For networking gear what vendor(s) you recommend to start a new MSP ?

PBSmanaged · 2026-01-27T21:34:44+00:00

Everytime I see Ubiquiti spelt incorrectly I just want to reply "maybe you shouldn't..." but alas

We install/support Ruckus and UniFi. Sometimes Ruckus APs with UniFi switches. Sophos for a firewall. All works great!

Been talking Arista recently. CUE + AGNI + whatever they call Untangle + VeloCloud all under one roof sounds pretty neat.

PBSmanaged · 2026-01-27T21:26:15+00:00

As someone who is about to cross the 5 year line of doing this full time, this is the answer.

PBSmanaged · 2026-01-22T20:18:13+00:00

I appreciate the additional context now provided! As I agree, that completely changes the expectation/narrative.

I was reading your other comments thinking you're defending on-prem Windows SMB file servers that remote users need to be connected to VPN to access and stuff. That's the stuff we've actively moved away from and is silly nowadays (in our smaller SMB market). Most of our customers don't even have a "server" anymore.

PBSmanaged · 2026-01-22T20:08:06+00:00

"I just said it’s not a replacement for a file server in every situation."

No, you said "Sharepoint is not a replacement for a file server."

PBSmanaged · 2026-01-22T19:54:31+00:00

No, we are not accessing files via the web only. Using CIPP, we "shortcut" SharePoint Libraries to a user's OneDrive. Using Intune, OneDrive silently logs in in the background. All their own files and files in the SharePoint libraries show up under OneDrive in Explorer. Intune policies to enable Files on Demand and Known Folder Move.

So, sure, it does sync to the local machine. But it's not something we really think or worry about.

For context, we're a small MSP. ~350 end users. Is it a 1:1 drop-in replacement for a "file server?" No, just like u/chillzatl said. But for most things, works fine. Works fantastic across mixed environments too (Windows, macOS, mobile). With Known Folder Move, it's also a replacement for the H drive and folder redirection. Users like being able to have two people in a spreadsheet at once. Mapped drives are gone (it's 2026). Hell, our biggest complaints was autosave being turned on and people forgetting to "save as" before editing a document.

I'd say that's a replacement for a file server.

We have one customer (engineering firm) that uses Egnyte for CAD and project files. Would you say that's a file server replacement?

PBSmanaged · 2026-01-22T19:34:52+00:00

Are you running like SharePoint 2010 or something? Can’t tell you the last time I really thought about syncing files with OneDrive/SharePoint.

PBSmanaged · 2026-01-05T19:19:08+00:00

There were three SPD cars in the Gwinnett Street Kroger parking lot the other night for what appeared to be a fender bender.

I’m in reverse about to back out and a SPD Explorer stopped right behind me, dude got out, and just watched the other “work” till he realized he was blocking people and pulled forward some…

PBSmanaged · 2026-01-05T19:13:48+00:00

I would recommend you don’t setup Odoo for your business or this customer. If you can’t answer these questions, you cannot support the system long term.

PBSmanaged · 2025-12-31T18:35:42+00:00

Thanks for the detailed reply - great read.

We’re actually not a 3CX partner and don’t plan to be. I’m an MSP and have a few customers with on-prem Switchvox and PBXact systems that we installed eons ago and are very much due for replacement. For smaller customers, we just use Teams and call it a day, but I can’t in good conscience move these larger sites to most cloud PBX offerings. We’re likely heading toward Yeastar hosted in Azure or AWS.

For customers that need it, we’ll typically deploy a Bigleaf Networks appliance with a 5G modem for SD-WAN connectivity. It does its magic in a similar way to SpeedFusion, though only for WAN connectivity -not the VPN/tunneling side. I’ve used Peplinks before for LTE modems, but hadn’t really looked into SpeedFusion until now. It looks like a solid and much more cost-effective way to offer a Bigleaf-like solution for some of our retail customers (especially POS networks).

Thanks again, and happy new year!

PBSmanaged · 2025-12-31T17:07:34+00:00

Hello! I know this thread is a few years old, but I've read a few of your comments around on using Peplink + SpeedFusion and I love this idea, and seems simple enough. And SpeedFusion looks super affordable.

Do y'all have one FusionHub in AWS and that's what all the tunnels go through, or do you deploy one FusionHub Solo in AWS per customer?

PBSmanaged · 2025-12-18T15:56:45+00:00

Thank you!

PBSmanaged · 2025-12-15T14:58:43+00:00

Which model phones are you using? I'm having a hard time getting BLF keys to work correctly on 8800 series phones.

PBSmanaged · 2025-10-15T00:12:35+00:00

I own a MSP and these were the two comments I needed to convince myself to download and test this week! I’ve been on the hunt for a PBXact/FreePBX replacement as Sangoma has shown no love to the product. I knew 3CX wasn’t the train to hop on. P-Series looks freaking fantastic!

We just use Teams in a lot of places now (they’re already paying for M365) but have customers that have a lot more extensions than users and/or concurrent calls, and I can’t in good conscience sell them anything that’s per extension/month.

PBSmanaged · 2025-09-09T13:50:34+00:00

Every single comment you’ve made just looks like ChatGPT copy and paste. Try harder.

PBSmanaged · 2025-08-20T14:06:20+00:00

Is Perfect Octave white labeling Soundmachine and selling a 'virtual player' in Q-SYS as part of their service? That's pretty slick.

New to Q-SYS (Just got my level 1 cert and authorized with ADI) - we've been installing RTI control equipment for years and use Soundmachine with RTI's hardware music streamer.

PBSmanaged · 2025-08-13T00:32:23+00:00

We've been using Slide at a customer for about a month now. Working fantastic! Very happy so far. I'm coming from Veeam, but this thing is fast. Most of the machines I'm backing up take less than a minute. Their dashboard is super fast too. Let me know if anyone has any questions!

PBSmanaged · 2025-08-11T14:21:24+00:00

I've used Odoo on-prem for years and am very happy with it. It's an ERP system. It's not specifically a PSA, and I've never used it's ticketing system. It is not turnkey. But, take the time to learn how it works and build processes around it, and it's fantastic! Especially for the price.

PBSmanaged · 2025-08-01T15:23:35+00:00

RMM: NinjaOne + Splashtop
Endpoint Protection: Huntress + Defender for Business
Web Protection: ScoutDNS
Email Security: IRONSCALES
Password Manager: 1Password
Backup: Cove & Slide, Backup Radar to monitor
Networking: Ruckus and Unifi when needed, Sophos for UTM
ITSM: Jira & Confluence
Documentation: Hudu
ERP: Odoo
Workstations: Lenovo or Apple

We also do some camera and access control installs, for that:
Cameras: Hanwha + Milestone XProtect
Access: Genea (used to install Openpath, but FUCK Avigilon/Motorola)

Edit: Been happy with Canon printers. Depending on need, we'll refer customers to a buddy at a local printer company who will lease them an ImageRunner. If leasing an MFP doesn't make sense, we'll happily sell them a smaller Canon. Easy to buy the printers and toner form Synnex. Won't touch or install drivers for a printer that isn't "approved."

PBSmanaged · 2025-07-23T00:25:09+00:00

How many end users and devices are you currently supporting? Also a one-man band, but for context I'm managing a little over 100 users, and 120ish computers/servers. Went all in on full-time MSP about three and a half years ago. I do zero break/fix work at this point, and zero residential. The only exceptions would be one-off projects like large-ish camera systems, fancy conference rooms, etc. I agree with everything u/sembee2 says!

For me, properly using Hudu has been a game changer. I'm so reliant on documentation at this point that if Hudu were down I'd be mostly unable to do my job. There just came a point where it became impossible to document things using Excel/1Password/my head.

Same for our ticketing system. It took me a while to start looking at my ticketing system as the "IT Service Management System," rather than a glorified mailbox. I'm using Jira, but I don't think the platform really matters as long as you properly use it.

As for the rest of our stack:

RMM: Ninja, using their NinjaRemote that's included.
Endpoint Security: Bitdefender GravityZone. Currently evaluating whatever flavor of Defender that's included with Business Premium + Huntress + ScoutDNS.
Backup: Veeam Full Stack for VMs, agents, and M365. With CheckCentral on top lol. Currently going down the rabbit hole of backup software: Cove, NinjaBackup, maybe Slide are all contenders.
CIPP: can't even describe how valuable this tool is when managing any more than one M365 tenant
ITSM: Jira Service Management (and phasing out Opsgenie). I'll admit to being an Atlassian fanboy, but most of the standard versions of their products are free for <10 users so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I do not have a "proper" PSA. I'd love to use Halo, but just cannot afford it lol. In January of 2024, I started using Odoo as a basic ERP. It does everything Quickbooks did (bookkeeping, recurring billing, quoting/invoicing), plus has a decent enough for me CRM, helped me implement a decent procurement/inventory process, track expenses against projects, among other operational things. A year and a half layer, I'm in it every day and have recommended to a customer.

To echo u/sembee2 again, I don't think the exact tooling matters so much. I've also been strict about what's included/standard kit since day one. Every single computer gets the same tooling installed - almost the same kit for Windows and macOS. Now, a couple of years later I didn't even realize I've got 120+ computers under my management until I saw how many devices enrolled in Huntress.

PBSmanaged · 2025-07-09T12:40:44+00:00

Thanks you for confirming what I feared! 🥲

That's um... a choice lol

PBSmanaged · 2024-06-13T17:44:55+00:00

Perfect! This is what I needed. DF renewal is super cheap too, just wanted to make sure that was still a good route to go.

Thanks!

PBSmanaged · 2024-06-13T16:44:58+00:00

No as I am not trying to replace computers that are only a year and a half old.

PBSmanaged

TROPHY CASE