Here’s the story about my experience setting up the network here at the San Francisco Nonprofit Technology Center [1]. Even though there are a lot of tech folks working at the center, we still have challenges now and then trying to deal with computers and equipment.

• I ordered our router and switch for our network from Cisco through a donation from Tech Soup [2] at the beginning of June.
• We moved into the San Francisco Nonprofit Technology Center in mid-June.
  
• Those who use Tech Soup know that software and hardware donations sometimes take several months to arrive. I am thankful for the donation so I can’t complain.
• Our switch and router arrived in September. But, after much troubleshooting we realized our router could not do what we wanted it to do for our network.
• We then returned our old router and ordered a new one through Tech Soup.
• Several months later—several days before Christmas our new router arrived.
• And, yesterday (close to the end of January) our network tech was finally available to set up our network—we use Alternative Telecom [3] (they are very popular right now).
  

Now each organization at the SF Tech Center has their VLAN (private network) as before we all just shared the connection and there was not much privacy for each organization.

Everyone is happy and so am I to be finished with this project after eight months!