Network solution for a small company

[Baconbh8]

The company I work for is moving offices this weekend and I was tasked on buying everything and setting up our office network, we are currently 28 people in the office, I am searching for a beefy wifi router as well as a 24 door switch so we can use Ethernet if we want.

Do you guys have any recommendations or warnings on what not to get and not to do?

Thanks in advance

[WereCatf]

8 minutes ago, Baconbh8 said:

for a beefy wifi router

If you plan on relying only on a single WiFi-router, you (and the rest of the company) are going to have a Bad Time(TM)

[Windows7ge]

For a network switch I'd look into either Netgear or Ubiquiti for a 24/48 port. Everyone says you should avoid D-Link. I haven't learned why yet.

 

You will probably not want to use a singular AP with that many clients. Depending in the square footage you need to cover a mesh of 3 or 4 would be better.

[Baconbh8]

34 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

If you plan on relying only on a single WiFi-router, you (and the rest of the company) are going to have a Bad Time(TM)

I was planning on 2 or more routers for wireless, or 1 router + some APs

[Guest]

Hi Mate, yes one router, two (or more depending on the office shape, size and construction) AP's, and a switch sounds like a good solution. If your internet doesn't terminate as Ethernet, you might need a modem that matches your internet too.

 

I've deployed a lot of ubiquiti and have found it good, especially (even?) for it's price. If you buy ubiquiti consider buying a "Cloud Key" to manage it. Also consider whether you might buy a POE switch so you don't need power packs for the access points (and maybe other devices like phones or cameras in future).

 

Consider this:

 

1. UniFi CloudKey x 1

2. UniFi AC Pro AP x 2

3. Unifi Security Gateway (or the Pro4 if your budget allows - best to have some sort of backup internet connection, even cellular, for an office)

4. Managed PoE+ Gigabit Switch with SFP (you probably don't need the high wattage models, so US‑24‑250W or US‑48‑500W,) x 1

[mtz_federico]

1 hour ago, SiliconT said:

Consider this:

 

1. UniFi CloudKey x 1

2. UniFi AC Pro AP x 2

3. Unifi Security Gateway (or the Pro4 if your budget allows - best to have some sort of backup internet connection, even cellular, for an office)

4. Managed PoE+ Gigabit Switch with SFP (you probably don't need the high wattage models, so US‑24‑250W or US‑48‑500W,) x 1

Just keep in mind that the square Unifi Security Gateway (USG) is not recommended for speeds higher than ~300 Megabits/Second so if you have or need faster internet than that either get the USG pro 4 or another router (I recommend pfsense but it might be a little too complicated if you don't know much about networking)

[Scheer]

1 hour ago, SiliconT said:

Consider this:

 

1. UniFi CloudKey x 1

2. UniFi AC Pro AP x 2

3. Unifi Security Gateway (or the Pro4 if your budget allows - best to have some sort of backup internet connection, even cellular, for an office)

4. Managed PoE+ Gigabit Switch with SFP (you probably don't need the high wattage models, so US‑24‑250W or US‑48‑500W,) x 1

Exactly what I would recommend as well.

 

If you want a few 10gbe ports you need to go with the 48 port switch, for some dumb reason they are only 1gbe SPF on the 24 ports.

 

The cloud key can be omitted if you have a server to run the controller software.

 

If you want packet analysis, the USG maxes at around 80-90 Mbps, so go with the Pro 4 if you have fast internet.

[Guest]

Yes what @Scheer said.

 

I'm in Australia and keep forgetting that there is internet faster than 100Mbps available that costs less than a kidney!

[iKingRPG]

Ok, we need more details

First, what kind of business is this? A video production company like ltt would need cat 7 cables and 10 gigabit stuff, while someone just selling books or something wouldn't need that. Please provide the following details:

1 what type of business is this

2 how.many people are there

3 how fast will the internet be

4 what will they be doing on the internet

5 what is your budget

6 do you want something that "just works" for internet, or do you need enterprise level equipment?

 

Please answer the questions, and then we can help you better, thanks.

[iKingRPG]

On 10/9/2019 at 1:21 PM, Windows7ge said:

For a network switch I'd look into either Netgear or Ubiquiti for a 24/48 port. Everyone says you should avoid D-Link. I haven't learned why yet.

 

You will probably not want to use a singular AP with that many clients. Depending in the square footage you need to cover a mesh of 3 or 4 would be better.

It's because people are afraid of D link spying on you

[Windows7ge]

8 minutes ago, iKingRPG said:

It's because people are afraid of D link spying on you

[Baconbh8]

After planning a lot with your comments in mind my boss did the boss thing and got whatever was available in store, so we ended up with a 24 port switch from TP-Link and a ubiquiti ap, so far the AP is doing a great job, thanks for all the help, you guys are awesome!