First, who we are: we are Beijing Siwenlide, based in Shunyi, and we have spent 14 years on enterprise IT Operations Services, Network Equipment Packages, and multi-branch networking. This article answers one very specific question: when a Beijing company opens a branch, warehouse, or store, how do you connect the internal networks of headquarters and each site, who should you hire to do it, and who manages it afterward?
Search for “multi-site networking” and most of what comes up is products: a certain router, a certain networking software, a certain cloud service. The products themselves are fine, but once you have bought them: who installs them at each site, who configures the address plan and access rules, who knows when a site goes down, who brings a new site online — that is where the real time goes. This article is about exactly that stretch of work.
Connecting headquarters and branches: three common approaches
| Approach | How it works | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Standard broadband + encrypted interconnection | Each site uses standard broadband, and the gateway devices at the sites establish encrypted tunnels between them, so headquarters and branches behave as if on one internal network. Fast to deploy; a new site can be online the same day | The vast majority of small and medium businesses. For data such as ERP, OA, file sharing, and camera viewing, it is enough |
| 2. Carrier private lines | Apply to a carrier for point-to-point lines: stable, with service level agreements. The lines are provided by the carrier; we handle line selection, applications, and coordination | Businesses with very high latency and stability requirements, or compliance requirements. The cost is usually several times that of the first option, and provisioning is measured in weeks |
| 3. Moving systems to the cloud | Put business systems in the cloud so each site accesses the cloud directly; sites do not necessarily need to reach one another | Companies whose systems support cloud deployment and whose sites only need to access those systems. Watch the access control — do not leave the system open to the whole network |
The three can be mixed: core business over private lines, ordinary branches over encrypted interconnection, and new temporary sites connected first over broadband.Choosing which one is not the hard part; the hard part is having someone manage it all centrally — the devices, addresses, and rules at every site follow one template, and when something goes down, someone knows immediately.
Four types of providers you can turn to
| Type | Characteristics | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Buy networking products yourself | Buy a networking router or networking software online and configure it per the manual. Cheap and fast, but each site needs someone who can configure it, and when something breaks you call the vendor’s support | Companies with two or three sites, a colleague who understands networking, and a willingness to troubleshoot on their own |
| 2. Carriers | Private lines and the carrier’s own networking products, with guaranteed lines. But they usually cover only the line and the equipment; internal network planning, access rules, and day-to-day operations fall outside their scope | Companies whose main need is line stability and that have someone in-house to manage the internal network |
| 3. Equipment vendors and integrators | Big-brand solutions with full functionality, delivered as projects, with maintenance contracted separately afterward | Group enterprises with dozens to hundreds of sites, operations across provinces, and a dedicated network team |
| 4. Enterprise network service providers (we are one of these) | One provider handles everything from line coordination at each site, gateway equipment, address planning, and access rules to day-to-day operations; every site follows the same template, disconnections raise alerts, and new sites go live from the template | Companies with two to a dozen sites, no dedicated network staff, and no wish to source a different provider for each site |
Five things that genuinely take time during implementation
- Address planning: the internal address ranges at each site must not overlap. Many companies used the default addresses when networks were set up at each site, so those must be changed before connecting; this is the most easily overlooked step and the most troublesome to redo.
- Who can access what: connecting the networks does not mean everyone can reach everything. The finance system for finance only, camera systems for admin and the boss only, store registers barred from the headquarters file server — these rules must be settled before go-live.
- Each site’s line: at some sites the broadband was arranged by the landlord, at others by an employee; expiration dates vary and carriers differ. Take stock before consolidating.
- How you know a line is down: when a site goes down, do you wait for the store manager to call, or does the backend raise an alert immediately? At sites with dual lines, does traffic fail over to the backup line automatically?
- How a new site goes live: is there a standard checklist and configuration template, so equipment for a new site can be pre-configured and shipped, ready to plug in, instead of sending someone out to figure it out from scratch each time?
Four typical problems we have seen
- Mapping ports straight to the public internet so a branch can reach ERP. This is the most common source of risk; it amounts to hanging the system’s login page on the internet, where anyone can come and try passwords.
- Identical address ranges at each site, so nothing connects. The networking equipment was bought and configured, yet the two sides simply cannot reach each other; after a long investigation, both sites turn out to use the same default address range.
- Connected, but everything is reachable. A register at a store caught a virus, which scanned through the internal network and found the headquarters file server.
- A site was down for three days and no one knew. The branch assumed headquarters’ systems had failed; headquarters assumed the branch was closed — until someone picked up the phone to ask.
Five questions to ask before signing
- Who supplies the equipment at each site, and who replaces it if it fails? Is it included during the contract term, and who owns it when the term ends?
- Who produces the address plan and access rules? There should be a diagram showing each site’s address range and who can access what.
- Are there alerts when a line goes down, and who receives them? Ideally the provider knows first, rather than waiting for you to call.
- How long does a new site take, and what does it cost extra? With template-based deployment, it is usually counted in days.
- Who coordinates with the carrier when a line has problems? The store manager should not have to judge whether it is the line or the equipment; one single point for reporting faults is enough.
What we do, and what we are not suited for
- Encrypted multi-site interconnection: headquarters, branch offices, stores, and warehouses interconnect securely through Siwenlide’s self-developed networking gateways, with a unified configuration template for every site so new sites come online straight from the template; management is done in a browser, and adding or removing sites does not affect the others.
- Address planning and access rules: before activation we produce a topology diagram setting out each site’s address ranges and who can access what; business systems are never exposed to the public internet.
- Disconnection alerts and dual links: online status for every site is monitored in one place, with alerts whenever a site drops; at sites with two links, traffic fails over automatically from the primary to the backup.
- Carrier liaison: broadband and private lines are supplied by the carriers; we handle link selection, provisioning, and coordination.
- Remote employee access: employees travelling or working from home connect through our self-developed zero trust remote access, sTrust, with per-person authorization and access revoked on the day they leave.
- Ongoing management: network equipment is provided and covered by warranty for the contract term; every site reports issues through a single channel, with remote support first and on-site visits as the fallback.
- Dozens or hundreds of sites, distributed nationwide, needing local presence in each region — look for a nationwide integrator or a carrier solution.
- You only need one stable point-to-point link and have in-house staff managing the internal network — going directly to a carrier for a private line is the better fit.
- Implementation and maintenance of the business systems themselves (ERP, POS, membership systems) — that is a job for the software vendor; we take care of the network, isolation, and backup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: We are adding one branch office to headquarters, 60 people in total — roughly how much per month?
A: On headcount you fall into our all-inclusive tier, from RMB 6,999/month, covering interconnection between two sites, network equipment at each site, backup, and zero trust remote access, with unlimited service requests. One-off cabling and surveillance are quoted separately per point, and line charges are billed by the carrier.(Reference as of September 2026, not a quotation commitment; what each tier includes is set out on our official website.)
Q: Is ordinary broadband networking stable enough?
A: It is sufficient for everyday ERP, OA, file access, and surveillance viewing. For workloads that are especially latency-sensitive, you can add a private line or a backup link at key sites, or run the two together.
Q: Every site already has its own network — can we interconnect without replacing equipment?
A: We start with an inventory. Equipment that is still serviceable stays in place, and adding one networking gateway per site is enough to bring it into the network; overlapping address ranges need to be re-planned first.
Q: Can you do this if the branch office is in another city?
A: Encrypted interconnection is not limited by geography, and equipment can be configured in advance and shipped out. For faults that require an on-site visit, coverage in another city depends on whether we have service coverage there, which we will make clear before you sign.
Headquarters and branches still not interconnected — or interconnected with no one managing it?
Siwenlide has spent 14 years delivering turnkey enterprise networks and multi-branch networking. We can start with a free inventory of the links, equipment, and addresses at each site, produce a topology diagram, and then give you a plan and a quote. Call 400-686-2011.
Further reading:How to manage IT for chain stores and multi-branch businesses · How to securely access internal company systems from outside · How dangerous it is to expose remote desktop directly to the public internet · What IT outsourcing costs an SMB per year
