Recommend a switch and router pls

Warbie

Warbie

Warbie

Soldato
Joined
30 Sep 2003
Posts
6,189
As mentioned in another thread - i'm setting up a for a friends internet cafe and am in need of some help from you guys.

There will be 12-16 pcs, a print server and the owners are after a router and switch that will be relatively cheap and easy to maintain. The cabling is already done.

Any suggestions?
 
Last edited:
Cheers Zap :)

All i've been told so far is they have an 8 meg connection.

Could we get away with skipping on the router and connecting the server (there's just going to be one) to the internet and have the switch and pcs come off that?
 
Yes but you'd have to have an adsl modem somewhere, possibly an internal pci card on the server. I would personally get a dedicated adsl modem but that's just me.
 
I was actually just about to ask what the difference between managed and unmanaged switches are.

Router wise - any suggestions for something that would be suitable? I usually go for the cheapest solution for myself, but I don't want to lump them with something ropey and end up with angry calls every time the network goes down.

Thanks again.
 
This is an adsl connection isn't it? I've just assumed that so far. If so then i'm not the best person to ask as I use cable at home but i would probably get a netgear or a linksys if i had to choose one.

Will your server be handling things like DHCP and dns or will the router/modem need to do that?

edit - will you be needing wireless?
 
I think it's an adsl connection - they're not answering the phone at the moment.

'Will your server be handling things like DHCP and dns or will the router/modem need to do that?'

This is up to me realy. I was planning to let the router do this - i've little experience with setting up servers and want to keeep things as simple as possible.
 
That sounds sensible to me. I would never get a cheap and nasty adsl modem/router, they are worth the investment. I should imagine the internet connection would be a fairly important part of an internet cafe ;)

A lot of people on here use the http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-016-NG&groupid=46&catid=115&subcat=794

It's worth doing a search on here and looking for reviews but i think the netgear would be a good bet, little more expensive but you get what you pay for.
 
For a professional setup you can really only use a Draytec Vigor router. The extra cost is worth it for the lack of hassle.

I would also suggest buying a switch with at least one gigabit port and connect the server to that. I wouldn't connect the router direct to the server as it would then be handling all the traffic in addition to whatever else it's supposed to be doing. If your friend has a proxy server that he'll be using to control what is available to the customers then I would certainly consider placing that between the router and the switch.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the suggestion, Snapshot, i'll check those routers out.

The plan is to have a single server handling everything - which is mainly printing. We'll be using SoftVision Explorer for monitoring customer usage, restrictions etc.

Seeing as we're using just the one server - would you suggest sticking it between router and switch? Does that make configuration much more difficult?
 
I don't like the idea of passing all the traffic through the server but I don't know how Softvision Explorer works so I can't say whether it's necessary or not. I suggest you talk to the software suppliers to see what they recommend.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom