Low-Cost Notebook for Network Management

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I’ve recently transitioned from my ISP-supplied networking equipment to all Cisco networking equipment to power my network.

So far, I’ve been doing most of the initial configuration of the network using my old iMac, and I’m almost finished with the initial configuration.

There are a couple of devices that are a little awkward to connect to if I need to configure them. My VOIP ATA I have to jack a computer into the Ethernet port on the ATA and manually configure the IP address of the computer to the same subnet as the default IP address of the ATA.

My WAP I can connect to it only if my machine is set to Wi-Fi only, so I have to unplug or disable Ethernet to connect to the WAP.

I’ll occasionally need to login to my network devices to update the firmware and occasionally make configurations.

My old iMac has been functional, but in the future, it might be in my best interests to pick up a low-cost notebook (around $200) I could use as a network management machine (especially since my old iMac is a little slow and changing some of those settings at times gets a little awkward). The other benefit of this is if I were to do any IT consulting around town with other network management (highly possible), I’d have a machine dedicated to that task.

I tried managing my WAP through my iPad, and the interface doesn’t work well with it at all, plus the Ethernet to the ATA is certainly a no-go.

In terms of low-cost notebooks, I wonder what would be the best option:

• Chromebook and pickup a spare USB to Ethernet adapter
• Low-cost Windows notebook (I’d rather avoid if need be since I wouldn’t want to deal with the security stuff)
• Low-cost Linux notebook (Possible option but not 100% sure)

Even a low-cost MacBook would be overkill in this instance since I primarily need a web browser, aand way to primarily access the network over Wi-Fi to configure the WAP and only need to manually configure Ethernet for the ATA. The ability to download files would be handy if I needed to locally backup the configuration files for the network devices. The ability to do screen sharing over WebEx or TeamViewer would also be handy if I needed to bring in Cisco or my VOIP provider, but I could resort to the iMac for those if I had to.

It’s not something I’d jump into buying, and even if I bought one, it’s not something I’d use regularly so I don’t need to invest much into it or treat it as a primary/regularly used device. My iMac is functional at getting through the initial configuration, but eventually, a device dedicated to my network management may streamline future stuff such as firmware updates, etc.

Nathan Parker

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I don’t know much about chromebooks but you can get refurbished Dell computers here:

https://www.dellrefurbished.com/

Right now the ‘clearance’ part of the site has some laptops with no operating system for $269(you could install a Linux distro on one). In the laptop section there are some with Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. Their inventory changes quite a bit over time and sometimes pretty quickly. Sometimes their deals are pretty good, sometimes not so much. The trick is to be patient – if they have too many of a given mode/configuration, they’ll want to get rid of them and the price goes down.

I’m not affiliated with Dell in any way! But I have got a couple very good buys from them. The Dell.com site also has an ‘outlet’ section. I’m sure other major manufacturers have refurbished sites as well.

3 users thanked author for this post.

HiFlyer, doriel, Nathan Parker

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Thanks! I’ve been burned by Dell hardware in the past, so I’d likely look at a different brand, but it is good to know it’s out there.

Nathan Parker

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Here’s some cheap HP refurbished laptops:

https://store.hp.com/us/en/vwa/laptops/form=Standard-laptop?orderBy=3

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Nathan Parker

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A cheapy / secondhand running Linux is all you need – you can even get PuTTY on Linux.
If you are using it on the road you should get a small / light unit so you will have to pay more.

cheers, Paul

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Nathan Parker

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Thanks for the info. Some good news on this front is Cisco engineers managed to make some adjustments so I can now access my equipment from any device, whether Wi-Fi or Ethernet. So I now no longer have to make any adjustments when accessing any devices on my network.

So the need to invest in a network management device short-term has been eliminated.

Long-term, I may still invest in one especially if I start doing any network management for other organizations. Good to know these options in case I do.

Thanks again!

Nathan Parker

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Update on this: Since I can now easily manage my network from my Macs without jumping through a bunch of hoops, the need for this has been eliminated.

Additionally, I likely won’t invest in one long-term now. After reading up on how software updates for them can “expire” to where some websites won’t even load after a while of no OS updates, I’d rather not waste the money on one. I know that any OS is no longer supported with OS updates after a while, but apps and websites generally still work long-term for them, especially if I move the machine to an ESR browser release.

Even for my 2006 PowerBook, I was able to get a modern, up-to-date browser on it, and websites still load perfectly on it. It could use a new battery, but that’d cost less and I’d have a machine better made than a ChromeBook that can also still run websites even though the hardware is ancient.

I’ll keep ChromeOS running in a VM on my older iMac at the moment in case any school teachers ask me ChromeOS questions I need to answer, but I don’t see myself needing the hardware.

Nathan Parker

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