Advice for internet access for about 20 computers...

[chiwawa626]

My dad is the manager of a hotel and we are currently deciding on some broadband ideas, our rooms are wired with CAT5, our "broadband rooms" there is about 20 need some sort of internet connection...What do we use? We are located in Sunnyvale, CA so availability shouldnt be a problem. I was thinking T1 is too much since there wont be more then 20 people on at once, what i was thinking of was a multi user DSL line? for around 200 a month i saw one from pacbell that does about 35 computers...is that what we should use? And what kind of netwroking equipment should we use? a router?

 

[N8Magic]

Aieee.

The T1 would be a good idea, as it is a leased line, and the service guarantees are MUCH better. Would your dad like to tell his customers: "Sorry, no internet right now. The DSL line is screwed, and the tech will be here in a couple of days." With a T1, you really aren't paying for the bandwidth, you are paying for the *service*.

If your T1 goes down, the telco will be there same-day to fix it. DSL? Who knows when.

As for the networking, a router would be an excellent idea, as then it would be easy to implement DHCP. You wouldn't want customers calling down to the front desk for you to troubleshoot their internet connection, would you?

 

[Soybomb]

Most of those users will just be surfing webpages and getting email so the load won't be continuous like it might when tranferring files, and also you figure even if all 20 rooms are booked you're probably only going to have 7 MAX using the connection at once. I'd think you could get by with a dsl package for that. Just get a router and switch to hook everything up with. You might also consider firewalling too....the perfect job combined with routing for a linux/bsd box

 

[chiwawa626]

Well, i dont know if a T1 is really needed since average traffic would be 5-6 people online at once...Ive seen corprate dsl lines thats what i was thinking of?

 

[chiwawa626]

Like here, look at this from pacbell:
http://www.pacbell.com/DSL_new/content/0,5289,61,00.html

 

[N8Magic]

Just make sure you get the scoop on their service package. You don't want an outage that lasts a long time, and has customers breathing down your neck.

 

[Soybomb]

Don't forget though that some dsl packages might be the same bandwidth as a T1. A t1 is what you get when uptime is important, dsl is what you get for a cheap, pretty reliable connection. If its important that the broadband service is always working, definatley get the T1. Corporate dsl from what I've seen is often a way to milk a couple extra bucks out of people because you're using it in a business setting as opposed to home use. They might give you a couple extra IP's or something but if you're going to setup something like a NAT system, you won't need them anyway. So I guess you first need to find out how important uptime is.

 

[acuraman]

I agree a T-1 would be nice but the people will just be surfing so alot of speed is not necessary. Look into a 384/768 down/384 up DSL package from Pac-Bell or comparable telco. Make sure they are reliable because a small outage during the night could cause a disater for you guys.

 

[trmiv]

I would try to get a good SDSL connection from a place like Speakeasy.net or XO communications. At work we have a 172/172 connection from XO, and we have had absolutely no problems with it. It gets used pretty heavily by 5 people, and the speed is fine for what we do. Here from DSLReports, there is from a 144/144 SDSL package from XO for $199 a month, or all the way up to a 2300/2300 for $499 a month. Speakeasy offers from 384/384 at $99 a month, all the way to 1500/1500 for $299 a month. Link

 

[chiwawa626]

Is 384 good enough? isnt that kinda slow? What are some other good companys in the bay area?

 

[lowtech1]

Currently my company is serving over 100 puters just fine on one ADSL 1.5 Mbps, so 386 should be adequate for 20 puters.
Firewall/Router/DNS/DHCP - A 386 would be okay for a minimum Linux install & IPchains, but you will have to migrate to a 486 or better if you want to use IPtable.

 

[chiwawa626]

Whats a decent speed? like i was thinkin around 786? or 1.5 mb?

 

[trmiv]

<< A 386 would be fine for a minimum Linux install &amp; IPchains, but you will have to migrate to a 486 or better if you want to use IPtable. >>



Que? I think you are on a completely different topic than we are. He was referring to DSL connection speeds, not processor speeds.



<< Is 384 good enough? isnt that kinda slow? What are some other good companys in the bay area? >>



I don't know, it depends on your situation. You really need to sit down an do a realistic evaluation of the type of speed you need. How many users will be logged on at once? What type of traffic will they be generating? Will they be transmitting any large files? etc. If you answer questions like that, you can get a good idea of the kind of connection you will need for your application. Obviously getting the 2300/2300 will solve any problems you have, but it would be overkill. You want to find the best connection that fits into the price you want to pay, that's why you want to figure out first what your bandwidth demands are. As far as companies go, check the find service link on the left side of DSLreports, to find out what services are available for your location, then you can evaluate your options.

 

[vash]

Business class DSL vs T1.

T1 usually wins because of uptime. Business class DSL is pretty cheap and pretty reliable compared to home DSL. Maybe look into leased lines or a fractional T1, it could certainly suit your needs, that's for sure. If 24/7 uptime is a complete must, then look at getting a T1 installed compared to anything else.

As far as hardware goes, you can't go wrong with a router. Make sure its configured to not much through, so that your own network isn't fully exposed.

vash

 

[The Stigenator]

Chiwawa> Get a SDSL of minimum 768.. you can easily get 1.5 up and 1.5 down SDSL for about 300 per month.. and it will worth..
since you probably raise your rates by a buck or two to cover the charge for internet even if they dont use it .. it will be worht it.

Sure DSL networks go down, but lately they dont go down as much as before. I suggest go DSL. If you can get Cable modem, then get a 2MB down 1MB up (for me charter offers that option for 30 bucks more than standard 768/128).

What you need is a switich where all teh cables from teh other rooms will converge into and a router like an SMC Barricade to handle the routing.. it should work fine.

I have my office with over 15 people on at any one point sitting on a 2MB down 384up cable.. they dont complain since they can surf.. downloads arent bad.. ofcourse I use an rather expensive firewall but you dont need that. At one point I was using ICS on Win98 to NAT them until I installed teh 3com officeconnect dmz firewall.

 

[chiwawa626]

Can someone link me to some sites of providers plans? were looking to spend around 200 or less. Pacbells line 1.5mb-6mb/384k comes for 74 the first 3 months then 159 then on. Seems good, but can it handel traffic of about 20 people? average traffic id say is 6 users just browsing and email, no heavy downloading (exept me..)

 

[chiwawa626]

What we will do is wire all the rooms and bring all the wires into the existing pbx phone room, and have the whatever broadband line there too. What do we do to connect the broadband to the rooms? Do we need a server? or just router? also, would it be possible to "remotly" deny access to a certain room?

 

[trmiv]

<< Can someone link me to some sites of providers plans? were looking to spend around 200 or less. Pacbells line 1.5mb-6mb/384k comes for 74 the first 3 months then 159 then on. Seems good, but can it handel traffic of about 20 people? average traffic id say is 6 users just browsing and email, no heavy downloading (exept me..) >>




Like I said, go to DSLReports for DSL stuff. In the middle of the page (above the directory letters) they have an ISP Search where you can input your location's general info, and get a list of providers and their plans. I would honestly recommend Speakeasy.net for DSL in the Bay Area, I have heard nothing but good things about them. The only concern with them is that Covad is their line provider, so I'm not sure how that situation is. You could also try a business class Pacbell plan, which would probably be more reliable than their residential plans (mine is fine though), and you wouldn't have to worry if the CLEC is going to go under, since you are getting it straight from Pacbell.

 

[The Stigenator]

there are two ways you can kick someone off.. I think you will need a linux router to do that.. but the easiest is to be labelled in the PBX room and pull the plug on that room you dont want to be connected.. just disconnect it from teh switich.

 

[gogeeta13]

Here is an idea, order both a dsl line, and also a cable line, when cable is up, it will be able to handle more people much better, when it goes down, plug the dsl modem into your router

I am guessing you dad is not loooking to drop hundreds of dollars a month, I sure wouldnt

 

[lowtech1]

You could use a NAT box to serve static IPs...you then could remotely log into the firewall/router (using telnet, ssh, etc..) and disable the ips that you want to cut off.

 

[trmiv]

All these solutions for denying access are great, but I gotta say, I like The_good_guy's the best. That is a true "low tech," no muss no fuss, solution. You would know for damn sure those rooms are not getting access if they are physically disconnected from the switch.

 

[lowtech1]

I like the The_good_guy idea too, but unfortunately RJ45 connection have the tendancy to break at the connection quite easily, therefor I wouldn't want to play around with physically plug/unplug the damned thing every day.

 

[hans007]

pacbell business dsl. Also you should get a hardware router, i doubt people will be doing anything hardcore networking, probably just web , email, stuff, so you could get by with like an smc barricade or something, and a 24 port switch uplinkked to it

 

[The Stigenator]

When your wiring the place.. I am assuming that the cables from teh rooms arrive at a "PATCH" Panel. If it does, you just need a short patch cable to go between the patch panel and the switch.. if that RJ45 breaks.. put a new one in.. the back of the patch panel is not touched so connectivity stays.