SOHO Stands For Small Office Home Office And Refers To A Special Type Of Wired Or Wireless Local Area Network That Has A Small Number Of Users (Usually Less Than 10 People) And The Equipment That Is The Basis Of This They Form Networks, They In The Group Of Economic And Cost-Effective Products In The Market. 

Before we examine what and why these networks are, it is better to explain the Internet briefly. The Internet is an extensive network created by connecting local and wide area networks and allowing them to exchange information through standard transmission media such as satellite communications, optical fibers, etc.

These local networks have different types, one of which is the SOHO network. Soho networks are implemented to meet the needs of a small number of users in a company, but they can send and receive information from the Internet.

As a business grows, calculating how much to invest in network infrastructure to meet future needs is difficult. So that it leads to excessive investment and rapid waste of capital; However, low investment significantly reduces productivity.

Monitoring the network load to identify bottlenecks before they become a crisis is one of the critical issues that should be paid attention to.

What is SOHO?

Typically, local area networks are divided into the following four main groups:

•  Small Home Networks
•  Small Office and Home Office Networks
•  Medium to Large Networks
•  Worldwide Networks

Small Office and Home Office Networks are implemented to communicate computers in a company with each other or to access centralized and shared resources. So, a SOHO network is a set of networking equipment designed for small or home offices. Typically, these LANs are classified as business networks equipped with routers designed explicitly for SOHO networks. For this reason, they are a suitable option for small businesses or startups whose scope of business activities is limited.

In general, the word SOHO refers to a small and flexible concept.

A small office with ten or fewer employees does not need a large and complex architecture; Therefore, a SOHO network, which can respond to the needs of 10 to 15 clients, is a suitable option for deployment in such companies.

Like ample enterprise examples, SOHO networks connect computing equipment in a network for efficient information sharing so that employees can exchange information without problems. Because the cost of buying professional business equipment is high and only a few companies active in the field of business can purchase these products, this issue has caused the brands involved in the area of making network products, in addition to the expensive products they supply to the market, Also produce suitable equipment for small businesses.

More precisely, if you look at the market for purchasing network products in Iran and the world, you will find that SOHO equipment is highly sought after because it can respond to the primary needs of companies.

The SOHO network is an affordable solution for small companies or home users. Typically, SOHO networks use SOHO routers to communicate with public networks. The main task of a SOHO network is to connect all the devices in the network and the Internet. Now that we understand the basics of SOHO networks, it’s time to get more detailed information about the requirements and how to implement these networks.

What requirements do we need to design a SOHO network?

On the surface, a SOHO network looks like a regular home network. Both networks have much in common, but the differences lie in their connection style, additional features, and security.

Regarding connectivity, home networks tend to lean towards wireless connections. So that home routers provide users with only a few local area networks (LAN) ports for wired connections, but in practice, users rarely use all these ports and instead connect to the network through Wi-Fi. In contrast, SOHO focuses on wired Ethernet connections. Most Soho routers have at least four local area network (LAN) ports, although routers with eight ports are also standard.

Some Soho routers provide users with good pre-built features. These features can vary from device to device but share standard features such as built-in switching mechanisms and dual-band Wi-Fi.

Since SOHO routers rely on wired connections, the switch is essential in improving network performance. The more the required network capabilities are integrated into a single device, the less the setup complexity will be.

On the other hand, dual-band Wi-Fi allows devices that do not have a wired connection to connect to the network.

The third difference is how to secure the network. Since SOHO networks are used for commercial applications, they must have high stability against common threats; for this reason, manufacturers put firewalls in routers capable of dealing with common threats by default. Some routers also have mechanisms such as defining virtual private networks to achieve greater security.

When a company unfamiliar with technology wants to implement a local network, it goes to network experts or companies active in this field. In this case, the company’s network experts pay attention to the first point they pay attention to, identifying business requirements so that they can suggest suitable equipment. An essential issue you should pay attention to as a network expert is explaining the limitations and equipment used in the SOHO local network to the customer.

In general, companies have their requirements when implementing SOHO local networks, but in some cases, these requirements are the same, the most important of which are the following:

•  Few computers are going to be connected to the network.
•  A communication link so that clients can connect to the Internet.
•  Resources to be shared between clients.
•  Ability to communicate wireless and wired client equipment through access points or Cat5e cables.
•  We are securing the network and client equipment through the firewall.

Based on the requirements mentioned, we understand that a SOHO network needs a router, switch, access point, network cable, firewall, and, if necessary, storage. You should pay attention to the vital fact that regardless of the brand you intend to buy, the equipment must be compatible.

When designing SOHO networks, we must pay attention to the traffic density that the network can manage and how to divide the web. This issue is directly related to the equipment that we intend to purchase. Because SOHO networks are more sensitive than large enterprise networks, they will face problems if some essential and subtle points are not paid attention to during design, they will face difficulties.

Among the critical points in this field, the following should be noted:

•  A large number of clients in a broadcast domain.
•  A broadcast storm is a situation where all clients send and receive packets simultaneously.
•  Low bandwidth causes clients to receive packages with high delay.
•  Using a hub to reduce implementation costs gives the network only one broadcasting domain. In this case, the probability of packets colliding with each other increases, and as a result, the rate of packet loss in the network increases significantly.

As you can see, the main problem with SOHO networks is that their speed may decrease due to some issues. To overcome this problem, infrastructure equipment such as switches must be able to divide the network and break a single network into smaller networks. When we intend to split a single network into two or more networks, we need a device that establishes the connection between these two networks. This device is called a router.

What are the advantages of the SOHO network?

Among the advantages of the SOHO network index, the following should be mentioned:

• Ease of implementation: SOHO networks do not have the complexity of setting up an enterprise network, so businesses do not need to hire professionals to set up these networks. Not needing to hire IT professionals reduces costs.
• Dedicated routers: Soho routers are more expensive than home routers. However, they cost less than enterprise-class routers. For this reason, companies or home users should carefully check the advantages and disadvantages when purchasing SOHO routers. One of the advantages of SOHO routers is the ease of installation and cost-effectiveness, and interior features such as the ability to perform switching operations, dual bands, a firewall, and the ability to create a virtual private network. Routers that lack such capabilities force businesses to consider purchasing additional equipment that increases costs and complexity. Because Soho routers can do different things, they can do the work of several other devices alone.
• Cost reduction: The main factor that has caused these networks to be widely considered by businesses is cost reduction. Usually, the cost of buying a SOHO router reaches five million tomans in the worst case, while to set up an extended enterprise network, you need a router that may cost more than eight million tomans.

What are the disadvantages of the SOHO network?

It is true that SOHO networks reduce costs and complexity and have a simple installation process, but they have disadvantages. Among the crucial drawbacks of these networks, the following should be mentioned:

• Security vulnerabilities: SOHO routers are indeed equipped with built-in security features, but most attacks on SOHO networks are due to equipment misconfigurations and user errors. Also, some vulnerabilities are related to router firmware, which is difficult to detect. This is why network experts recommend you consider protecting them by installing firewalls when using SOHO networks.
• Poor scalability: Soho devices don’t have much room to grow. For this reason, SOHO networks are suitable for businesses whose scope of business activities is limited and are not expected to expand their scope of business activities in the short term.
• Ability to respond to the needs of a small number of users: SOHO networks are designed to support a small number of people and devices. For this reason, with the increase in the number of users, a lot of pressure is put on these networks, so the router or switch cannot respond to the needs of many clients.
• Lack of support for redundancy: SOHO networks are used based on fast and simple use. As a result, they cannot support the principle of redundancy when large networks are designed based on this principle. When a small business reaches beyond the projected growth point, in this case, the devices must be replaced to keep up with the growing needs.

Do SOHO networks have the ability to support wireless communication?

The critical thing to mention about the above networks is that with the advancement of technology, SOHO networks can support wireless networks without problems, which brings good benefits to companies. To be more precise, a SOHO network can simultaneously implement both local and wireless Ethernet networks. In general, networks that provide local area and wireless for client communication are known as hybrid networks. The critical difference between the implementation of SOHO networks and wireless enterprise networks is that you use a router to implement wireless communications in the SOHO network. In contrast, in enterprise networks, at least one internal access point and one external access point are needed to communicate between clients and the network. You have.

Access points have a similar function to switches, although they are different from each other in terms of operation. Buttons connect clients to the network through cabling in the organization’s environment, while access points use radio waves to connect devices.

last word

As you have seen, SOHO networks are in the attention of companies despite their disadvantages. The reason is the production of a wide range of SOHO products that have been made and released to the market to meet the needs of companies and users.

The problems and economic crisis that seem to continue in 2023 on a global scale have made more companies implement SOHO networks. A critical point to mention at the end is that SOHO equipment is not limited to the main components of communication networks and includes other related products such as wireless printers, scanning devices, fax machines, etc.

In general, we must say that SOHO networks are not specific to small businesses, and sometimes large organizations use SOHO and isolation networks for small parts of their collection, such as archives or secretaries, so that the employees of these departments can do their assigned tasks in a safer and better way.

Finally, an essential point that you should pay attention to is the security challenges surrounding SOHO networks, which, if you ignore them, will affect the performance of clients and the network itself.

Small businesses, like large companies, cannot hire professional network management staff because they have limited financial resources. This issue makes them more exposed to cyber threats. For this reason, the security of these networks must be taken seriously.