So you’re starting your business, you’ve decided on computers and software, you’ve ordered an internet connection, and now it’s time to think about how it will all fit together. More often than not, the answer is going to be to network your systems.

What is a network? Whatis.com describes a network as “a series of points or nodes interconnected by communication paths.” What the heck is that supposed to mean?? Not to worry, while networks can be monstrously complex – the Internet is the world’s largest network and no one can argue that it’s not complex – a small business network doesn’t have to be complex to be valuable and to grow with the business.

Essentially, a network will allow you to:

• Share an Internet connection.
• Share files and printers.
• Share databases etc – your accounting or point of sale system for example.
• Expand your business easier when it comes time to add people and computers.

Nowadays this magic is accomplished either by connecting computers and devices wirelessly or by using network cables to get the job done. With the proliferation of the Internet, there is hardly a new computer that doesn’t have the capability of connecting to a network with no special modifications – at least to a wired network.


One of the things that will likely get you thinking about networking first is sharing an Internet connection. In order to share an Internet connection, you need to create a network even if you didn’t know that was what you were doing. When you buy one of those broadband routers to share your connection, it creates the basis of a network to do its job.

In fact, sharing an Internet connection is the number one reason small businesses network in the first place and that’s a good thing. In thinking about computers for business, I can’t stress this enough, keep an eye toward how easily the system will scale (grow) with the business.

Starting off a network adds scalability right away but beware, there are a few things business owners never do – and  even computer service businesses rarely do – that could come back to bite you.

That broadband router you bought that’s now forming the basis of your network came from a factory line along with 1000’s of its brethren, all configured exactly the same, same password, same settings, same security. And by the way, even if you only have one computer right now, I suggest you get one of these routers for security and scalability. From the factory these routers are meant to be plugged in, run a wizard and they’ll work. But that’s not enough for a business.

One problem is the IP addresses a broadband router will use if left to its own devices. Without getting technical, everything on a network needs a unique IP address in order to communicate with everything else.

The problem is, if I leave a broadband router with the factory IP address and one day I want remote access to my network, chances are someone (me or an employee) will try to connect who uses a similar router with the factory IP address unchanged. Duplicate IP addresses always mean trouble and changing the router’s IP address is easy to do when it’s first set up.

Another problem is that you may have been wise and bought a wireless router – even if you don’t intend to use the wireless portion yet – and you haven’t secured or disabled the wireless capabilities. Most wireless routers come unsecured and an open invitation for someone to break into the network or steal your Internet connection for often fraudulent purposes.

These are just a few examples and this would be a time when hiring a professional to get you on the right start would be money well invested. Fixing issues when the network is bigger can be a major overhaul but setting things up properly in the beginning is far easier.

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