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Network Best Practices

Learn best practices for setting up and maintaining a stable, secure network environment for Bravo, including router configuration, static IPs, and recommended equipment.

The following is a guide to best practices for wired and wireless networks as needed to bring Bravo the best performance.

 

Recommended Wired Best Practices

  1. Category 5 Enhanced Ethernet Cable (Cat5e) 350Mhz or higher should be utilized at a minimum for Bravo.
    • All network cable should be housed in conduit and if conduit is not required by local building code then Bravo recommends shielded cable be utilized.
    • All network cable should be at a minimum of 4 inches away from electrical wiring, this doesn’t matter if cable is in conduit. If this is not possible then shielded network cable must be utilized.
  1. Category 6 Ethernet Cable (Cat6) is recommended for peak performance on a Bravo installed network.
    • All network cable should be housed in conduit and if conduit is not required by local building code then Bravo recommends shielded cable be utilized.
    • All network cable should be at a minimum of 4 inches away from electrical wiring, if this is not possible then shielded network cable must be utilized.
  1.  Cable Length Recommendations
    • Total distance between an Ethernet Transmitter and Receiver at the absolute end points of the network (maximum diameter from origin to final destination, if the wires were stretched out to form a straight line): 100 Meters (325 ft., 108 yds.). This limitation results from the timing of the Ethernet signals on the cable and not necessarily the cable characteristics, and is, therefore, a "hard" number.
    • Excluding patch cables, cross connects, etc., the maximum horizontal cable distance shall be 90 meters (292.5ft.). This is referring to the run from the patch panel to the wall jack with solid core cable.
    • Cross-connect jumpers and patch cords in the cross connect should not exceed 6 meters (20 ft.).
    • Minimum length recommended is 1 meter (3.25ft) and a maximum of 3 meters (9.75 ft.) has been allowed for patch cords from the wall jack to the work area/PC. This is the maximum recommended length for a workstation patch cord and should not be run next to power cords if at all possible.
    • 10 meters (32.5 ft.) is allowed for the total length of patch cords and cross connect jumpers in a horizontal channel.  Cross-connect cables are patch panel cables.
  1.  Network Speed / Bandwidth Requirements
    • Bravo requires a minimum internet connection speed (bandwidth) of 1.5Mbs up and 1.5Mbs down. Preferred speeds are 4Mbs or better. These speeds can be reached with most Cable and some DSL offerings from your internet service provider.

Recommended Router / Firewall Best Practices

  1. Router / Firewall none wireless

All routers/firewall that are rated as small to medium business or enterprise routers are supported; some examples of these routers are listed below.

  • Cisco RVS4000
  • Cisco 815
  • NetGear FVS318
  1. Placement of wired router/firewall should be within 3-9 ft. of your Internet Service Provider’s connection.  Follow the same placement rules as running normal Cat5e or Cat6 cable.

 

Recommended Wireless Best Practices

  1. Router / Firewall Wireless

All router/firewall/wireless that are rated as small to medium business or enterprise routers are supported; some examples of these routers are listed below.

  • Cisco RV220W
  • Cisco 850 series
  • NetGear FVS318N
  1. Placement of wireless router/firewall should be within 3-9ft. of your Internet Service Provider’s connection. Follow the same placement rules as running normal Cat5e or Cat6 cable.
  2. Wireless security should be set to WPA2 using AES encryption.
  3. Wireless signal strength should yield aMinimum of 100mbs per second. If this standard for speed is not maintained Bravo will not perform as expected.
  4. Wireless placement and environment considerations that affect performance.
  • Large beams Wood or Steel
  • Concrete block walls
  • Steel studs in walls
  • Certain types of microwave ovens manufactured before 2001
  • High voltage power in close proximity to wireless devices

 

Recommended Switch Best Practices

  1. Switches that are classified as small business or enterprise and support the following are supported by Bravo.

Examples of switches:

  • Cisco 200, 300 series and above
  • Netgear FSM726-300, GSM7252PS, GSM7224-200 and above
  • Dell PowerConnect 2816, 3524, 5524 and above

Recommended supporting on the switch:

  • 10/100/1000BASE-T auto-sensing Gigabit Ethernet switching ports
  • Power reduction for short cables or inactive connections
  • Auto-negotiation for speed, duplex mode and flow control
  • Auto-MDI/MDIX
  • Quality of Service: Delivers 4 priority queues per port
  • Honor 802.1p values and honor IP DSCP values
  • Industry-standard link aggregation adhering to IEEE 802.3ad standards
  • Supports 4 link aggregation groups and up to 4 ports per group
  1. Placement of switch
  • The placement of the switch should adhere to the cable connection requirements listed in cable section.