Stormborn15 Posted September 2, 2018 Posted September 2, 2018 Hi, I’ve inherited a network with 2 VLANs . A voip and and general one. A cab ( one of 4 ) has been moved over the summer and to cut a long story short ... what would be the consequences of ‘flattening’ the network? Any ‘gotchas’ I need to be aware of? Is it a simple thing to do?
rich_tech Posted September 2, 2018 Posted September 2, 2018 Consequence on removing VLANs = call quality may suffer if your network is congested because voip traffic would be on same network as all your other data moving about the network.
6Foot2 Posted September 2, 2018 Posted September 2, 2018 You might also see degredation of network performance. One of the reasons we added VLANs to our network was to improve on the perceived underperformance of our network at that time. After the VLANs went in we got positive feedback from our users (both staff and students)
AlanD Posted September 2, 2018 Posted September 2, 2018 I'd be wanting to expand on VLANs..... I'd certainly want to keep my wireless traffic off my PC network - especially if its any BYOD devices - because you have no guarantee what "nasty" might be inadvertently installed on a BYOD device. Then I'd probably want to keep my printing traffic off the PC network - because that is always noisy... If you simply flatten your network by "resetting" the switches - you will probably need some work to do to reconfigure core switch routing (or gateway routing) so you have work to do anyhow.... 1
Stormborn15 Posted September 2, 2018 Author Posted September 2, 2018 It’s a new network to me and still trying to figure out the set up. Cab was moved over summer ( I wasn’t there) and some office moves ... now have one day to sort it out and get internet back up etc ...
Bruce123 Posted September 2, 2018 Posted September 2, 2018 It’s a new network to me and still trying to figure out the set up. Cab was moved over summer ( I wasn’t there) and some office moves ... now have one day to sort it out and get internet back up etc ... I can't see why a cab move is making you consider 'flattening the network'. I'm willing to bet it's probably not the best move at this time, but I can appreciate you're probably thinking that removing all the VLANs will simplify things, making it easier to sort things out. But by doing so (without proper planning) you could just introduce more issues. Just picking up one example, by removing the VoIP VLAN you may have to modify the static IP of the phone system (assuming you have one onsite and it's IP is in the VoIP VLAN) to one that is in the same range as the only remaining IP network/VLAN. And what about your firewall rules and QoS (as mentioned previously) and DHCP scope options (which the phones may require), to name a few? If you're unable to sort out the issues (resulting from the cab move) by yourself (no shame in that you didn't move the cab) then if I were you I'd advise management to get someone in to assist/sort them out. It might cost around £600 for the day, but it would be worth it to get IT ready for the start of term. Good luck! Thanks, Bruce. 1
Davit2005 Posted September 3, 2018 Posted September 3, 2018 Flattening the network is going to cause bigger issues long term. Any dirty devices or suspect network interfaces can cause drastic effects on VOIP quality, there may also be specific settings on vlans to make sure that VOIP phones function correctly. I've known printers have a detrimental effect on VOIP phones from my own experience. If a cab was moved and you have access to the switches management interface then simply log in to a switch and see what settings there are on uplinks etc. and make sure these match both ends. If it was a simple network cab where a cab with switches was moved I cannot see it being that much of an issue. 1
Stormborn15 Posted September 3, 2018 Author Posted September 3, 2018 Flattening the network is going to cause bigger issues long term. Any dirty devices or suspect network interfaces can cause drastic effects on VOIP quality, there may also be specific settings on vlans to make sure that VOIP phones function correctly. I've known printers have a detrimental effect on VOIP phones from my own experience. If a cab was moved and you have access to the switches management interface then simply log in to a switch and see what settings there are on uplinks etc. and make sure these match both ends. If it was a simple network cab where a cab with switches was moved I cannot see it being that much of an issue. It's a combination of new layered and complex network that I'm just trying to map - then the cab got moved and not all the rj45's seem to have gone back in the same place ( as instructed) so now its going through it port by port ( office move as well to add to the mix) and make sure that pc's and telephones are on the right vlan so they can work - also it appears the door system was changed and was also connected to that cab and that isn't working now either... fun and games... not...
Domino Posted September 3, 2018 Posted September 3, 2018 It's a combination of new layered and complex network that I'm just trying to map - then the cab got moved and not all the rj45's seem to have gone back in the same place ( as instructed) so now its going through it port by port ( office move as well to add to the mix) and make sure that pc's and telephones are on the right vlan so they can work - also it appears the door system was changed and was also connected to that cab and that isn't working now either... fun and games... not... Can the switch not tell you which mac address are plugged into each port? Phones will probably have a common prefix, move those with that MAC to ports in the VOIP vlan and you're done? 1
Stormborn15 Posted September 3, 2018 Author Posted September 3, 2018 Can the switch not tell you which mac address are plugged into each port? Phones will probably have a common prefix, move those with that MAC to ports in the VOIP vlan and you're done? Top tip ! Thanks! Also , found out that the cab move wasn’t completed and the guys were coming back tomorrow to finish off.... grrrrr.... miscommunication meant a whole day spent trying to work it out... upside my switch mapping is now almost done....
FN-GM Posted September 3, 2018 Posted September 3, 2018 Top tip ! Thanks! Also , found out that the cab move wasn’t completed and the guys were coming back tomorrow to finish off.... grrrrr.... miscommunication meant a whole day spent trying to work it out... upside my switch mapping is now almost done....At least you know it wasn't you. [emoji4]
Stormborn15 Posted September 3, 2018 Author Posted September 3, 2018 At least you know it wasn't you. [emoji4] Definitely lol ( lolling now but was a bit of a sweaty mess for most of the day :-/ ....)
FN-GM Posted September 3, 2018 Posted September 3, 2018 Definitely lol ( lolling now but was a bit of a sweaty mess for most of the day :-/ ....) We have all been there!
Stormborn15 Posted September 3, 2018 Author Posted September 3, 2018 Still trying to figure out the setup though ... 2 VLANs and trunks between switches ...
Stormborn15 Posted September 4, 2018 Author Posted September 4, 2018 Update - all worked out ok in the end ...
6Foot2 Posted September 4, 2018 Posted September 4, 2018 Update - all worked out ok in the end ... For clarification: Flattening the network, or retaining the VLANs?
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