Why a Consumer Router Cannot Run Your Practice
Over 16 years supporting Johannesburg practices, the single most common root cause of intermittent outages, slow backups, dropped video calls, and unexplained security incidents has been the same: the practice is running on the ISP-supplied router that came in the fibre installation kit. Here is what changes when we move a practice to UniFi.
Proper VLAN Segmentation
Staff devices, guest WiFi, printers, cameras, and payment terminals each get their own VLAN. A compromised guest device cannot reach your practice management system. For medical practices under HPCSA and POPIA, this is a documented, auditable technical control.
WiFi 6 Coverage That Actually Works
Consumer routers claim great WiFi but fall over at 10 metres. We survey your premises, plan access point placement, and deploy WiFi 6 hardware that holds 100+ Mbps throughput in every room. No more dead zones in the consulting rooms or reception.
Built-in Firewalling and IDS
UniFi Dream Machine includes enterprise-grade firewalling, intrusion detection, and threat signature updates. We enable rules that block known malicious IP ranges, geofence out high-risk regions, and alert us in real time when suspicious activity occurs.
Guest WiFi Without the Risk
Patients, clients, and visitors connect to a guest WiFi portal that is completely isolated from your practice network. They get branded captive portal, bandwidth limits, and session timeouts. You get confidence that no one on guest WiFi can reach your servers.
Real-time Monitoring and Alerting
Every UniFi device reports to our monitoring platform. If an access point goes offline at 04:30 on a Saturday, we know before you arrive on Monday. Bandwidth spikes, device disconnects, and failed authentications are logged and analysed continuously.
Multi-Site as a Single Network
A specialist practice with rooms in Sandton and Pretoria, or a wealth manager with offices in Hyde Park and Midrand, sees every site in one dashboard. Consistent policy, consistent guest WiFi branding, consistent security baseline across every location.
VLAN Segmentation as a POPIA Technical Control
POPIA Section 19 requires responsible parties to secure the integrity and confidentiality of personal information through appropriate and reasonable technical and organisational measures. The Information Regulator has made it clear that “appropriate” is judged against the sensitivity of the data and the state of the art. For a medical practice in Morningside handling patient records, a single flat network where a guest phone shares a broadcast domain with your practice management server is no longer defensible.
Our standard VLAN design for a practice includes: VLAN 10 for staff workstations with access to the practice management system, VLAN 20 for guest WiFi with internet-only access, VLAN 30 for printers and copiers (no internet, no staff access), VLAN 40 for IoT devices such as cameras and payment terminals, and VLAN 99 reserved for network management. Each VLAN has its own firewall policy enforced at the UniFi Dream Machine. A device on one VLAN cannot even see the existence of devices on another VLAN unless we explicitly permit it.
The most common mistake we see is practices that purchased expensive security software but did not segment the network underneath it. Endpoint protection on the reception computer is meaningful only if a guest on the same network cannot scan, probe, and exploit it. VLAN segmentation is the foundation that makes every other security control more effective.
For POPIA assessments and regulator engagements, we provide a network diagram, a VLAN policy document, and an access control matrix on request. These are the three artefacts the Information Regulator typically asks for when assessing the reasonableness of a responsible party’s technical measures.
WiFi 6 Access Points and Coverage Planning
A single ISP-supplied router in the boardroom does not cover a typical Johannesburg practice. Office walls here are frequently double-brick or reinforced concrete. A consulting suite in Bryanston with a waiting room, three consulting rooms, a dispensary, and reception needs at least two access points to maintain 100 Mbps throughput in every room. For larger premises in Sandton office blocks, we plan three to six access points with proper channel allocation to prevent interference.
Our site assessment includes a physical WiFi survey using a calibrated tool to map signal strength and interference patterns before any hardware is quoted. We identify dead zones, co-channel interference from neighbouring offices, and obstructions that affect 5GHz propagation. The output is a placement diagram showing exactly where each access point will be mounted and what coverage it will deliver.
For practices where WiFi is business-critical — video consultations, telehealth, cloud-hosted practice management, or large file transfers to medical aids — we deploy WiFi 6 access points with dedicated 5GHz radios and reserve the 2.4GHz band for IoT devices. This separation alone typically doubles effective throughput compared to a single consumer access point trying to serve both.
Managed Support Plans
All prices exclude VAT. Once-off installation is quoted separately based on site survey. 12-month contracts include quarterly review meetings.
Essential
Small practice, up to 15 devices
R1,799/month
- ✓ UniFi network monitoring (24/7)
- ✓ Firmware updates and security patches
- ✓ Monthly health report
- ✓ Guest WiFi portal management
- ✓ VLAN policy maintenance
- ✓ Remote troubleshooting
- ✓ 4-hour response (business hours)
- ✓ Annual on-site audit
Professional
Medium practice, up to 40 devices
R2,899/month
- ✓ Everything in Essential
- ✓ 2-hour response (business hours)
- ✓ Quarterly on-site network audit
- ✓ UPS battery health monitoring
- ✓ VPN deployment and support
- ✓ UniFi Protect camera management
- ✓ POPIA-aligned segmentation review
- ✓ Priority after-hours emergency support
Practice Plus
Multi-site or 40+ devices
R4,499/month
- ✓ Everything in Professional
- ✓ 1-hour response (business hours)
- ✓ Multi-site unified dashboard
- ✓ UniFi Access door control included
- ✓ Bi-monthly on-site audit
- ✓ Bandwidth and latency analytics
- ✓ Dedicated account engineer
- ✓ Custom SLA and escalation path
Our Installation Process
Every UniFi deployment in our workshop follows the same six-stage process, refined over hundreds of practice installations across Johannesburg.
Stage one is the R599 site assessment. We walk the premises, survey WiFi coverage, inspect cabling, inventory devices, and interview staff about pain points. We leave with a clear picture of what hardware is needed and where each component will be placed.
Stage two is proposal and quotation. Within 48 hours you receive a written proposal with the hardware list, installation scope, cabling gap analysis, and total investment. Pricing is itemised so you can see exactly what each component costs.
Stage three is pre-staging. Every access point, switch, and gateway is unpacked, firmware-updated, and pre-configured at our Hyde Park workshop before we arrive on site. This eliminates multiple hours of on-site setup time and reduces installation day disruption to a minimum.
Stage four is installation day. We arrive early, mount access points, run any additional cabling, and migrate devices onto their correct VLANs. For practices that cannot accept any downtime, we work after hours or on a Saturday.
Stage five is verification. We test throughput at every access point, verify guest WiFi isolation from the staff VLAN, confirm failover behaviour during a simulated outage, and walk your practice manager through the new setup.
Stage six is handover and monitoring. We enrol every device into our monitoring platform, document the configuration, and activate your managed support plan. From that moment forward, we see your network health 24 hours a day.
UniFi Installations Across Johannesburg
We install and support UniFi networks for practices across the greater Johannesburg area. Primary service area within 20 kilometres of our Hyde Park workshop: Sandton, Rosebank, Bryanston, Fourways, Morningside, Rivonia, Houghton, Melrose, Illovo, Parkhurst, Northcliff, Randburg, Sunninghill, Paulshof, Woodmead, Kyalami, Edenvale, and Bedfordview.
Extended service area within 60 kilometres: Midrand, Kempton Park, Centurion, Pretoria, Roodepoort, Boksburg, Benoni, Alberton, Germiston, and Randpark Ridge. For practices outside the 60-kilometre radius, we work with trusted installation partners while retaining remote management and support from our workshop.
Typical practice types we support: medical and dental practices, financial advisories and wealth managers, legal firms, accounting practices, architectural studios, and specialist professional services. The common thread is that confidential client information flows across the network every day and the practice cannot afford amateur-grade infrastructure.
UniFi Business Networking — Common Questions
Book Your R599 Network Assessment
We walk your premises, survey WiFi coverage, review your cabling, and deliver a written proposal within 48 hours. The R599 fee is credited against installation if you proceed within 60 days.
Based at 1 Hyde Park Lane, Hyde Park. Serving practices across Gauteng within a 60-kilometre radius.