Private Infrastructure · Johannesburg
Networks, security and connected systems for residences, estates and family offices. We design the network, secure it, and hold every contractor on site to one plan. You deal with one person, from the first survey to the final sign-off.
The problem
A modern home has six contractors and no owner. Each installs its own box. Nobody is responsible for how they work together.
The practice
The same strategy, risk and technology disciplines Conation brings to the boardroom, applied to the places our clients live and work. The standard does not drop because the client is a family.
We act as your technical representative from the first survey to final sign-off. We specify what the property needs, test every contractor quote line by line, and procure hardware through our trade accounts. Any margin, commission or referral fee is shown on the quote, and you are always free to buy elsewhere.
We segment the network by trust, so cameras, televisions, speakers and solar inverters cannot reach the devices that carry your work and your finances. Firewalls, remote access and backups are configured deliberately, documented and tested. A compromised device stays a contained device.
Fibre, WiFi and failover built to enterprise standard, then every connected system brought onto it properly. Voice, cameras, access control, multi-room audio, home automation and solar monitoring run as one installation, not six.
Cameras, alarms, electrical and solar work are installed by accredited partners and coordinated under one plan.
Segmentation
Your cameras, smart television and inverter are the least secure devices you own. Most homes put them on the same network as the laptop that carries board papers and banking. We separate them.
Enforced at the firewall
Gateway and firewall
Every zone is separated. Every crossing is a written rule.
Laptops and devices that carry business data.
Can reachThe internet, and printers through one controlled path. Nothing on the property can reach in.
Phones, tablets and personal computers.
Can reachThe internet, plus control of audio, screens and automation.
Visitors and their devices.
Can reachThe internet only. Nothing on the property is visible.
CCTV cameras, recorders, intercoms and access control.
Can reachThe recorder only. Viewed remotely through one secured path.
Televisions, Sonos, Home Assistant and smart devices.
Can reachThe internet. Cannot open a connection to family or work devices.
Solar inverters, battery monitoring and building systems.
Can reachThe vendor's cloud only. Contained if the vendor is compromised.
Already have cameras or smart devices you do not fully trust? You do not need to replace them. We contain them.
Selected work
Client names are withheld as a matter of course. References are available on request.
A single UniFi network spanning several homes on one property, linked by a fibre backbone, with each home running its own private network. Cameras, Sonos, Home Assistant and IoT devices each sit on their own segment, and a network-based TV matrix shares sources to screens across the property.
A main house, garage and cottage retrofitted with a fibre core, a replacement gateway and 5G failover, in preparation for a distributed perimeter security network. Conation leads the technical design and holds the camera, perimeter detection and cabling contractors to a single plan.
A 1.6km point-to-point wireless link between a financial services office and its principal shareholder's residence, giving each site a second path to the internet. Built on a dedicated VLAN between two different firewall platforms, working alongside the office's own IT provider.
Design of the scheme's camera network, with oversight of the installation. Cameras in each area of the estate connect to their own fibre-linked switch, and those switches join the gatehouse, administration office and a third hub into one managed network. WiFi serves the gatehouse and administration office.
A mixed-vendor WiFi and CCTV installation across a large residence, designed by Conation and installed with our cabling partner. Coverage, camera placement and network capacity were specified together, so each system was sized for the other.
Firewall, network and WiFi design for a racing team and a performance car business, with installation facilitated through our partners. Cameras, IoT devices and business data were each given their own segment from the outset, rather than separated after the fact.
How to engage
Most clients begin with a review. Some stop there, with a clear list of what to fix. Others ask us to build it and keep it running.
A fixed-fee review of your network and connected systems, on site. We test what is exposed, what is fragile, and what each contractor left behind.
You receiveA written assessment, ranked by risk, with what to fix first.
A specified design, a fixed quotation and one accountable lead through installation and handover. Every contractor builds to the same drawing.
You receiveA working system, fully documented, with every password and rule handed over.
Monthly support for the systems we design. Monitoring, firmware updates, backup checks and changes as the household or office evolves.
You receiveA direct line to the person who built it.
Contact
Most engagements begin with a site visit and a conversation about how the property is used. If your current installation is sound, we will tell you.