Small Office Networking Help

Soldato
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Our company is moving into a new office with some space. So we're finally aloud to sort out the network which is non existent and put a password on the internet connection. I'm not eperienced with networks just basic windows networking so any advice is much apprieciated.

The place is wired with 6 cat5 and 6 telephone cables which all end at different plates in the office. They all come into one box in a office.

I'm assuming we will have to get some kind of switch for the telephone cables which end in the type of plug that connects from a line into the back of a handset or some kind of call routing system but I'm not sure what they are actually called.

We need to connect the NAS to the wires via a switch. We have 4 port belkin one and a D-Link DES 1024 R with ports numbered from 1-24. I can't see any input ports so how would I designate the input slots? We would also need to connect the router to the switch.

I've confused myself typing this out. So here's a breakdown:

1) Need to be able to access the NAS through the wall plates aswell as wirelessly. What are the options available to me?

2) Need the internet to be accessed through the wall plates aswell as wirelessly. What are the options available to me.

3) The telphone ports would idealy be routed through some kind of telphone routing system so we can connect calls to certain phones. We'll probably just get some wirless phones and use the intercom facility.

4) I have no idea how to use the D-LINK DES-1024R 24 port switch but I would like to know.

In an ideal world we would have got a professional to fit everything but alas there is not enough money available.
 
Cable up your network thusly:


Internet connection
|
Router (Built in wireless AP?)
|
Switch -> Structured cabling to desks -> Client PCs
-> NAS Device

Hope that is simple enough to follow, not really anything complicated about what you want to do, just need to think it through logically.

No need to set "input" ports on a switch, data flows both ways, unless you are getting confused with the "uplink" function on old hubs - modern networking equipment does away with the need for this, though I won't confuse you with the details.
 
Thanks wij. I do not know which router we will be recieving from Tiscali but I'm asuming it will have a wireless AP.

So just connect up the NAS to a PC and share it over the network? The majority of the PCs are Vista but one laptop has XP installed on it.
 
The NAS connects to the network directly not through a pc. That'll be switch->NAS
The NAS does its own sharing.

What he said, forum screwed up my little diagram, but basically just connect the NAS to a free port on the switch.
 
I've done this but for some reason I can't access the NAS from the laptop which is connected to a socket in the wall. Everything is pluged in and I've restarted but nothing has happened. The internet is working fine although that's seperate atm. I tried plugging the NAS into the router but the drive will not show up on the laptops.
 
Sounds like there might be issues with things getting given incorrect IP or subnet.

What router have you actually got, because if this is not set as a DHCP server, some of your devices won't be given an IP address, and thus won't see each other?
If it is just a modem, not a router then you will have to set up a PC to be a server (with a server O/S on), to act as a DHCP server.

Otherwise you will have to set all PCs with static IP and subnet, and also config the NAS with static IP and subnet, all in the same range.
 
Sounds like there might be issues with things getting given incorrect IP or subnet.

What router have you actually got, because if this is not set as a DHCP server, some of your devices won't be given an IP address, and thus won't see each other?
If it is just a modem, not a router then you will have to set up a PC to be a server (with a server O/S on), to act as a DHCP server.

Otherwise you will have to set all PCs with static IP and subnet, and also config the NAS with static IP and subnet, all in the same range.

The router is a Siemens Gigaset SE587 WLAN dsl. I only tried connecting the NAS up to this after I couldn't get it to work with the DLink switch and another sitch both of which do work. When I plug the runs of cable into the switch then connect the laptops to them through the sockets in other parts of the office I get no green lights for the relavant ports only for the NAS.

When the laptop is connected to the NAS directly via the switch (not through the runs of cable to other areas in the office) it works.

I've also connected the NAS directly to the runs of cable but still can't access the drive that way. I'm thinking maybe there's something wrong with the cables but surley there can't be something wrong with all 6?

How would I set a static subnet and IP on the PCs?
 
Do the 6 cat5 and 6 phone cables come back to a panel?

if so, the cat5 then need seperatly wiring into the switch with more patch leads.

Then plug the NAS into the switch as well.
 
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