The ultimate guide to wireless: Getting it right!
Probrand
A reliable wireless network is a must have for organisations, but many are still woefully inadequate.
It's important to get the right technology for the job, that best meets your needs in and out of the business.
This means enterprise grade as opposed to consumer grade.
The difference is that one can delivers appropriate control, security and user demand, whereas the alternative will simply not handle it.
As the modern business begins to rely on their wireless internet connection for everyday tasks such as virtual meetings, remote working and BYOD, an increasing number are finding their poor wireless coverage is hindering the use of technology.
This guide will help you to think differently about your Wi-Fi network and help you to understand how to make the most of enterprise grade.
It offers a comprehensive description of wireless best practices from getting started to end result.
This definitive guide is designed to be useful, practical and informative.
We'll explore themes and share tips around:
- What to look for in a wireless network
- Pitfalls & misconceptions
- Future-proofing your network What should you look for in a wireless network?
Make the grade
- An intelligent enterprise grade managed wireless solution offers all of the latest enhancements and standards available, which are a must for any business looking to simply upgrade their existing wireless solution or implement a new one.
Enterprise grade features provide technology that overcomes challenges like interference, high density working areas, connectivity and speed.
High density
You should take into consideration the ability to cope with 'high density' working areas where more than 45 users demand access in a single space.
This can be addressed with moderm 'high density' wireless access points that offer greater throughput and improved signal strength.
Buzzwords to look for include Dual concurrent 3x3@3 MIMO and BeamFlex + technologies.
No more interference. From a performance perspective, and therefore a better end user experience, look out for the 802.11ac wireless standard that provides improved data and connectivity speeds plus better capacity across the 5Ghz band.
This the frequency of channel at which mobile devices connect with your wireless network.
Older devices use the 2.4ghz band whereas newer wireless devices from the likes of Apple and Microsoft are offering consumers maximum wireless connection speeds by utilisingthe 5ghz band.
So, be sure to future proof your wireless solution by ensuring it complies with the 802.11ac standard and has the ability to auto-select the relevant channel to match the band a device is using.
Know your needs
Finally, organisations should insist their supplier carries out a wireless survey prior to making any kind of investment, many providers will offer a 'predictive heat map', however, be warned these surveys are hypothetical.
Avoiding the Pitfalls
Many make the fatal error and allocate the vast portion, if not all of their available budget, on acquiring wireless devices (whatever they may be) only to find their existing wireless network simply isn't capable of supporting the number of devices trying to connect.
This then means your new tablet investment is wasted as users with can't connect or keep losing connection - not good when you have an army of staff complaining and a board of directors questioning the investment.
Invest in the infrastructure first!
Like building a house without any foundations the wireless devices themselves require wireless connectivity to access the internet, applications and networks.
As a first point of call invest in wireless infrastructure that supports the future estate of wireless devices.
Back to the future
Hindsight is a fine thing - so, consider future scale.
Technology is moving at a rapid pace, users are increasingly connecting with more than one device at any one time, and the size of businesses, start-ups and SMEs are growing. Buy for tomorrow not just today.
Buy cheap, buy twice
Cheapest isn't always the best! We're all aware of the old saying 'you get what you pay for', well that applies to wireless enablement.
Many wireless solutions that appear cheap actually provide limited performance and scalability.
We speak to a lot of organisations who bought cheap, then regretted it because the solution wasn't able to keep up with their wireless needs.
For an informed decision you need all considerations at hand, including elements like what the true 'Total Cost of Ownership' and 'Return on Investment' would be over a period of five years.
The end of 'no wireless networks available'.
With the right tools in place you can expect more reliable and faster wireless across a greater coverage area.
Expect the ability to connect more users faster and deliver an improved end user experience, indoors and outdoors.
You will find it far easier to secure and capitalise on the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend.
It's no longer a novelty that employees are bringing their own devices in the form of tablets and smartphones.
Rather than investing heavily in wireless devices businesses are making smarter decisions to invest in more wireless infrastructure to take advantage of the wireless devices employees already own.
Enterprise grade wireless solutions enable this opportunity with little requirement for maintainance thanks to easy and secure guest provisioning for these BYOD devices.
Importantly, enterprise wireless technologies are now so sophisticated that they require little to no admin intervention, this means no need for expensive resources to manage a modern wireless network with features that contribute towards a more automated and efficient wireless solution.
Why not put your wireless to the test with our free site survey? Click through to claim your free site survey.