I just did some wiring in a school to extend the internal network. I also had to replace a Cisco Aironet WAP (one of 6 working together.) They complain that the network gets slow as soon as it gets busy. They probably have less than 30 users at once right now but they are planning to purchase 150 Chromebooks (it's a small arts high school.)
Right now they use 4 AT&T modems (maybe 12Mbps each) connected to a Netgear Firewall SRX5308 which has 4 load balancing WAN ports and is a gigabit router. In looking for an alternative for them I have read reviews of this product and several users complain that is has serious problems when it gets above 20 users. It's also relatively cheap. It's also the only product I see when I search for a 4 WAN load balancing router. I see there are pricier routers that have multiple ports that can be tasked as WAN ports but this gets me into a class I'm not familiar with.
So I'm asking opinions for two scenarios:
1. Can anyone recommend a router that can handle 100+ users (I'm guessing that not all Chromebooks will be connected at a time - it's an arts school and I hear pianos playing and see kids running around in dance outfits.) and can load balance 4 WAN connections? I have a feeling we're talking Cisco routers.
2. On the other hand, I'm hoping they can talk to the Catholic church that owns the building into getting permitting them to switch to Comcast (which will deliver around 150Mbps near downtown in Chicago.) They were told no in the past but I think they need to insist. We'll see how that goes. So if I don't need load balancing, what would be an appropriate router? This is my 1st customer with more than 30 computers.
Any advice would be appreciated!
Right now they use 4 AT&T modems (maybe 12Mbps each) connected to a Netgear Firewall SRX5308 which has 4 load balancing WAN ports and is a gigabit router. In looking for an alternative for them I have read reviews of this product and several users complain that is has serious problems when it gets above 20 users. It's also relatively cheap. It's also the only product I see when I search for a 4 WAN load balancing router. I see there are pricier routers that have multiple ports that can be tasked as WAN ports but this gets me into a class I'm not familiar with.
So I'm asking opinions for two scenarios:
1. Can anyone recommend a router that can handle 100+ users (I'm guessing that not all Chromebooks will be connected at a time - it's an arts school and I hear pianos playing and see kids running around in dance outfits.) and can load balance 4 WAN connections? I have a feeling we're talking Cisco routers.
2. On the other hand, I'm hoping they can talk to the Catholic church that owns the building into getting permitting them to switch to Comcast (which will deliver around 150Mbps near downtown in Chicago.) They were told no in the past but I think they need to insist. We'll see how that goes. So if I don't need load balancing, what would be an appropriate router? This is my 1st customer with more than 30 computers.
Any advice would be appreciated!
