Help needed here

Hi
Am Thomas and recently, I built a network for a small company with ten(10) to fifteen(15) computers. I used unmanaged d-link switche to acomplish that. Now the company is growing and it now have at least 100 devices we need to connect to it, we also need a firewall and we thought of pfsence. We want to implement both wired and wireless network with enough security. The question Am asking is:
1. Do we need a managed switch?
2. will pfsence be able to handle all the trafic and security?
3. Do we need to get outdoor omni antenna with at least 1.5km coverage

I need recomdations
thank you

 

managed switch is def a good idea for a start...

 

I don't see any reason why you would need a routed network, unless it helped with remote sites, or you had another reason for a routed network ( multiple subnets on IP ), so I think you are on the right track focusing on layer two.

I concur with Cocker that a a managed switch is a good place to start. If cost is a concern ( when is it not? ), getting surplus network gear can give you solid performance while keeping costs low. With that many employees, being able to track what activity and the amount of traffic going over the network is important. You don't want someone downloading pirated torrents on your company network for liability and cost reasons ( it costs you money to provide bandwidth to people abusing it ).

Auditing your network requirements, as far as how much traffic and packets "normal" functions generate over time is a good place to look at for judging what you need.

Writing a security policy is useful for not only informing employees about acceptable use, but also provides you with a blueprint of what you need to do to implement in hardware.

It isn't about having the flashiest equipment. It is all about thinking thoroughly about your objectives, and using what is necessary to achieve those objectives.

It may sound like I am a bean counter, but I am a network engineer, and so thinking about current and future needs, and building a design to meet your requirements for the next 5-10 years is reasonable. Yes, technology will change over that time, new wireless and wired specs will come out, but if you plan it out, you should be able to build a framework that will cover you for that time, with only mild tweaks here and there.

Beware of app guys. One crappy application can blow up the best planned network design. Keep them reigned in, and don't let them get sloppy with their code ( like using the Push flag on every packet when not required by application performance ).

Some of this may be outside your control, but keep as much of it within your control as possible. Having a good plan and design will help making your case to the people who hold the purse strings that much easier.