IT & Networking · 1 to 10 users

Small office network (SOHO)

One router does most of the work: internet sharing, firewall, and Wi-Fi. Wired desks, a shared printer, and power protection for load shedding.

How it connects

Explore the network

Data comes in from your provider, through the router, and out to every desk and device. Tap any device to learn what it does.

Tap any device in the diagram, or pick one below, to see what it does and what to look for when buying it.

Devices in this design

Materials

The equipment and materials for a typical small office. Quantities depend on your floor plan, which we measure on site.

ISP terminal
Fibre ONT or LTE/5G router, supplied by the provider
Quantity
1
Wi-Fi router
Wi-Fi 6, WPA3, guest network, firewall, at least 4 gigabit LAN ports
Quantity
1
Network switch
Unmanaged gigabit, 8 port
Quantity
1, only when wired devices outnumber the router's ports
Network cable
Cat6 U/UTP, solid copper
Quantity
One run per wired device, measured length plus about 3 m slack each
Wall sockets
Cat6 keystone jacks with face plates
Quantity
1 per cable run
Patch cords
Cat6, 1 to 2 m
Quantity
1 per wired device, plus 1 per run at the switch end
Cable trunking
PVC trunking or conduit along walls
Quantity
As per route length
Power protection
Line-interactive UPS and surge protector
Quantity
1

Item	Specification	Quantity
ISP terminal	Fibre ONT or LTE/5G router, supplied by the provider	1
Wi-Fi router	Wi-Fi 6, WPA3, guest network, firewall, at least 4 gigabit LAN ports	1
Network switch	Unmanaged gigabit, 8 port	1, only when wired devices outnumber the router's ports
Network cable	Cat6 U/UTP, solid copper	One run per wired device, measured length plus about 3 m slack each
Wall sockets	Cat6 keystone jacks with face plates	1 per cable run
Patch cords	Cat6, 1 to 2 m	1 per wired device, plus 1 per run at the switch end
Cable trunking	PVC trunking or conduit along walls	As per route length
Power protection	Line-interactive UPS and surge protector	1

Good practice

A copper Ethernet run is limited to 100 m in total: up to 90 m of fixed cable plus 10 m of patch cords. Beyond that, add a switch or use fibre.
Cat6 carries 1 Gbps over the full 100 m, which is more than a small office needs today and leaves room to grow.
Keep data cables away from power cables where possible, and cross them at right angles to reduce interference.
Label both ends of every cable. It turns a future fault-finding hour into a minute.
A separate guest Wi-Fi keeps visitors' devices away from the computers that hold company files.
Change the router's default admin password and keep its firmware updated. Most break-ins use defaults.
With load shedding, a small UPS keeps the internet up through short cuts and protects the equipment from surges when power returns.

We survey the space, confirm the equipment list, install, label, and test every point, then hand over a simple network map.