Networking 3 sites

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penguinfan

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Hi guys and gals,
Can a noob get some free advice and suggestions on the following?

We have an office and 2 sites max 300m away with a couple of trees and buildings in the way.
Apparently wifi is not an option. I want to put the 3 buildings on same network for the following purposes:
1. Easy file sharing and Pastel (need to send pics of about 24mb heen-en-weer)
2. Internet access at other sites, currently CellC is killing me at R99 p/m :)
3. IP phones in the office and sites (with pin ability)
4. Video conferencing (optional)

Our pbx is a dinosaur of 10 years old. I doubt it if it would be able to handle above.
We have a 6 incoming lines + fax + adsl. We need 16 extensions (preferable ip phones) at the office and 6 at the other sites.

I am looking at MyPBX but I'm concerned that I'll have to go the fiber route and that ip phone extension at the other sites will require another MyPBX.
Also how expensive is it going to be? I hope to stay under R30k for hardware and fiber.

Thanx in advance.
 
Hi There
Before you go putting in cable and digging trenches which is expensive and may require you to get lots of permisssion form council or body corporates, I would look at the wireless option. This post earlier this week had a similar problem and you will find equipment details.
I would get a networking company in to discuss the options and costing rather than YOU carrying the success or failure on your noob shoulders.
For a VoIP solution I use Otel at home and have found their service to be excellent.

Regards

Tim
 
If your budget is 30k then definitely explore the wireless option a bit more... 300m worth of trenching, wayleaves, permits, splicing, ducting, putting down pavement slabs, re-tarring & insurance, etc will cost you a fair bit more than R30,000 (my guess would be closer to R300k .. figure R1000 per metre).
 
Thanx for the replies Tim and Mal1 :) Ja this 3 sites is on a farm and we will do the trenching ourselves. Also we've had some guys here with wifi options and after some testing even they suggested cabling. The farmer is not cutting down trees and high antenna poles will spoil the aesthetics. I considered the hardware and cabling might be expensive but I have to look at it as an option before I suggest one of those tree towers.
 
Ahh... more info is always good :)

If you're going to do all the labour intensive bits such as trenching, laying ducting and running the fiber into the buildings yourself, have zero permits/wayleaves to apply for and nothing to worry about in terms of hitting a municipal water main/Telkom cabling/Neotel fiber, etc, then your idea becomes more feasible.

A single MyPBX Standard will suffice, 3 FXO modules for your 6 incoming lines, IP phones all around (no need for additional MyPBX devices at your two sites), you'll need someone to splice the fiber for you onto some pigtails, some media converters and obviously the necessary network switches, etc.

Post up some pictures if you do proceed with this, would be a good project!
 
It doesn't sound as if you need fiber, and anyway, that's going to cost you big time: rather look at running normal Gigabit Cat5/6 cable, which you can do yourself without expensive installation costs on fiber. Just run more cables if you need more than a Gigabit of bandwidth.
 
Ja I know the rules pics or gtfo... Actually pics would be awesome. I'll post a pic of the current setup. You all can have a laugh.
FlatspinZA, I wouldn't mind doing a couple of cat5/6 cable runs and I doubt if it won't be future proof. Would I be able to still do voip as well as internet access or will they have to go over separate cables?
 
penguinfan said:
Ja I know the rules pics or gtfo... Actually pics would be awesome. I'll post a pic of the current setup. You all can have a laugh.
FlatspinZA, I wouldn't mind doing a couple of cat5/6 cable runs and I doubt if it won't be future proof. Would I be able to still do voip as well as internet access or will they have to go over separate cables?
Click to expand...

I don't know how many concurrent VoIP conversations you'll be running. There is a calculator here.

Look, even if you run 4 CAT 6 cables, while you're at, it still works out a ton cheaper than Fiber. 300M of cable is under R1K (thumb-sucking because I haven't looked at my prices lately), so you're looking at R4K on cable.

Just make sure all your switching gear, etc, has Gigabit ports to get the full speeds on your network. Personally, I think 4 cables is overkill, but while you're digging trenches, you might as well.
 
"Apparently" wireless is not an option?

Whose wise advice was that? Do they stand to make money from you doing cabling instead?
 
Just remember you won't get a single length 300m run of CAT6, you'll need a switch (which will require electricity) every 100m or so.

Therefore you either need to do your CAT6 runs into the buildings that are "in the way" (which must have power), into a switch and then out and onwards again, or else take power from the buildings and run that to a switch which is placed in a sealed enclosure outside.
 
penguinfan said:
Ja this 3 sites is on a farm and we will do the trenching ourselves.
Click to expand...

If you have access to a backhoe or something the trenching will be quick, this being a farm you will get 'a boer maak 'n plan'. Just run fiber, you will have to get someone out to come splece the fiber for you and then you just hook it up to some media converters if you don't already have switches with fiber ports.
 
If you are in a lightning prone area then fibre would be a safer bet.
 
Hey FlatspinZA, I will probably have at most 3 connections at a time. I'm with you on cat6 cables and power points every 100m shouldn't be a problem. I was hoping that 4 cat6 cables with switches would work out to about same price as one 4 core fibre cable :(
The wireless guys I had here also suggested higher poles but then ... They basically walked away from the jobbie, whether it was the budget at that time or our insistence on a reliable, always on connection.
Now who is the big (not so expensive) outdoor networking guys here in Helderberg / Stellenbosch area. Come have a look. I'll organise 2 btls of wine for your effort and 'free' advice.
 
Can you post a Google Earth picture/co-ordinates of the site? Fibre isn't that expensive to be honest, what price are you looking at/have you been quoted?
 
I can do pics but my gimp-fu is non-existant... Well here goes.
View attachment penguinfan1.png
You see the it's a straight line from the office to site1 at which point the cat6 / fiber will termininate and split into 3 other sites. Now bear in mind atm there's nada switches or cabling at the sites. Also the switch at the office will have to be replaced. AND all this has to come in under 15k. Don't laugh. I just heard that the 35k I was talking about earlier would have to include the switchboard...
 
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