Small Business Network Spec Advice

[Mike G]

Hi all,

We're moving to a new business premises which will consist of part warehousing, part showroom and two small offices.

Unfortunately during the move I seem to have bricked the previous draytek router and PoE switch that was running our network previously.

So looking for recommendations for some networking gear - hear good things about the Ubiquiti gear, although don't understand the difference between the dream machine pro and the security gateway pro?

On day 1, there will just be 5 of us working in the office; only connection available (other than a leased line) is a 60mbs down, 20mbps up connection via Zen.

All 5 of us use VOIP handsets and SAAS applications.

I have just rewired both offices in full with new Cat6 - 2x per desk, and we have around 28x outlets, although these. Never all be in use - I prefer to run extra cable now than get cut short in the future.

There is 1x printer running on network.
No server.
CCTV - but will probably use a standalone system as the Ubiquiti CCTV seems expensive? Although be interested to hear people's thoughts.
1x AP required for showroom area.

Ideally gear that is fairly easy to learn / find resources as I am the IT department

Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated,
Mike

 

[neil_g]

Personally, I'd swerve Unifi for business critical functions. If it breaks, support is non existant.

I'd go HP/Aruba and Ruckus which have next day replacement options available, but you'll obviously pay more for that.

Router/firewall depends on your requirements.

What's your budget.

 

[Mike G]

I mean, budget probably up to £1000, but I'd rather spend less... Budget for the move has already been blown out of the water!

That being said, keeping us connected is clearly vital for our business.

Mike

 

[Caged]

Not a recommendation since I've never used the range, but Meraki Go might suit your use case if you just use cloud apps.

 

[Mike G]

Probably worth mentioning - our previous network consisted of a draytek 2860n and unmanaged Poe switch (think it was d link) and we generally had no issues.

A brief look at the Aruba gear seems like it will likely be out of budget and overkill for our requirements.

 

[Armageus]

Probably worth mentioning - our previous network consisted of a draytek 2860n and unmanaged Poe switch (think it was d link) and we generally had no issues.

For 5 people another draytek (e.g. 2862) would be fine. Unifi are fine for access points imo.
For CCTV a standalone DVR e.g. hikvision or uniview would be my choice - it will just work forever and not dependant on anything else (and can have a dedicated monitor attached which may be relevant as a small office)

 

[visibleman]

...I seem to have bricked the previous draytek router...

What makes you think you've bricked the device?
If the device isn't responding to HTTP/GUI or PING (make sure you're directly connected to the device and using the correct subnet) and you've done the usual hardware reset (https://www.draytek.com/support/knowledge-base/5738) then you, generally, can revive them via TFTP and re-flashing the firmware - https://draytek.co.uk/support/guides/kb-firmwarerecovery.
Latest firmware - https://draytek.co.uk/support/downloads/vigor-2860; use the RST firmware file for a complete upgrade/factory-reset of the device.

Second @Armageus though, a Draytek 2862 or a 2865 and then Draytek 912C or 960/1000/1060 (depending on needs) for AP(s). Could look at Ubiquiti for AP(s); might work out a tad cheaper.
TP-Link, D-Link are hard to beat cost-wise for unmanaged switches.
CCTV, Hikvision or Dahua would be worth looking at.

 

[Steeps]

Just had similar done at work, moved from a Draytek which for some reason struggled with our last VOIP provider (they were a reseller and not great) and unmanaged switch to new hardware to cover a 5 person office and warehouse facility. Moved VOIP provider at the same time so won't really know for sure what the issue was.

Ubiquiti was above my budget as they just thought the default VM router would have been fine but managed to source some refurbished units. 24 port zyxel managed switch to handle the bulk of the sockets, an unmanaged 8 port supporting the printers in a different room, 16 port UniFi PoE switch handling the main line in, phones and access point, Edgerouter 4 not wired in yet but will do when I get a free weekend, then a single AP Pro covers the entire space for wifi. All mounted in a 6U open network cab in the coolest place I could find in the building, the last setup was up in the roof which regularly hit 40+ in summer.

CCTV system was an existing Dahua one, not great but it does the job as the cameras run over cat5 cabling but use power and video signal converters. Again relocated from the roof and it's running much cooler and has a dedicated 17" screen for checking directly. NAS and UPS sit underneath.

 

[Mike G]

Plugged power cable in - lights came on, flashed along the ports but then died. Now I can't get any lights - I have ordered a new plug/power lead so will try that when it arrives but does seem dead. Tried factory reset.

What makes you think you've bricked the device?
If the device isn't responding to HTTP/GUI or PING (make sure you're directly connected to the device and using the correct subnet) and you've done the usual hardware reset (https://www.draytek.com/support/knowledge-base/5738) then you, generally, can revive them via TFTP and re-flashing the firmware - https://draytek.co.uk/support/guides/kb-firmwarerecovery.
Latest firmware - https://draytek.co.uk/support/downloads/vigor-2860; use the RST firmware file for a complete upgrade/factory-reset of the device.

Second @Armageus though, a Draytek 2862 or a 2865 and then Draytek 912C or 960/1000/1060 (depending on needs) for AP(s). Could look at Ubiquiti for AP(s); might work out a tad cheaper.
TP-Link, D-Link are hard to beat cost-wise for unmanaged switches.
CCTV, Hikvision or Dahua would be worth looking at.

 

[Mike G]

What refurbished units did you go for out of interest?

Just had similar done at work, moved from a Draytek which for some reason struggled with our last VOIP provider (they were a reseller and not great) and unmanaged switch to new hardware to cover a 5 person office and warehouse facility. Moved VOIP provider at the same time so won't really know for sure what the issue was.

Ubiquiti was above my budget as they just thought the default VM router would have been fine but managed to source some refurbished units. 24 port zyxel managed switch to handle the bulk of the sockets, an unmanaged 8 port supporting the printers in a different room, 16 port UniFi PoE switch handling the main line in, phones and access point, Edgerouter 4 not wired in yet but will do when I get a free weekend, then a single AP Pro covers the entire space for wifi. All mounted in a 6U open network cab in the coolest place I could find in the building, the last setup was up in the roof which regularly hit 40+ in summer.

CCTV system was an existing Dahua one, not great but it does the job as the cameras run over cat5 cabling but use power and video signal converters. Again relocated from the roof and it's running much cooler and has a dedicated 17" screen for checking directly. NAS and UPS sit underneath.

 

[Mike G]

My attempt at new neat cabling

https://photos.app.goo.gl/q7LmqPQxUybZjnr28

 

[Deleted member 77746]

My attempt at new neat cabling

https://photos.app.goo.gl/q7LmqPQxUybZjnr28

That's fine. in that photo you going to want to go;
Patch panel > Switch > Patch Panel > Switch

This is so you can use very short patch cables to make it neat.

I have just rewired both offices in full with new Cat6 - 2x per desk, and we have around 28x outlets, although these. Never all be in use - I prefer to run extra cable now than get cut short in the future

If you have done this then there's room for expansion in future so a Draytek router (2865) + a 24 port switch with POE (Ubiquiti US-24-250W) should do you well. If you want WiFi just pop in some TP-Link access points in, these can be picked up relatively cheap and just for mobile/laptop needs (desktops hard wired).

Expand CCTV / NAS in future unless you need it now just get the main functions up and running so you can at least get running.

Ideally gear that is fairly easy to learn / find resources as I am the IT department

Depends how quick you learn

 

[Mike G]

When you say;
Patch panel > Switch > Patch Panel > Switch
Presumably this is if you need to use 2x switches? If you can get away with one you just fit the switch between 2x patch panels?

Reason I put it there was due to easier cable management but get your point about the short cables - will move it around. Those small Ubiquiti bendy patch cables are nice, but slightly overkill

 

[Quartz]

Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated,

A few questions for you: how much downtime can the business tolerate? What if your internet connection goes down? What if someone's PC fails?

So, some things to consider: a backup internet connection like mifi or even Starlink, and a spare PC available as a hot spare. I suggest an Intel NUC or similar simply because they take up so little space. Make sure you get a router capable of handling two WAN links.

You also mention that you don't have a server. You might look at a box running Windows Server Essentials 2016 mainly for the backup facility but also also set up WSUS to save on bandwidth for updates.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

When you say;
Patch panel > Switch > Patch Panel > Switch
Presumably this is if you need to use 2x switches? If you can get away with one you just fit the switch between 2x patch panels?

Reason I put it there was due to easier cable management but get your point about the short cables - will move it around. Those small Ubiquiti bendy patch cables are nice, but slightly overkill

Depends how many ports you have on the switches doesn’t it. Think about it.

If you going to do a job, do it properly first time.

 

[Mike G]

I don't think we could justify the cost of seperate starling etc - although I was planning to have a 4G dongle sitting there just in case. Currently we use mobiles and just tether for WiFi if we lose internet for an hour or so.

Re: server - everything we do is SAAS based, and we use office365 so not sure why we would need a server / backup? Correct me if I am wrong here though...
Generally individual files are saved in documents and backed up to OneDrive. Company wide information is stored in SharePoint. Any and all customer data, invoicing, etc is all held with different SAAS providers such as SimPro and Xero to eliminate the onus on us

 

[Mike G]

Not a recommendation since I've never used the range, but Meraki Go might suit your use case if you just use cloud apps.

Anyone have any experience with this? Seems like we are the perfect use case, I.e. small business with no It support / limited knowledge.

 

[Quartz]

I don't think we could justify the cost of seperate starling etc - although I was planning to have a 4G dongle sitting there just in case.

The idea is business continuity. Starlink may be overkill but a 4g / mifi dongle sounds great. If you have a dual-WAN router like the Draytek then you can have it permanently plugged in and cut-over time is zero.

Re: server -

Again, the idea is business continuity. The server is there to back up the workstation so if the workstation fails then all the user's settings and local files can be quickly restored. You can, of course, extend the functionality of the server, but you don't have to.

 

[visibleman]

Plugged power cable in - lights came on, flashed along the ports but then died. Now I can't get any lights - I have ordered a new plug/power lead so will try that when it arrives but does seem dead. Tried factory reset.

Are you getting any flashing LED's (ACT etc)? Is that with everything unplugged (other than the PSU)?
If so, then you may be right in that it's a dead PSU or Draytek; odd that the PoE switch got taken out as well - might be worth seeing if something simple as a fuse.

Although, trying with both the current and new PSU, i would see if you can put the unit into TFTP mode - unplug everything other than PSU, power off, hold 'Factory Reset' button whilst powering it on; ACT led and other leds on the left-side should flash if it works.

Whatever you end up going for, i would suggest throwing a decent quality UPS into the rack if power issues are a potential problem.

Anyone have any experience with this?

We had a look a while back when it required subscriptions (i believe they've now removed that option which is a bonus) and it's potentially great setup for SOHO setups and if you delve into the whole ecosystem but, not SMB as it's pretty limited on features, particularly around VPN, VLANs, monitoring, multi-WAN etc. It's also heavily centred on their mobile app - which is great and a PITA at the same time.
I would recommend really delving into the community forums and on to Reddit and making sure it's a viable solution before jumping in.

Edit - This was Meraki Go, not their enterprise grade kit which is a completely different ballgame and vastly superior albeit costly.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

Anyone have any experience with this? Seems like we are the perfect use case, I.e. small business with no It support / limited knowledge.

Yeh - I have set up plenty Meraki devices before and they brill. Licence costs where a bit steep though.