If you have your own business, you will need to set up your very own computer network. That’s the case whether you work from home or from your very own office. Of course, this is probably especially important if you work in an office and have some employees in your team, as you will need to ensure that your computers are all part of your small business network so that you can collaborate and work together more effectively.

Not too good with tech and IT? Don’t worry, this doesn’t have to be something that stresses you out. Simply follow these steps to get your professional computer network all set up.

Know Who To Call For Help

Even though setting up your own network of computers is going to be easy, especially now that you are reading this blog post, you still need to be prepared for things that could go wrong. Rather than trawling the internet trying to troubleshoot the problems yourself, you will be better off saving time by getting an expert involved. There are now some great computer support and networking services that can be on hand to help you. Even if you don’t need someone to come out and take a look at the computers, they are still there for you to call and ask any questions or get some advice.

Get A Wireless Router

You will no doubt want your whole network to be online, so you need to pick either a wireless or wired router system. The best option for a professional network is to go wireless. Over the past few years, wireless broadband has significantly fallen in price, so won’t cost you the earth like it once did. Not only that, though, but this is great if you use laptops as your team will be able to take them into meeting rooms and various areas of the office without worrying about needing to plug them into the internet!

Choose An Operating System

These days, most mainstream operating systems come with their own capabilities to set up your own network. Obviously, every computer and laptop in the network will need to have this operating system. Most companies these days use Apple Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows XP. As Microsoft usually provides the most cost-effective options, most companies end up going with whatever they can afford.

Secure The Network

As your whole small business network will be online, you need to ensure that it is safe and secure so that you aren’t at risk from any cybersecurity attacks, such as hackers and viruses. So, you need to install the most up-to-date security software on each machine that is connected to the network. As well as that, you should secure the whole network with a password. Anyone wanting to use the network will have to enter the password before being granted access. Make sure that you only give this password out to your employees.

Hopefully, these steps can help you get your small business network up and running!