Office Network setup advice, please

[Aboulaly]

Hey Guys, I have a little job for a customer of mine, he has 3 computers and one of them huge all in one printer, copier fax machine, he wants to network them together, I don't know if the printer is network ready or not, I am going tomorrow to check everything out, but what I need to know is, how much should I charge for a job like this, networking is not my specialty really, but I am sort of cornered to do it, otherwise I might end up loosing this customer, he is a good man, and has 3pcs at work and 3 at home, LOL
So yeah guys please any advice would be great, on charging and what is the easiest procedure to follow to get it all going.
I was think of doing the basic 4 port router connection????
Cheers

[mate]

Cat5 cabling needs to be done by an endorsed cabler. Big firms will charge $75 per termination. Half that is reasonable, hopefully you know what you are doing. A 4 port router is OK or you could use a switch.
Don't bother with cat6 cable it is a waste of money.
Really, tell him to get an IT cabling specialist to do it and set up his network.
I'd rather lose (spelling) a customer if it meant not having to spend too much time piss farting around with a network issue with his computers that may or may not be always up to date or running the right service pack or this or the other.
A specialist will be able to give him access to his work computers from home.
Something he would surely appreciate.
From my experience you don't lose customers if you are honest with them. Telling them it is beyond your capacity will let them know you know your limitations.

[Philquad]

plug em into a 4 port modem\router
setup file sharing on the shared folder or create a folder on each to share also.
share the printer to all 3 pcs, may need to run drivers for printer on all 3.
setup remote desktop if you want? allowing the other 2 to access 1 if needed.
charge him 100-150, mates rates.

[best4less]

Me myself I love wireless now they are so stable (if setup correctly) saves stuffing around with cat5 etc....

He will like the idea if he ever wants to move his office/home computers around or add to it such as a laptop

[Aboulaly]

plug em into a 4 port modemrouter
setup file sharing on the shared folder or create a folder on each to share also.
share the printer to all 3 pcs, may need to run drivers for printer on all 3.
setup remote desktop if you want? allowing the other 2 to access 1 if needed.
charge him 100-150, mates rates.

is this for the whole job, plus material, or is that per hour? just to be clear

By the way it's a small office in a carpentry factory, so nothing major really, he just needs to hook all pcs to one printer, and be able to see invoices, cutting lists, job orders and few documents on all computers, I will be using a wireless router just in case he needs to add any lappys later on and cat5e UTP cables, I don't even think he has internet access in his office.

[urban_s0ulja]

If the printer is USB you can get network print servers for this otherwise the PC with the printer on will always have to be turned on.

Legally you need a licensed cabler to do the cabling id tread really carefully here as if they have any issues it'll be your nuts on the chopping block.

Talking about nuts $100-$150 is peanuts, keep in mind you will be the first point of call for any issues, questions etc for the next 18 months or so. Even for a simple reboot you will need to spend time advising them over the phone or even make a site visits. Charge accordingly....

Networking Gear - Dont use crappy gear like netgear, dlink etc. Spend some extra on something solid. Also make sure you password protect / turn off the wireless otherwise you'll get calls asking why there net is so slow after they get capped.

Set up file sharing as well for them so they can share documents back and forth.

As B4L suggested if cabling becomes a issue wireless is pretty reliable these days but NOT as reliable as cabled connection. As it often disconnects, needs to be "reconnected" etc. = More support requests.

I did a project for a old mans friend about 6 months ago, Charged him about a bit less than half of what i would normally charge. I'm still paying for that mistake today....

[crypto7]

If its not your best area, I would help out and charge a rate that covers all costs + time. Its standard to have cost +5%. for you time, I would charge a rate to is low for your first job. It will take you longer and more time then the experts, but you are learning and if the customer is important to you, its better to take a hit on the return and keep everyone happy. Depending on how well you know the customer, I think you should some how let them know you are giving a good rate as its not your strong area. You kinda need to do this in a awy that shows you can get the job done, but means it can take a little longer then the may want.

eg: We will need to get a quote for the cable works. You will need to work out what they want.

I like cable as you can run 1Gbps over it and the wifi is getting full.
If they want wifi, you should do somesort of audit to work out how well it will work.

2.4Ghz should only be on channels 1 6 and 11, if these are in use,you wont get the full 54Mbps. If you run wifi N, it should only be 1 and 11. you could use N in the 5Gig, but most gear will need an update to run it, so consider that as well.

You cant go wrong with cabled, wifi could be a bit hit and miss. Things like cordless phones, mircowave ovens, av senders and sime motion sensors are all good examples of things that could cause trouble (and remember blue tooth is in the 2.4G band as well).

To be honest, it may be best (for this job) to change your standard rate, but let them know that its a deal to help them out.

Key Points..
- Any data cabling MUST be done be a cabler and get it certified.
- They will need to pick the place for the "Comms" Rack. This will house the patch pannel, switch and leave some room for things later on
- They will need to decide if they want wireless (you can only recommend)
- If wireless, to some sort of audit, at the very least some wifi scanner like netstumler to see how busy it is.
- Make it clear that you will manage everything (as Im sure thats what they really want).
- You really need to see what sort of budget they have... and get the best value for money.

3 PC + Multi Function = 4 ports, no room for expansion.
maybe
1 * 4 Port Firewall/Router
1 * 4 Port Wireless. (and just turn off all the firewall/dhcp stuff)
This way they get both cabled and wireless, Can have ports free to add other devices.
If they want Gig speeds, get a real switch, and hand the internet firewall and wifi of that.

All just ideas.

[crypto7]

If the printer is USB you can get network print servers for this otherwise the PC with the printer on will always have to be turned on.

Legally you need a licensed cabler to do the cabling id tread really carefully here as if they have any issues it'll be your nuts on the chopping block.

Talking about nuts $100-$150 is peanuts, keep in mind you will be the first point of call for any issues, questions etc for the next 18 months or so. Even for a simple reboot you will need to spend time advising them over the phone or even make a site visits. Charge accordingly....

Networking Gear - Dont use crappy gear like netgear, dlink etc. Spend some extra on something solid. Also make sure you password protect / turn off the wireless otherwise you'll get calls asking why there net is so slow after they get capped.

Set up file sharing as well for them so they can share documents back and forth.

As B4L suggested if cabling becomes a issue wireless is pretty reliable these days but NOT as reliable as cabled connection. As it often disconnects, needs to be "reconnected" etc. = More support requests.

I did a project for a old mans friend about 6 months ago, Charged him about a bit less than half of what i would normally charge. I'm still paying for that mistake today....

I agree the cheap gear is not the way to go, but it can be hard to convince peopel to part with their money when the see the Dick Smith specials.

I like HP and CISCO gear, but it will cost you. Things with fans can be noisy, but wont get too hot. Most issues i see with cheap gear is overheating, causing random lockups.

Feed back I get from around town where I live.... those that are NOT happy with there IT support is because the feel that they are paying too much for poor service. When talking to them and from what they say, they really did get poor service. I tend to get called in to sort out the mess, small town and all that and most people know me.

Alot of what I am saying is based on what you said, you dont want to loose the customer. I read into that that you already charge for support calls. know your customer....

[best4less]

keep in mind you will be the first point of call for any issues, questions etc for the next 18 months or so. Even for a simple reboot you will need to spend time advising them over the phone or even make a site visits. Charge accordingly....

, Charged him about a bit less than half of what i would normally charge. I'm still paying for that mistake today....

ROFL I still remember the 1st computer i sold and 2 farking years after they were still phoning me asking me how to send a email or something..... I ended up telling them I was dying and i didn't have much time left

They still give me a strange look when i see them on the street 12 years later LOL

[Aboulaly]

You guys are scaring the hell out of me, even though I got a distinction with 100 out of a 100 for networking, LOL
I am going to his office tomorrow to check it out and if I feel that it's out of my capacity, I will suggest to him to get a network IT guy, after all it's not worth all the hassles just for $100-$150, he actually had someone that was supposed to do it for him, but he called me on friday asking me to do it because the other guy had an accident and he is off work for a while.

[best4less]

Ahh don't stress about it mate go have some fun make some cash and if you do it cheap enough you will be making it up on his future work

The most important thing for you to do is not to use DHCP set all the computers with Static IP's

My 2 cents LOL

[Aboulaly]

that's what I had in mind, set all IPs manually and if the printer is not network ready I'll get a print server better than hooking it up to one computer via usb. I'll give it a go and see what happens , I know if I need any help, I'll always have you guys for support.
By the way as far as the gear go I can only use what my customer is willing to pay for, if I tell him he needs a cisco router for lets say $300 and up, he is going to kick my ass, especially if the previous had given a price already.