I'm looking into the managed switch HP ProCurve 1810G-24 to see if it can meet our office demands. The specs say it has IEEE802.1Q - whatever that means.
Our office consists of four companies that share a common broadband connection. The infrastructure of the building is such that it results in all ethernet cables are located in our server room with a patch panel.
I've read a some about VLAN and what it is about, but can't quite get a grasp on whether it is suited for our needs or not, so I decided to post our scenario here and get some professional opinions on the matter.
We wish to separate our four companies so that each company cannot access resources on a different VLAN. At the same time, we wish to allow for a shared internet access.
I thought the solution would be to set port 1 as VLAN 1 and connect the broadband router to that port. Then create VLAN 2-5 (four VLAN's) on the remaining ports by setting T (tag) on all ports for the VLAN in question, and setting E (exclude all) on all ports not on that VLAN - BESIDES port 1 where the broadband router is located, which i set to U (untag).
Or is the solution to also include port 1 as T (tag) for each VLAN?
I hope I made myself understood and that someone could shine a light on this scenario.