One thing that I've done that your club may have not have done is that I assigned each of my WIUs a static IP address based on the WIU's MAC ID. I do this out of habit since it ensures that each WIU is always assigned the same IP address every time they join the network. This makes it easy to update WIU firmware without removing the WIUs from the layout.
I don't know if signing static IP's will help the club.You could try it and see.
* For a faster boot up and available of the WIU:
My WIU's are all wired to a Wireless router and the Wireless on the WIU's are disabled. Assigning a static IP and disabling the Wireless radios shaved about 15 seconds off of the "Boot Up" time for my WIU.
* Think about it, the WIU doesn't have to wait on a DHCP request from a router for an IP address nor does it have to expend CPU time to turn on the Wireless software to drive the built in wireless functions on the WIU.
Barry's method is not exactly the same, I assume he is having his internet router assign an IP address based on the MAC address of the WIU. The WIU is still having to wait for an IP to be assigned from the router via a DHCP request. A static IP assigned to the WIU Using the LuCi interface is faster, no waiting for the router.
Using the above method does require you to know exactly how your home network is configured exactly. Automatic configuration is easy, but a little slower.
Edited portion marked with *
