[Wand3r3r]

Re: Small Business Networking Advice

replacing the switch is only half the equation. You need to have gigabit nics in the server and workstations. Ideally you would put two gig nics in the server and team them which requires a managed switch. This would create a 4gig pipe to the server.

Is the wireless for the secure network or for a guest network?

 

[Wand3r3r]

Re: Small Business Networking Advice

I would suggest you get a dual band wireless router and connect it by its lan port not wan port. This turns it into a wifi access point. Routers tend to be cheaper than access points. Being connected by lan port means the dhcp server ips will flow thru it to the wifi devices. You would set wpa2 for wifi encryption on both bands since wep and wpa have both been compromised.

 

[Wand3r3r]

Re: Small Business Networking Advice

I would buy a managed switch.

The second reason for the router between your network and the modem is ip addressing. The modem and routers wan port are in a completely different subnet than your network.

You would add the wifi router to the switch not the router. Only the switch should be connected to the router. Otherwise the wifi router would be at an advantage with internet access. It would still get dhcp thru it from the server based dhcp if connected to the switch or the router.

 

[Wand3r3r]

Re: Small Business Networking Advice

A managed switch allows you to do a number of things like
create vlans
do adapter teaming like for the server

but its best for troubleshooting network issues. You can look at the port stats of every connection. This can tell you if a pc has a failing nic or you have a cabling problem depending on the type of errors you find.

Comes in really handy sometimes. You can just plug it in and use it as a simple switch to start.

 

[Wand3r3r]

Re: Small Business Networking Advice

I am a big fan of hp managed switches. Some I have had for 12 yrs and still running
Netgear and dlink for routers. stay away from belkin and linksys.