Hello Networking subreddit I'm looking for some help in trying to determine needs and was hoping some feedback from people well more trained then I could help steer me in the right direction. I'll list below what we currently have and what we use as a company. Heads up while at times we employee 100+ employees we are a landscaping company and with that we are very seasonal in needs. We have a small group of actual office staff that work year round and access the network (8 - 10 people) while the rest of in office personal is maybe another 10 people. Everyone else would more or less be accessing internet only via AP or Cellular service with Tablets and Smart Phones.
We have a flat network as simple as that which consists of:
Spectrum Modem
Netgear Orbi RBK50 (supplies WiFi in Office Building)
2x Unmanaged Netgear Switches (24 Port)
Unmanaged Poe Switch (18 Port)
1x NVR
4x IP Cameras
10x VoIP Phones
Ubiquiti Rocket AC (supplies Internet to 3 areas where cameras are and for Internet in Shop)
3x airMax NanoStation AC 5 (Connected to Rocket AC)
Old Linksys Router in Shop (suppling very bad WiFi to the shop getting internet from the NanoStation)
2x Network Printers (Xerox and DesignJet Printer)
PoS System that runs through a Router provided by them that plugs into our network (we don't do anything with this at all management wise)
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53 drops in a new building put up about 3 years ago. Phones take up 10x jacks, PoS take up 2x, Printers 2x, 12x for hard line plugged in Computers, 2x TV's, 1x line gets used for Fax, 1x for Rocket, 1x NVR and rest are for connecting each of the network devices and after that not used. Everything else that connects to network is via AP. Generally when I log onto the Orbi about 75 - 78 devices are connected but possibly could be more if we had better AP in the yard allowing for employee devices to connect when they come in in the moring and before leaving in the evening (allows for better syncing of devices for Scheduling software would be my thought).
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We use Google Workspace for Email, Storage on Drive and File Sharing. Some users still store some of their files locally on their computers. We have one PC that is serverish meaning it has Quickbooks Enterprise Company file located on it to be accessed by Office personal to use and it has our Scheduling software Database on it but doesn't do anything else outside of it (We are in talks of switching Software to a more cloud based solution like NetSuite instead of Quickbooks and NextService instead of our Scheduling software or something similar in the future). We have an external HD that backups get run to for the Database and Company file. We aren't moving large video files or doing Photo editing and sending those around. Mostly what gets shared are Google Sheets or Excel spreadsheets, Word Documents or PDF's of Quotes. Our PoS system is Cloud bases as well for access.
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So what's my question(s)? Well I don't have nearly the same experience as I see from the other people on this subreddit. I like learning and using hardware and I want to improve what we currently have. Off the bat we don't have any sort of Firewall which is not great at all. I'd like to upgrade to Managed Switches, better AP, and better Router/Firewall. I just cannot tell if our needs really constitute all those changes. It's definitely in the realm of if it's not broke don't fix it and that's kind of what our company runs on when it comes to technology. I don't mean to say they are poorly run just that everything else is second fiddle to proper equipment for landscaping work and services. They don't give much thought to computers etc as long as it 'works'. I want to be able to explain and show them what they get out of making these kinds of changes and how that money will be put to great use in assisting the company. I have been looking at UniFi, Aruba Instant On, and have started looking at others so if there are any additional ideas any of you may have that would be greatly appreciated.
Any feedback is welcome and while I understand people will say I'm in over my head and I get that it comes with the process of me wanting to learn and gather information to make the most informed decision I can. None of this is changing in the near future and more or less is in time what changes can I get them to make and for why.
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