I am working with a friend that owns a business with 2 locations. He’s trying to set up a private network across those locations. Currently he has cable modem service from Spectrum at both locations. I know we could set up a VPN between the offices on our own, but since he doesn’t have any technical staff I’m concerned about his ability to troubleshoot issues when/if they arise.
I know they offer services like metro ethernet, etc., but the pricing on that is prohibitive. We don’t need a lot of bandwidth - the cable modem provides ample speed, so I’m curious if they have any sort of similar service that can run over cable modems vs fiber. Essentially what we’re looking for is some sort of lower cost solution similar to metro E where all he would need is a switch on each side.
If your friend is on a residential plan at both locations, then there may be no IP connectivity. It’s not uncommon for ISPs to block access between residential customers. If this is the case, your friend will have to use a 3rd party as a middleman.
Honestly, since a business is involved, I really don’t think a r/homenetworking solution is advisable. A managed solution is in his best interests.
A lot of cable ISPs will offer a point to point tunnel over DOCSIS. There are a few names for it, but I’ve heard it referred to as Ethernet over DOCSIS or point to point DOCSIS. It’s usually just an L2VPN between two modems on their network (you’ll likely get a second modem at each site).
If they offer it, you’ll likely be limited to whatever the max upload speed is that they offer in the area, probably 50 Mbit or so, but it will definitely be the lowest latency option possible, since it will take the shortest route over their own network. Since it’s such a niche product, it may be expensive or tech support may be limited.
I looked around on Spectrum’s website and didn’t see any mention of it, may be worth making a call.
Of course, your other option is rolling your own VPN over the normal internet, but latency will likely be higher, and it’s hard to get tech support from them if there are routing changes/issues that take your VPN down. If you can get online on both sites and the sites can ping each other, they’ll likely say it’s your problem.
If he’s running a business he really needs to find someone local that can set it up, is familiar with it and maintain it when something bad happens. A VPN between routers is pretty common. Once you start running a business and needing that kind of critical up time, one needs to start paying for proper local support to maintain it.