[SOLVED] Small business internet, congestion problem?

[quasipredator]

Hello,

I manage a fitness center and I have limited knowledge with larger networks. I'm reaching out for some much needed advice.

We have pretty poor internet at our facility (limited in our area). Currently we have 2 T1 lines and our total down speed is 50MB and upload is 10MB. All of our phones are also VOIP. Our internet is fairly sufficient most of the day, however during peak hours with many guests (40-75 connections) our internet becomes basically unusable. Any help would be greatly appreciated since I am a bit over my head here.

Our current setup is this, also in order of connection:

Overture Networks HN508-D-2E High-Speed Ethernet Modem 508-D
TDS Modem
Asus RT-N16 (This directly feeds to our single engenious wifi hub that runs our guest network)
Cisco 881
Cisco 24 Port Switch

THANK YOU!

 

[RealBeast]

I suspect that your real issue is the number of connections to a single wireless wireless access point. Another would allow many additional connections depending on the specific specs of that AP.

And you would probably be better off if you only allowed limited bandwidth to your customers with that small bandwidth -- my home has over twice that much. Do you have any cable Internet providers available? I live in the sticks in East Texas and gigabit Ethernet in my area is about $125 a month with unlimited usage -- you might want to check to see if anything better is available or on the way.

 

[USAFRet]

50/10 pipe from the ISP, and 40-75 guests, all on WiFi, is the issue.
And 40-75 guests may be near 100 devices.
Phones, smart watches, etc.

You need a bigger pipe, and a couple more access points.

 

[kanewolf]

You need to get your VOIP on a separate VLAN and prioritize that traffic. Your Asus router is not really up to being a small business device. Get a true small business router. Get appropriate VLANs setup. Get traffic shaping on your guest traffic (probably 2Mbit max with a 50Mbit pipe).
If this it too much then you need to hire someone to help you.

 

[quasipredator]

Thanks everyone for the advice, really appreciated. This gives me a much better idea of where to go forward.

 

[bill001g]

You need to get a diagram of what you have and how it really is being used as you look to replace this. As mentions you need a lot more bandwidth.

It appears you have 2 different connection.

The TDS is a cable modem type of broadband connection.... at least I think it is. If this is a cable modem the vendor might offer faster service. If it is DSL then maybe not.

The other connection is what I think you are calling a T1. A T1 is only 1.5mbps so 2xT1 would be a 3mbps internet plan. So your 50m plan is not connected there. T1 used to be a fairly standard connection and for some things like voice it still is. Maybe you VoIP runs on that ?
In any case that modem and the cisco router are antiques. They were common back when a T1 was actually a fast connection.

 

[gggplaya]

That Asus RT-N16 can't handle that many connections. I would start there first.

Get a router that can handle QOS traffic shaping. Limit everyone to 1mbps which is good enough for 480p video. I suspect everyone is streaming youtube, netflix or pandora.

But if you're redoing the whole network. Buy more access points, or access points with more antennas. Get a commercial router with a really good processor.

If you need the reliability of a T1, then i guess keep it for the phones and credit card machine. However, I honestly don't think a Gym needs that kind of uptime. You can afford to be down from time to time when the internet goes out, which is rare. If you have fiber or cable in the area. I would get small business internet from them, you'll get much better bandwidth. Then just limit people to 3-4mbps.

 

[quasipredator]

Where we are located we do not have the option for cable internet unless we pay $15000 to install it, at this time that is too much for our business to spend.

I am planning on upgrading the router and installing a second wireless access point.

Does anyone have a suggestion for the router I should be looking at?

Update
We have 2 T1 Lines dedicated to our VOIP phones
Then we have a bonded DSL line for the 50mb down speed
I have an option to upgrade to 100mb and I will be doing that!

THANK YOU!