Challenges
Connecting several sites properly
When each site was connected on its own, nothing matches and nobody has a picture of the whole network. A private WAN joins offices, depots and warehouses on one network, with the right connection at each site.
The challenge
You have a head office, a few branch offices and a depot or warehouse, each connected when it opened, on whatever was available at the time. Some sites are on broadband, one has a dedicated line, and traffic between them crosses the public internet. Every new site makes it harder to manage, and nobody has a single picture of the whole network.
If it is left
The branch says the system is slow and nobody can see why, because the phone calls between sites are competing with a cloud backup for the same broadband. A VPN set up by someone who has left is the only thing joining two sites, and when it drops the depot cannot see stock. Each new site adds another supplier, another router with default settings and another thing nobody is monitoring. The business pays for connections it has never measured and relies on a network it cannot draw.
What good looks like
Every site on one private network that Odyssey designs, builds and manages centrally: traffic between sites off the public internet, calls and business-critical applications prioritised over everything else, each site on the connection that suits it, a documented picture of the whole network, and new sites or an acquired business joining the same design. One team to call about any site, answered within three rings.
What to do first
Before you call anyone
Draw the network as it is
One box per site, with its connection, who supplies it, the bandwidth, the contract end date and what runs there. Nobody has usually done this, and it is the brief for everything else.
Count what travels between sites
Phone calls, the stock system, file shares, CCTV, backups. The traffic that must be prioritised is the traffic that costs money when it stalls, which is usually calls and the application the depot works from.
Note which sites cannot be offline
A head office on cloud systems and a depot shipping orders need a dedicated line and a backup; a two-person branch can live on broadband. That decides the spend.
Find the contract end dates
Each site's connection has its own term. The order sites move in follows the dates, so you are not paying twice for longer than necessary.
Check what each address can get
Ask us, or the carriers, what is available at each site. A depot with no fibre nearby is a microwave or 4G conversation, and it is better to know before the design is drawn.
What we would do first
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Survey your sites and applications
Your current network and requirements assessed, and a documented architecture and equipment list produced, including the connectivity that joins your sites.
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Choose the right connection for each site
Direct internet access with bandwidth up to 10 Gbps where a site is business-critical, ethernet for dedicated links, and point-to-point microwave where laying cable is impractical.
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Join the sites on one private network
MPLS, SD-WAN or both, keeping traffic between sites off the public internet, with calls and business-critical applications prioritised.
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Manage the network centrally
Monitoring and changes by our own team, never subcontracted, with new sites joining the same private network as the business grows.
How we approach it
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Survey every site
What each site has, what runs there, who talks to whom and where it hurts, all measured. The output is a documented picture of the network as it is, which most multi-site businesses have never had.
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Design the network
The connection and equipment per site, MPLS over our own core network or SD-WAN over the connections a site has, or both; the quality-of-service policy that puts calls and the critical application first; the firewall and internet breakout design; and a cost per site, agreed before anything is ordered.
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Order the circuits
A leased line at head office and the depot that cannot be offline, business broadband at the small branches, ethernet or point-to-point microwave where fibre cannot reach, and 4G or 5G backups where a site cannot stop. The longest lead time sets the plan.
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Join the sites in stages
Sites brought onto the private network one at a time or in groups, out of hours where the business needs it, with the old connections kept until the new network is proven and calls tested across the WAN at each stage.
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Manage it centrally
Monitoring, changes and faults handled by our engineers from Stockton-on-Tees, the documentation kept current, and new sites added to the same design.
The services that apply
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MPLS private WAN
The private network itself: MPLS on our core network, SD-WAN over whatever each site has, or both, with calls and the critical application prioritised across it.
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Leased lines and direct internet access
The dedicated, symmetric circuit with a contracted fix time for the sites that cannot be offline, usually head office and the depot.
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Ethernet and microwave
For the yard, the quarry or the building across the road where fibre cannot reach or cannot reach in time, a point-to-point link from our own microwave network.
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Network infrastructure design
The documented architecture, equipment list and phased plan that the carriers, the fit-out contractors and our engineers all work from.
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Networking and cabling
Inside each site the switches, Wi-Fi and cabling have to carry the new network; the survey finds the unmanaged switch under the desk at the branch.
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Connectivity
Broadband at the small branches and the 4G or 5G backups, all moved onto one provider so a fault at any site is one call.
How you would buy it
Every hour we work falls under one of four engagement models. These are the ones that fit this situation; How we work compares all four.
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02
Fixed price
A defined piece of work or project
The design, the circuits' installation and the migration are surveyed and priced as a fixed sum before we start, with a project manager across the sites, and each site's connection is then a monthly charge on its own contract.
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03
Retainer
The way most of our clients work with us
Changes to the network, the quality-of-service policy and the firewalls, and support calls from any site, are pre-authorised within your retained hours afterwards; monitoring of the WAN is part of the service.
Who you would work with
A project manager
Owns the order sites move in, the carriers' dates and the out-of-hours changeovers.
The Head of Network and Infrastructure
Owns the design: the same team that designs and runs Odyssey's own core network designs yours.
Our network engineers
Odyssey employees who install the circuits, build the WAN and then monitor it.
The service desk
One number for a fault at any site, answered within three rings by someone who can see the whole network.
Further reading
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Guide
Types of internet connection for business: what each one is and who it suits
What internet connectivity means for a business, the main ways a building can be connected, how fast each one is, and how to work out which suits yours.
Read the guide →
Questions people ask
Why use a private WAN instead of the internet?
A private WAN keeps traffic between your sites off the public internet and lets us prioritise calls and business-critical applications, so performance is predictable, data stays private, and a branch's slow afternoon has a cause we can see.
Do you offer SD-WAN as well as MPLS?
Yes. SD-WAN runs over whatever connections each site has, including broadband and 4G, and steers traffic by policy; MPLS carries traffic across our own core network with quality of service built in. We recommend the mix that suits your sites, applications and budget.
Does every site need the same type of connection?
No. Each site gets the connection that suits it: direct internet access with bandwidth up to 10 Gbps where a site is business-critical, business broadband where it is not, ethernet or microwave between buildings you own, and 4G as a backup or for a small site.
What if one of our sites cannot get a cabled connection?
Point-to-point microwave links connect sites without laying cable, for remote locations or where digging is impractical, from the microwave network we run from Stockton-on-Tees. Microwave needs a clear line of sight between the two points, which the survey confirms.
Can we add new sites later?
Yes. New sites join the same private network as the business grows, and an acquired business's sites can be brought onto it as part of integrating the acquisition.
Will joining the sites disrupt the business?
Sites are moved one at a time or in groups, out of hours where you need it, with the old connections kept until the new network is proven at each stage. Thomas Armstrong's year-long rebuild across every site completed with no unplanned downtime.
Can the WAN reach our servers in the cloud?
Yes. Private connections into Microsoft Azure or AWS, or into the Odyssey private cloud, are designed into the WAN where you need them, so your servers are on the same private network as your sites.
What does a multi-site network cost?
The design and build are priced as a fixed sum after the survey, and each site's connection is a monthly charge by bandwidth. The survey gives you a cost per site before anything is ordered, and the answer is often a leased line at two sites and broadband at the rest.
Talk to a human about connecting your sites
Call and we answer within three rings. Or tell us what you need and we will call you back at any time.