Network Set Up Help

[janitorC7]

Hey guys,

I’m in a shared living environment at the moment where we are sharing a business class internet connection. All of the rooms are wired for internet and there are usually about 60 connections to the internet.

Hardware:
Modem
AirPort Extreme
2 Switches
7 Air Port Expresses

With this information, what would be the ideal set-up? If I want to preserve mostly internet speed and local transfers. Also, would I see any benefit from installing a gateway server?

I know that this is a lot of ask of you guys but I do really appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[Les Kern]

May need more info? It's almost like you're asking "I have eight fenders, a bumper, 6 sets of tires, three engines and a can of paint. What kind of car should I build and where should I park it?".

 

[Darwin]

Agreed, a little more detail would help.

I can only assume that a setup is already in place which would preserve the internet speed and local transfers. That setup is mostly wired from what I read and you possibly want to make use of Wifi. I'm also guessing that those 60 connections might be devices or services?

 

[janitorC7]

Sorry I was half asleep when I wrote this…

There is a network in place that looks like it was put together by 8 year olds. We have routers that are somehow being used as switches… it’s a mess.

We don’t make that much use of the wired network to be honest. I would like to make more use of it, but, that is not really up to me. This was the first time that I had really looked at the network as it stopped functioning and I was asked to take a look at it.

At the moment there really are no services being hosted (unless you want to count a Time Capsule..), I would however like to add some security to the network, also a few services. Its about 30 computers, 20 phones, 10 misc.

I guess my question here is weather or not the AirPort really has the backbone to handle a network this large. When I have done networks this big I’m usually running it though a gateway to distribute DNS and IP’s to the network and not making use of dedicated router hardware (So I;m usually using an XServe or Mac Pro in place of a router)…

So do you guys think that I need to convince the board here to upgrade to better hardware of should what we have be good?

JC7

 

[Coolestdude]

What is the current utilization?

Typically phones are placed in their own VLAN.

What speed is the Internet connection?

Any connections to remote sites?

What type of loads are the various computers placing on the network?

What type of wiring is in place?

Do the switches/routers have UPS's?

Are there any bottlenecks that devices are currently experiencing?