What factors should be considered when selecting network devices for a small network?

Cost, speed and types of ports/interfaces, expandability, and the operating system's features and services.

Even a small network deserves real planning, because the intermediary devices you buy — the routers, switches, and access points — are hard and expensive to swap once the network is running. Four factors drive the choice. Cost sets the ceiling on a small budget. Speed and the types of ports/interfaces decide whether the device can carry the traffic and physically connect what you have (enough Gigabit ports, the right fibre or copper interfaces). Expandability is about headroom: a fixed-port switch is cheaper but can't grow, whereas a modular one leaves room to add capacity as the business grows. And the device's operating system features and services determine what it can actually do — QoS, security, VPN, routing protocols. Weighing these up front is what stops a small network from hitting a wall the first time it needs to expand.

Factors to consider when selecting intermediary devices:

Key insight: One of the first design considerations is the type of intermediary devices (routers, switches, access points) to use to support the network.

Go deeper:

• Wikipedia — Networking hardware — what routers, switches, and access points each do, so you can match device to role and budget.