Introduction To The Problem
Clearnet received a call from a long time customer of a large facility designed to host events such as wedding receptions, reunions, parties, etc. Only recently the site changed from a single tenant to a second and possible multiple tenants in the future. As part of the recent addition of the small secondary tenant, the existing single internet connection to the site was set up to be shared for the internet needs of the newly acquired tenant, who was to occupy a previously unused and vacant building on the property, approximately 900 feet away from the main building, where the main Demarc was located and where the primary internet circuit was handed off from the Local Exchange Carrier (LEC).
Research
The customer stated that while the internet sharing had initially been working fine, that some complications were beginning to develop. She explained that during the work day that she would try to log in to websites, watch videos or during downloads that she would experience freezing, dropped connections and computer lock ups. The matter was complicated further by the home schooling induced by Covid-19 and the need for home schooling with Zoom type classes that included video conferencing for each student staying at home.
As we discussed, it was not isolated to her computer but was the same throughout her 4 other employees and family that lived on site in their residence. They conducted testing at various times throughout the day and found a range of test results from performing in a basic manner to not working at all for minutes at a time.
Challenges
A site survey was scheduled and we met with the main customer on site to discuss further what was going on and how we could resolve the issues they were experiencing. We started by doing some basic speed testing early in the morning, when very little network activity was going on. The speed was found to be slow and less than expected (7 Mb out of 12Mb download promised X 3 Mb upload) and a call to the LEC was made regarding this deficiency. The LEC stated that the location of the customer was among their furthest from the closest equipment and that the cable reaching the site was old and in need of replacement. They agreed to dispatch a repair man to attempt to improve the speed of the existing circuit but could not guarantee any improvement.
While on site, a discussion was held with the recently acquired tenant, who’s business was doing well and growing. The tenant stated that recently things had really started to pick up and that he noticed the internet was slowing down more and more as they had recently brought on additional help to take on their increased work load. He explained that they had been developing 3D CADD files and transferring them over the internet to their customers and back repeatedly. The sizes were in the range of 1 – 10 Gb per file. He explained that files would frequently take over an hour to transfer. The landlord was unaware of the bandwidth needs by the tenant and upon discovering this information it became clear that the existing shared internet circuit was unable to supply the bandwidth needed, and that a new higher level of bandwidth was in need.
A request was made by the Local Exchange Carrier to provide a circuit with upload and download speeds of at least 50 MB/Sec or higher. The request was made to deliver a completely separate internet circuit to the outbuilding, where the new tenant had set up his business. The LEC explained that only one Demarc is permitted per physical address. The site already had a Demarc and that was to remain the only hand off location on the premise. As such the only option was to request the existing speeds be increased, but they reluctantly explained that only a new fiber optic circuit would be able to provide the bandwidth needed, but that currently no fiber optic cables were within reach of the customer’s facility.
The lack of bandwidth remained an issue for both businesses for several months. Lock ups, freezing computers and interrupted downloads continued with no improvement all the while. Alas after many months of waiting, the LEC wrote back to inform the customer that fiber optic cable would be pulled down their road soon and that real high speed internet would be available. Upon receiving a date for installation of the new high speed internet circuit, Clearnet was once again called for consultation.
Solutions By Clearnet
With the understanding that a single internet circuit would be delivered with enough bandwidth to serve two tenants, the discussion of how to share the single circuit came into question. While there would be enough bandwidth for both tenants to use simultaneously, there were questions of security, isolation, protection from internet threats, etc. Multiple options were discussed but the resolution included one dedicated firewall for each of the business to use independent of the other.
Fortinet brand firewalls were selected as the security appliance for both end user customers. These would allow for plenty of throughput while maintaining current virus and threat definitions through a subscription that the customer could elect to continue to keep current at the end of their first year should they choose. But the tenant that was 900 feet away was connected over a fiber optic circuit and the Fortinet was not fiber optic compatible.
Fiber optic media converters were installed at both ends of the fiber optic cable that extended to the newer tenant’s building, 900 feet away. We plugged in the media converters with fiber optic patch cords between the fiber cable and the adapters at both ends, and connected Cat 6 patch cords into the firewall at the primary end and into the network switch at the far end, where the new tenant had been waiting for the needed bandwidth.
With two firewalls in place, each one was configured with one of the five available static IP addresses. This provided a dedicated IP address to each business owner, allowing outside traffic to be routed directly to one host or the other without the requirement of configuring port forwarding in the firewall / router appliance.
The networks were both tested for speed, consistency and overall connectivity. Speeds were much higher than before and every test passed above and beyond expectations. The new fiber optic high speed internet circuit was a welcomed addition to both businesses, with one of the branches of the circuit extending through media converters, over a fiber optic cable to a remote building where the signal converts back to Cat 6 patch cords and connected to the local switch for the local users to share.
The customer is very pleased with the overall results and no longer experiences lock ups, freezes or dropped video calls as they have in the past. The cost of the internet has gone up incrementally but the business efficiency has gone up significantly.
