small office networking advice needed

[Go-To Gordon]

Let me start by saying networking is not my strong point. I do mostly residential break/fix but do have a few of small office clients. My home network is more complex than most of them.

Anyway I have a new client that I will going to on Thursday. I've been emailing back and forth with the office manager. It's a very basic 4 computer network. 3 windows 7 pro, one of which has been designated as the file/Quickbooks/printer server, and 1 xp that will be replaced soon. All are hardwired. Charter Business is the ISP

Lets forget about the xp machine for now cause it's not in the mix for the most part.

They are complaining about "network hiccups" that cause users (other two machines not the "server") to loose connection with quickbooks (unbeknownst to them) and therefor loose any unsaved work on the company file. No complaints about internet just internal network.

I asked her for a little info on the network hardware if she knew it. She took pictures and sent them to me. Here's what they have:

2 arris TM502g's. I assumed one for phone and one for internet.

Then I saw the next pic which was a smc8014 broadband gateway (modem/router all in one).

Any reason there would 2 tm502's just for phones for such a small office? From the pics the lights look like phone only.

linksys wrt54gl for wireless.

Netgear gs108 8 port unmanaged switch. Appears that all wired lan is off this as I would think it should in this setup.

Until I get there Thursday I don't know the exact set up. Ie if there is double NAT (smc and linksys), what the switch comes out of etc. It just seems like a mess to me!

Right away I recommended them have charter replace the smc with a docsis 3.0 compliant modem. Get a modem only and put a good router/firewall after it. I doubt they will spring for a sonicwall but I'm not sure. They are hesitant to replace the smc because charter only gives them a 4 hour window and told them they would be without internet for 2-3 hours while they are there. Also I read that the smc isn't much better (if any) than a basic router.

So I guess just general thoughts on this setup and maybe a router/firewall recommendation or two?

Obviously I'm going to check all cables etc. I have a feeling it's beyond a simple cable issue though.

 

[seedubya]

You're being asked to solve a problem i.e. our LAN keeps dropping and you should concentrate on finding out what the problem is before you start deciding what they should change. For all you know the router is working perfectly and the switch is at fault or there's faulty cabling or someone's NIC is dicky and dropping out - could be anything. You could have them replace the router and switch and still not get to the root of the problem.

Find out what's wrong first.

 

[Markverhyden]

Agreed. You need a proper diagnostic first. EU's are more than happy to tell what _they_ are seeing. But that may be a symptom of the real problem and not the problem itself.

The SMC is the internet and the Arris is for phones. I've seen where Comcast just leaves obsolete equipment onsite. Also, they might have two accounts. One for business phone and one for personal phone.

I can tell you that a best practice in an environment as you described is to have the machine IP's manually set and to map the drive shares using those IP's.

 

[Go-To Gordon]

You're being asked to solve a problem i.e. our LAN keeps dropping and you should concentrate on finding out what the problem is before you start deciding what they should change. For all you know the router is working perfectly and the switch is at fault or there's faulty cabling or someone's NIC is dicky and dropping out - could be anything. You could have them replace the router and switch and still not get to the root of the problem.

Find out what's wrong first.

I agree. I said

Obviously I'm going to check all cables etc. I have a feeling it's beyond a simple cable issue though.

I guess I should have said more then "etc"

The modem/router combo is pretty old and is docsis 2. Whether or not it's at fault they should upgrade to docsis 3 (it's free to get a new modem). They are paying for 60Mbps and I'm interested to see what they are getting.

 

[Go-To Gordon]

I can tell you that a best practice in an environment as you described is to have the machine IP's manually set and to map the drive shares using those IP's.

That is already on my list!