Disadvantages of A Home or Office Network

While there are many advantages to installing a home or office network, there can be disadvantages too. If you’re seriously thinking about setting up your own network, you should be informed about all of the advantages and disadvantages too.

Expensive to Install: For one, networks can be pricey to set up. While in the long term networks generally save you money, the initial costs of installation can be high. Cables, network cards, and software are expensive, and the installation may require the services of a technician, depending on how many computers are involved and what type of network it is.

Administrative Time Requirements: Proper maintenance of a network takes time and training. Many people will set up a network and find they have not budgeted for the required maintenance. Depending on the size of the network you may need to hire administrative support or take some informal training of your own.

File Server Failures: When a file server goes down, this can mean the entire network comes to a halt. While file servers are no more susceptible to failure than any other computer, the failure of a file server can mean a lot more productivity loss than the failure of a workstation or stand-alone computer, since the entire network can lose access to needed programs and files.

Broken Cables: While some network configurations can minimize the inconvenience of a broken cable, with other configurations, a broken cable can mean a halt to the entire network, when setting up your network, be aware of the impact of configuration on problems like this.

Of course, these small disadvantages of running a network are much outweighed by the many advantages of setting up a home or office network, but you should still take them into consideration when you are installing your network.