fun_E_mahn wrote

1. Can I 'daisy-chain' the units in such a way that 'main' feeds 'campus1', 'campus1' feeds 'campus2', 2 to 3, and 3 to 4?

Yes. Main building could be configured as AP, campus1/2/3 as repeaters and campus4 as client. But using repeater mode, each repeater will cut available bandwidth by half and therefore I would not recommend such "daisy-chain" configurations, especially b/c all repeaters would share the same channel. Also, I would use CPE510/520 instead of CPE210/220, since most often the 2.4 GHz band is overcrowded, which might decrease bandwidth even further.

2. In that configuration, would I require 2 CPEs per campus building; 1 in client and 1 in AP mode? Or could I get by with 1 CPE in a different mode (ie. repeater mode) that would act as both AP and client? In other words, would users be able to connect their WiFi devices to the CP210s in client mode, or will I have connect another AP to each CP210 client via RJ45?

Using 2 devices - one in client and one in AP mode connected by wire - would be the cleanest solution and even the only one if both neighboring CPEs are outside the 60° (or 45°) of the CPE210 (or CPE510).

3. On the TP-Link site ( http://www.tp-link.com/us/faq-1162.html) it states the coverage angle for the CP is only 60°. Does that refer to the coverage area only between 2 CPEs acting in an AP-Client relationship, or does that coverage apply to regular (Smartphone, Tablet, Notebook, etc...) clients as well? If it is the former, can I expect some sort of 360° radius coverage in close (50m) proximity to the CPE AP?

No, there is no 360° coverage for a stable and useful signal outside the 60°/45° area, that's why those numbers are given in the specs. Also you could see the signal from the backside of a CPE at short distances, it does not mean that it is useful for data transmission.The antenna's beam is directional and directional is not omnidirectional, even not "some sort of".

Note that an omnidirectional antenna TL-ANT2410MO has been recently announced for the WBS210, which is a device similar to the CPE210, but it is not available in every country yet and using a WBS210 with this antenna will be more expensive than using CPEs. But if you decide to go with repeater mode, than you could use only one device at campus 1, 2 and 3 buildings.

4. If they don't do 360° for connected devices, should I look into using additional (potentially 3rd) device per building that's an omni-directional AP?

For omnidirectional outdoor coverage the EAP110-Outdoor would be suitable (or the WBS210 with TL-ANT2410MO as in answer to question 3). I recommend to use CPE510 for the backhaul and EAP110-Outdoor for distributing the signal locally. The EAP110-Outdoor can even cover an area of 100m, so you probably can reduce the number of EAP110-Outdoor to campus 1 and campus3 (but this depends on many other parameters you didn't mention such as the number of clients to be supported with a WiFi signal).

5. 100 meters shouldn't be a problem, right?

No, this distance is no problem for CPE210. Problems might be channel availability (limited AirTime) in the 2.4 GHz band, shared channels in repeater mode, interferences between all devices etc., all related to number of radios in this band.

6. I'm in Thailand and getting these units is a bit of a pain, so if I over-budget and get 12 of these, I shouldn't need more than that, right?

See answer to question 4: number of devices needed for stable coverage of such an area depends on many other parameters such as number of clients to be supplied with WiFi, indoor or outdoor coverage, interferences in the buildings if indoor etc.

Yes, correct. If the buildings are on the opposite of each other, you would need an AP<->Client pair for each link. If two buildings would be in the 45° area, you could also use Client<-->AP<-->Client for three buildings, but then bandwidth is shared (same as if you set up an AP at the main building and the middle CPE is acting as a repeater, whereas a repeater will decrease bandwidth further than in a Client/AP setup).

To feed users in a reliable way, the EAP110-Outdoor should be used. But note that you can feed up to 25-40 users only per outdoor EAP depending on usage pattern/bandwidth demands, interferences, type of connections (802b/g vs. 802.11n) etc. See this thread for an in-depth discussion: http://forum.tp-link.com/showthread.php?100353-Gated-Community-Wifi-for-CCTV-and-hotspot