I want to set up a small office network — what do I need? — answered by Engineer Saeed Baatiah
The essentials for an office of up to twenty people: a router rated for that count rather than a home unit, one or more access points depending on floor area and walls, a guest network separated from the work network (security-relevant and easy to set up), static addresses for printers and shared devices, and the router admin password changed from the factory default. Those five prevent most network problems before they happen.
The costliest mistake in small offices is using a home router for twenty people. The limit is not your line speed but the number of concurrent connections the device can hold — and every employee carries a laptop and a phone, so twenty people means forty connections before printers and cameras. The result is dropping under load that looks like a provider problem and is not.
And a separate guest network is the most important security measure and the easiest: an infected visitor device on your network can see your machines and shared drives. Separation is an option present in most routers and takes minutes. Add to it changing the router admin password from the factory default — factory password lists are published openly, so leaving it means anyone on your network can change its settings.
And coverage is solved with distributed access points rather than a stronger router — the single most common misdirected purchase. Concrete walls absorb signal and no consumer router penetrates them, so one access point at the far end does what a device at twice the price will not. And pin the addresses of printers and shared devices, which prevents most “the printer disappeared” problems before they occur.
- A router rated for the count — twenty people = forty connections minimum
- A separate guest network: the most important and easiest security step
- Change the router admin password — factory lists are published openly
- Coverage: distributed access points, not a stronger router