What should the office network look like?

Setting up fast, stable wireless internet connectivity in office without breaking the bank is something that most startups struggle with. Here, I will discuss one specific setup which is expandable and has worked well in multiple different scenarios.

Internet has become like a utility – just like we expect electricity to always be available when we press the switch or water to be available when we turn the tap, we also expect the internet to be available when we start our laptops or other devices. This is not easy, specially with more than a couple of users, and I have regularly seen startups spend thousands of dollars on the office network with limited success. Here are my recommendations for the various components of an office network.

1. Internet Connectivity. Get two connections of at least 100 Mbps each, preferably 1 Gbps. Most ISPs like ACT, Airtel, Spectra etc. have launched 1 Gbps fiber plans which are fairly cheap. The connections should cost ₹5,000 (~$65) each per month. Sometimes, there may be an installation cost, but many ISPs are waiving that off. Leased lines should be avoided – on paper they are better quality, but the benefits do not justify the cost for a Frugal Tech Startup. DSL connections should also be avoided since their upload speed is very low and will become a bottleneck. Fiber is the best option, and if that is not available, then Ethernet will do. If budget is a constraint, then we can get just one connection and add the second one later.
2. Router. The router should be able to support load balancing between multiple connections and support at least 100+ devices. I have had excellent results with TP-Link which provide very good value for money. TL-ER7206 is something I have been using without any problems. It should cost about ₹15,000 (~$190).
3. Wireless Access Points. We should get access points which can support a large number of users, can be managed centrally and support Power-over-Ethernet (PoE). All these features may not be useful immediately, but will be helpful as we grow. I recommend EAP225 which is very good value for money. There should be one access point for every ~20 devices and ideally there should not be any walls between any device which needs connectivity and at least one access point. These access points should cost about ₹7,500 (~$95) each.
4. Cabling. Go for Cat-6 or better cables. I have had good experience with AmazonBasics but the brand really does not matter much. Get one cable for each access point which is long enough to go from the router to the access points. Should cost ₹700 (~$9) for 25 feet. Also purchase one small Ethernet cable so that a direct, wired connection to the router can be established for troubleshooting in case the wireless stops working.

The above should get us started. A simple network setup will need one internet connection, one router, two access points and two cables. That should cost about ₹32,000 (~$400) to setup and ₹5,000 (~$65) per month for the connectivity.

As we grow, we should add more access points to ensure that the coverage is adequate and we don’t have too many devices connected to the same access point. The following additions can be made as and when needed.

1. Switch. The router will have three ports available for connecting access points. Beyond that, we need to get a switch. I recommend the TL-SG2210MP which is a 8-port gigabit switch with PoE supported on all ports. It costs about ₹10,000 (~$125). This should be connected to the router and all access points should be connected to this. The switch will then be able to power the access points through the Ethernet cable itself and the individual power bricks of the access points can be removed. This gives us more flexibility in terms of where to install the access points since we don’t need to worry about power point for every access point. Using PoE also allows us to have a single UPS to provide power backup to the entire network.
2. UPS. A central UPS for the router and switch should be enough. All access points can also draw power from the UPS via the PoE switch. The capacity of the UPS should depend on the frequency and duration of power cuts in the area.
3. Access Point Controller. The access points can be managed centrally using Omada Software Controller which is made available by TP-Link for free. However, unless the machine on which the software is installed is connected to the network 24×7, some of the features like monitoring will not be very useful. Instead of the controller software, we can use a hardware device OC200 which essentially runs the same Omada Controller software. It allows us to configure and monitor the access points using a web browser from any machine which is connected to the same network. It costs about ₹10,000 (~$125).

Assuming around a 100 devices need to be supported, the network will probably have the following components.

Component	One-Time Cost	Recurring Monthly Cost
2 x Internet Connections		10,000
1 x Router	15,000
5 x Access Points	37,500
5 x Cables	3,500
1 x Switch	10,000
1 x UPS	6,000
1 x Access Point Controller	10,000

The entire setup will cost about ₹82,000 (~$1,00) one-time and ₹10,000 (~$125) per month for the connectivity. It will easily scale to support 200+ devices by the addition of more switches and access points.

The above was about the hardware required to setup the network. While the network will probably work fine out of the box, the following will make it better.

1. Enable MAC Filter. Add the MAC address of all the authorized devices to the access points and disable other devices from connecting to the network. This will help prevent unauthorized usage of the internet.
2. Switch to a third party DNS. The DNS servers provided by the ISPs are sometimes not very fast and stable. A better option is to use Google or OpenDNS. The instructions describe how to change the DNS server for an individual system. If we configure these at the router, then all devices connected to the network will start using it automatically.
3. Upgrade all firmware. Updated firmware will be released regularly for the router, access points as well as the controller. It will fix bugs and sometimes add new features. As a best practice, we should always install the latest available firmware.

Hopefully, the above will enable anybody to setup a network where all the users can stream World Cup matches on their laptops / mobiles at the same time without any buffering or degradation in network performance.

I have assumed a certain level of familiarity with networks and other system configurations. For example, I just said that we should upgrade all firmware without going into details of how and when. If you are stuck somewhere and need help, then mention the exact problem in the comment section and I will try to help as much as I can.

[Modified in mid-2022 with updated model numbers and prices]