04-11-2022 01:18 AM
My new office has 68, two cable drops in it. Idea is that one will be for data, the other for voice (VOIP). I currently have 35 staff to look after.
Voice and data terminate at their own patch panels. From there I was planning on two non PoE switches (48 ports total) for the data lines, and one PoE 24 port switch for the voice lines (not everyone is getting a phone immediately after the move).
Small business. Traffic on the network is for access to the internet and for reading writing Excel, Word, and PDF files to/from the server. This is not a high volume network.
I've been using dumb D-Link 10/100 switches for years... want something more than that as complaints about voice service in my current office have been many.
Thoughts as to my best options for switches?
04-11-2022 01:37 AM
Hello,
it obviously depends on your budget, but usually, the Catalyst 9300 is a good choice:
04-11-2022 02:01 AM - edited 04-11-2022 02:02 AM
Hello
So many questions to ask, if you are going to spend your company's money then I expect they would to want something which is in some degree future proof for a few years at least - Do you anticipate growth and if so how much?
How large is the office, do you have any fiber runs or it it all copper.
Your voip devices at present are not carrying data traffic they are totally separate from your wired users, but do you think this would change?
WIFI do you envisage this will be required, (clients laptops ,IOT/mobile devices)
Remote access, for homeworking?
Security, what is implemented at present (hardware/software firewall)
Resiliency would you want some?
All the above can be serviced with just a few purchases however it depends on your budget and requirement's
Cisco meraki are excellent for SOHO business however the licensing can put people off, I would suggest you at least review them though.
04-11-2022 02:06 AM - edited 04-11-2022 02:09 AM
Hi,
cisco have 2 verticals for this kind of scenarios.
CBS series - for SMB customers
Catalyst series - ofr enterprise customers or SMB customers
in CBS series cisco have 250 or 350 (L2 and L3) but capacity is less than catalyst series.
in Catalyst series cisco have 1000 , 9200 and 9300 series. you can refer sperate data sheets in cisco site.
according to budget you can decide most suitable models for you. or get help from your cisco local partner.
PS - i saw you have layered 2 different cables for data and voice. but cisco switches support mini trunk concept which can use to share same physical link for data and voice both (IP phone should support for bypass data traffic to PC). in case if you are planning to expand or design new networks.
Discover and save your favorite ideas. Come back to expert answers, step-by-step guides, recent topics, and more.
New here? Get started with these tips. How to use Community New member guide