Your network equipment doesn't last forever. Switches age out of support, wireless standards evolve, and business requirements change. Here's how to plan a network refresh that meets your needs without breaking the bank.
When Is It Time to Refresh?
End of Support
No security patches
End of Life
No replacement parts
Performance Ceiling
Can't handle demand
Feature Gaps
Missing capabilities
Reliability Issues
Increasing failures
Security Concerns
Outdated features
Step 1: Assess Your Current State
Before deciding what to buy, understand what you have and how it's performing. Create a comprehensive inventory:
- All network devices: Document every switch, router, access point, firewall, and network appliance with model numbers and serial numbers.
- Age and end-of-support dates: Check manufacturer support lifecycles. Equipment past end-of-support is a security and reliability risk.
- Current utilization: Measure actual bandwidth usage, port utilization, and wireless client counts. This prevents over- or under-buying.
- Known issues and workarounds: Document current problems, temporary fixes, and recurring issues that need permanent solutions.
- Network diagrams: Update or create accurate network topology diagrams showing how everything connects.
- Performance baselines: Document current network performance metrics to compare against after the refresh.
Pro Tip: Don't skip this step. Decisions made without accurate baseline information lead to over-spending or under-specifying.
Step 2: Define Your Requirements
What does your business actually need from the network? Be specific:
- Capacity planning: How many devices currently? Expected growth? Peak bandwidth requirements? Consider both wired and wireless needs.
- Critical applications: What applications are business-critical? What are their bandwidth, latency, and reliability requirements?
- Growth projections: What does the next 3-5 years look like? New locations? More employees? Cloud migration? Plan for 20-30% growth capacity.
- Compliance requirements: Any regulatory requirements (healthcare, finance, government)? Security standards that must be met?
- Availability targets: What uptime do you need? 99.9%? 99.99%? This drives redundancy and backup requirements.
Step 3: Design with Intention
A network refresh is an opportunity to fix problems, not just replace equipment.
Step 4: Budget Realistically
Network refreshes often cost more than expected. Don't forget:
Budget Beyond Equipment
Step 5: Plan the Migration
Moving from old to new without disrupting operations requires careful planning.
Parallel Build
Build new alongside old, then cut over
Phased Migration
Replace section by section over time
Forklift Upgrade
Replace everything during maintenance window
Step 6: Test Thoroughly
Don't wait until Monday morning to discover problems.
Step 7: Document and Train
The project isn't done when the equipment is in place. You need updated diagrams, documentation, and staff training.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Learn from others' mistakes. These are the most common pitfalls we see:
- Buying based on price alone: The cheapest equipment often costs more in support, downtime, and replacement. Consider total cost of ownership.
- Over-engineering: Buying enterprise-grade equipment for a 20-person office wastes budget. Match the solution to actual needs.
- Ignoring the wireless survey: Skipping a professional RF survey leads to dead zones, interference, and poor performance. Don't guess.
- Forgetting about cabling: Old or insufficient cabling can bottleneck new equipment. Budget for cable upgrades and testing.
- Underestimating the timeline: Network refreshes take longer than expected. Add 20-30% buffer to initial timeline estimates.
- Not planning for cutover: Failing to plan the migration from old to new equipment causes extended downtime and user frustration.