Wireless network transition plan for CoverAll Insurance Company

¶ … Insurance Company

Information Technology

The CoverAll Insurance Company needs to transition from a wired network architecture to a wireless one, and despite their eight floor office building being refurbished ten years ago to have CAT-5 Ethernet cabling integrated throughout its walls, offices and conference rooms. Since then the company has found that equipping sales people, claims adjusters, and investigators with laptops has increased their productivity by allowing them to be more mobile, going between conference rooms in meeting with each other and with customers. With 800 employees in CoverAll Insurance Company, the speed of the wired network based on CAT-5 Ethernet cabling at 10 Mbits/second is constrained from both a speed and availability standpoint. The reliance on RJ-45 connections is greatly constraining the ability of employees to be mobile enough throughout the building to meet together and stay connected to share files, collaborating with each other and with customers. What needs to happen is first an overview of WiFi and wireless technologies followed by specific for networking hardware and software including security considerations. Next the recommended products for creating a secured wireless network are presented followed by an assessment of which carriers the CoverAll Insurance Company needs to consider partnering with for connectivity to the Internet.

Recommended Hardware and Software

First, the existing CAT-5 Ethernet cabling can support up to 100 Mbytes/second and the server that acts as the company's gateway to the Internet needs to be updated with a new 10/100 switch to deliver a consistent 100 Mbits/second transfer rate on the existing CAT 5 cabling already installed. It is recommended that CoverAll Insurance Company purchase the Cisco WS-C2950-24 for $350 to increase the speed of its existing network. Depending on the number of connections to the Internet, there would need to be one of these Cisco Switches at each inbound Internet location in the company. It is assumed that there is a single Internet connection that CoverAll Insurance Company relies on today. The following table provides the specifications of the Cisco WS-C2950-24.

CISCO WS-C2950-24 SPECIFICATIONS

Product Description

Cisco Catalyst 2950-24 - switch - 24 ports

Device Type

Switch - stackable

Form Factor

External - 1U

Dimensions (WxDxH)

17.5 in x 9.5 in x 1.7 in Weight

6.6 lbs

RAM

16 MB SDRAM

Flash Memory

MB

Ports Qty

24 x Ethernet 10 Base-T, Ethernet 100 Base-TX

Data Transfer Rate

100 Mbps

Data Link Protocol

Ethernet, Fast Ethernet

Remote Management Protocol

SNMP, RMON, Telnet

Communication Mode

Half-duplex, full-duplex

Features

Network monitoring, full duplex capability, uplink, VLAN support, manageable, stackable

Compliant Standards

IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3u, IEEE 802.1D, IEEE 802.1Q, IEEE 802.1p, IEEE 802.3x, IEEE 802.1x

Power

AC 120/230 V AC 110/220 V ± 10% (50/60 Hz)

Manufacturer Warranty

Limited lifetime warranty

CISCO WS-C2950-24 NETWORKING

Ports Qty

24 x Ethernet 10 Base-T, Ethernet 100 Base-TX

Data Transfer Rate

100 Mbps

Data Link Protocol

Ethernet, Fast Ethernet

Remote Management Protocol

SNMP, RMON, Telnet

Connectivity Technology

Wired

Communication Mode

Half-duplex, full-duplex

Switching Protocol

Ethernet

MAC Address Table Size

8K entries

Status Indicators

Port status, link activity, collision status, port transmission speed, port duplex mode, bandwidth utilization %, power, link OK

Features

Network monitoring, full duplex capability, uplink, VLAN support, manageable, stackable

Compliant Standards

IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3u, IEEE 802.1D, IEEE 802.1Q, IEEE 802.1p, IEEE 802.3x, IEEE 802.1x

Next, CoverAll Insurance Company needs to securely install eight Linksys WRT54GX4 Wireless Routers, which include a 4-port switch that supports the 802.11g wireless networking standard and also has VPN pass-through as well.

The WRT54GX4 needs to be installed on each of the eight floors of the building, preferably in the ceilings above each conference room. The WRT54GX4 plugs directly into the existing CAT-5 cabling already installed in the company today. As of May, 2008 the WRT54GX4 sells for $126 each, totally $1,008. As the WRT54GX4 is the strongest wireless router that Linksys manufactures, the company's workers will be able to use wireless access throughout each of the eight floors of the company. The following table provides the specifics of the WRT54GX4 wireless router.

Carrier Services

Pricing for T1 service vary significantly across broadband providers. Covad offers full T1 connection support at $369 per month with a switch included. It is more economical for CoverAll Insurance Company to purchase the Cisco Switch mentioned earlier in this paper. Analysis of T1 services provided a range of $365 to $775 for a two-year contract including a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for 99.999% uptime. Pricing is negotiable as many of these vendors include the cost of a high speed switch as well.