A network is what a company and a household really run on these days. When it works, nobody notices it. When it goes down, everything stops: the till, the cameras, the printer and the internet. Over the years we have built and fixed hundreds of networks, and most problems come down to the same handful of things.

This is a hub page. It pulls together our articles on networks, from the very basics to business setups, so you can get your bearings and click straight to whatever you are dealing with. You do not have to read all of it, just pick a topic.

The basics: what a network is made of

If you are starting from scratch, it pays to grasp a few terms. The most common mix-up is what a router, switch and hub each do, and how a router differs from a WiFi router. Once you have that, the rest makes sense much faster.

The internet: connection and speed

This is where most misunderstandings start. People pay for a higher plan and it still stutters, because the problem is not the speed but somewhere else. Start with what megabits actually mean and how many you really need and why download and upload are different. How many Mbps your particular household needs is answered by how much internet speed do you actually need and our internet speed calculator.

WiFi: so it works everywhere, not just next to the router

Wireless is where most complaints come from. The good news is that most of them can be solved without buying a pricier box. First read why a stronger router does not exist and where to place WiFi and why a WiFi repeater belongs in the bin.

Cables, switches and hardware

When you are building or renovating, the decisions here will stay with you for years. The first question is always when to run a cable and when Wi-Fi is enough. If you do run cable, you need to know which Cat type to use.

Business network and security

In a company it is no longer just about the internet working. It is about a customer on the guest WiFi not seeing into your accounting, and about important traffic not getting choked. The foundation is separating networks with VLAN, followed by trunk and access ports.

When to leave it to us

A lot of the above you can handle yourself, which is exactly why we wrote it. But there is a line beyond which doing it yourself stops paying off: when the whole network needs designing, cabling needs running, and VLANs and business WiFi need setting up so it works for years without you. That is when it is cheaper to call someone who does it every day.

For households we handle computer networks and Wi-Fi, for companies network management and monitoring. We are from Liptov, so we really do come to you when needed.

Not sure where to start, or want the network built properly from the off? Get in touch, we will go through your situation with no obligation and advise you.