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Networks & Connectivity

Reliable wired, wireless, and VPN networks for offices, sites, and remote teams, designed, deployed, and documented.

We design and support networks that just work: fast Wi-Fi, secure remote access, and clear documentation so nothing depends on tribal knowledge.

The network nobody has looked at

Most business networks were set up correctly, once, by somebody who is no longer there. Since then a switch has been added, an access point has been moved, a device has been plugged into a spare port, and a rule has been opened on the firewall for a supplier who no longer exists.

None of that is anybody’s fault. It is simply what happens to infrastructure that works well enough that nobody has a reason to open it up. The result is an environment where the documentation, if it exists, describes a network that has not existed for three years.

We start by establishing what is actually there. That alone frequently turns up the answer to a problem people have been living with for a long time.

Wi-Fi, done by survey rather than by guess

Wi-Fi complaints are one of the most common reasons we get called, and the cause is rarely the equipment brand.

It is usually placement. Access points get installed where the cabling already was, which is often a comms cupboard at one end of the building, and the coverage map that results has very little to do with where people sit. Add a plasterboard wall with a foil backing, a neighbouring business on the same channel, and twice as many devices as the design assumed, and you get a network that tests fine standing next to the access point and fails at the far desk.

A survey establishes coverage as it actually is, and the fix is often fewer changes than expected.

Segmentation, because flat networks are how incidents spread

The single most valuable structural change we make to most small business networks is dividing them up.

On a flat network, every device can reach every other device. A compromised laptop can therefore reach the file server, the backup target, the point of sale terminal, and the smart TV in the boardroom that has not had a firmware update since it was installed. That is how a single click becomes a business-wide event.

Segmenting means the guest Wi-Fi cannot reach anything internal, the cameras and building devices sit on their own network, and the systems that matter are reachable only by the people and devices that need them. It is not expensive on equipment you already own, and it changes the worst-case outcome considerably.

Documented, so it survives you

Every engagement ends with diagrams, an addressing plan, a description of the segmentation and why it is drawn where it is, and credentials handed over into your password manager rather than kept in ours.

The test we apply is whether a competent person who has never seen your site could pick this up and work on it. If the answer is no, the job is not finished.

Typical timeframe
Site surveys in days, deployments in 1 to 3 weeks
Best for
Offices with Wi-Fi complaints, new fitouts, and sites nobody has documented
What one compromised laptop can reach, before and after segmentationSame devices, same mistake. The only variable is whether anything was in the way.

The engagement

How it runs

Every engagement follows the same shape, so you always know which part you are in and what is coming next.

  1. 1

    Survey

    We look at the site as it is: coverage, interference, cabling, where people actually work, and what the building materials are doing to your signal.

  2. 2

    Design

    Access point placement, segmentation, addressing, and remote access, designed for the way you work rather than to a template.

  3. 3

    Deploy

    Installation and configuration, scheduled around your business so cutover does not land in the middle of your busiest morning.

  4. 4

    Document

    Diagrams, addressing, credentials handed to your password manager, and a written description of why things are the way they are.

Common questions

Our Wi-Fi drops out constantly. Is that fixable?

Almost always, and usually it is not the thing people assume. The common causes are access points placed for cabling convenience rather than coverage, too few of them, channel interference from neighbours, or consumer-grade equipment being asked to handle a business load. A survey establishes which of those it is rather than guessing, which matters because the fixes have very different costs.

What is network segmentation and do we need it?

Segmentation means dividing your network so that devices can only reach what they need to. It matters because most serious incidents involve an attacker landing on one device and then moving sideways. On a flat network, one compromised laptop can reach your server, your backups, and the security cameras. Segmented, it reaches very little. For any business with a server or sensitive data, yes.

Is a VPN still the right way to do remote access?

Sometimes, and increasingly there are better options. A traditional VPN puts a remote device onto your internal network, which is a lot of trust to extend to a laptop in a cafe. Modern approaches grant access to specific applications rather than to the whole network. Which is right depends on what your people need to reach and what your applications support, and we will tell you when your existing VPN is fine.

Can you work with our internet provider?

Yes, and dealing with them is usually part of the job. We will also tell you honestly when a problem you have been living with is theirs rather than yours, which is a conversation that goes better with evidence.

Do you cover sites outside Newcastle?

We work on-site across Newcastle and the Hunter. Beyond that we support networks remotely and coordinate with local hands for the physical work, which for multi-site businesses is often how it runs anyway.

Need help with Networks & Connectivity?

Tell us where you are and what is worrying you. We will tell you honestly what we would do first.

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