Need assistance with your Small Business Network upgrade? Let's find a solution together.
Need assistance with your Small Business Network upgrade? Let's find a solution together.
I could possibly improve the network I installed during my previous job. I’m an IT technician and this is my first real experience in the industry. I hold a few degrees and certifications, but I haven’t really applied them to actual work. It was mostly theoretical—just reading and assignments.
They have a cable modem/router with a 4-port switch. All the router ports connect to other L2 switches, except one right next to the router. That means I have around 11 cables there. For budget reasons, I emailed the owner a list of Amazon products I’d use to upgrade and organize the network, aiming to centralize and clean up the MDF.
I’m considering a TP Link L2 gigabit switch with 24 ports, an open rack, possibly a locking model for security. I’ll also need 8 PDUs, one U-shelf, and a Cat6 patch panel. Most of the cables are in different colors and lengths, so I plan to cut them, keystone them, and run individual patch cables through the ceiling. The other ends will go to the patch panel, with smaller cables connecting directly from the panel to the switch.
What does this sound like to you? Is there a better approach or something that’s too complicated? I’m new to this, so any guidance would be really helpful!
Looks okay for simple connections, but a completely flat setup isn't ideal for protecting your data.
Do they require more than 1gbps for certain devices? Perhaps a switch with SFP+ fiber ports would help in those situations. For instance: Mikrotik CSS326-24G-2S+RM 24 port Gigabit Ethernet switch featuring two SFP+ ports, TRENDnet 28-Port Web Smart Switch (TEG-30284), 24 x Gigabit ports, four 10G SFP+ slots, high-speed network uplinks, 128 Gbps switching capacity, network Ethernet switch, 1U rack-mountable.
They can support up to 20-25 Ethernet devices. There are a few printers, 8-10 desktop PCs, some IP phones, and a mesh wireless network. The IP phones were added later, and the company used L2 PoE switches for them. If I had enough budget, I’d install at least an L3 PoE switch, set up subnets properly. But finances are a constraint.