Corporate Office Network Overhaul: A 5-Story Connectivity Success

The Challenge

The client, a mid-sized financial services firm, occupied a legacy 5-story building in Nairobi. Their existing network was a chaotic mix of outdated Cat5e cables and consumer-grade Wi-Fi routers. As their staff grew to over 150 employees, the network frequent dropped connections and severe latency issues, crippling their productivity during peak market hours.

Phase 1: Planning and Infrastructure Design

Matesh Technologies was commissioned to perform a complete overhaul. Our engineering team spent the first week conducting a site survey and designing a future-proof backbone. We proposed a dedicated fiber optic riser connecting each floor to a central server room on the 3rd floor. This ensured that no single floor's bandwidth would be bottlenecked by a traditional copper trunk.

Phase 2: The Fiber Backbone Deployment

We utilized our 4-core outdoor-rated fiber cables for the riser, ensuring durability. Using our Precision OTDR, we tested every segment to guarantee zero dB loss at the splices. On each floor, we installed a 12-Port ODF (Optical Distribution Frame) to transition the fiber backbone into the local horizontal distribution.

Phase 3: Structured Cabling and Access Points

For horizontal cabling, we deployed over 5km of Cat6 shielded cable. Each workstation was provided with two dedicated ports. To solve the Wi-Fi issues, we installed Ubiquiti Unifi AC Pro access points strategically across all floors. The "dead zones" in the boardrooms and executive suites were completely eliminated by conducting heat-map surveys during installation.

The Results

The project was completed over three weekends to avoid interrupting the client's business hours. The result was a 400% increase in average internal data transfer speeds and a 100% reduction in reported network outages. The network now supports their new VoIP system and high-definition video conferencing without any jitter.