They want it to be public access (no password) and reliable. I would imagine that in order to achieve this, I should use something from Cisco. I would expect it to be $500 - $1,000, but I could be totally wrong. As mentioned previously, I only have experience with basic home networking. If somebody could provide tips on what I should buy and perhaps tutorial sites to check out, that would be great. Thanks!

"public access" Sounds rather dangerous. How could you protect against crooks, child porn and such? Cisco is a big boy in the data world. First you'd need to know more about data use, number of users, interference. Outside a single point might support 5 acres or more. In an industrial, solid structure with lots of equipment you might need 20. "Best Practices", Event viewer, host file, perfmon, antivirus, anti-spyware, Live CD's, backups, are in my top 10

Sounds like fun. End users crack me up! 5 acres, they do not want passwords, they want it to reliable, and proabably want security too?!(Ha ha). Well, start here: http://www.cwnp.com http://www.cwnp.com/learning_center... You need to start with a site survey taking into account # of PCs and types (OS's)accessing this WLAN, select the right type of equipment: Mfgtr's like Cisco, Netgear etc, WiFi band to use - 802.11g or "N" (a.k.a. "Draft N" as the "n" Std hasn't been officially ratified by the IEEE yet), possible interfering radio signals (wireless phones etc in the 2.4 Ghz band, buildings and structures than can hurt the signals), number of wireless access points needed, how those AP's are going to be interfaced into the network (Ethernet cabling, fiber runs etc), WiFi coverage, MIMO devices, WPA/WPA2 (encryption), WiFi key auto-generation. I've done small WiFi networks - they're either real easy or a P.I.T.A! 5 acres, hmm - good Luck. Just another stupid saying...

Take a look at EnGenius wireless products We've been using some here outside and have found they work quite well. This is not enterprise level equipment but may very well be capable of doing what you want/need. We also have some Enterprise level wireless point-to-point shots within our network (we have a large WAN). This equipment comes from a company called GlenTel Wireless. I'm very impressed with their equipment. This of course is more expensive than the EnGenius because it is enterprise level. Don't get all caught up on cisco. At one point in time they were the only game in town. That's no longer true. You can easily find equipment that's as good, or better (ie: easier to configure and maintain), and not as expensive. I know, I've worked with cisco and many other brands and cisco never has been, and never will be my favorite.

Also consider what devices will be used to access the network, a PDA or smartphone does not have as much oomph as a laptop. other considerations include device density, how many concurrent users must be supported. What services are being accessed? $500 - $1000 dollars won't cut it. Forget Cisco, go for proper outdoor gear like Repeatit, Motorola Canopy, Tranzeo etc. I'd also highly recommend taking a look at Xirrus. www.wirelesspro.co.uk

Thank you all very much for the replies! It has really helped.