Wi-Fi is very resilient, so even if it has been put in badly, it will work in a fashion although in reality it will probably perform badly. How critical is Wi-Fi to your organisation? How satisfied are your users with your Wi-Fi? Have you measured the performance of your Wi-Fi across your organisation? How close is the Wi-Fi to failing, or has it already failed? Wouldn't it be good not to have any Wi-Fi problems?
Good Wi-Fi design is not all about providing a strong signal everywhere. The key is to configure and place your Wi-Fi Access Points to deliver discrete cells that are tuned to the performance of your client devices. Additional APs are also required in strategic locations to accommodate proper roaming. Buildings make it hard to build regular cell shapes and sizes, and for various reasons they are also unpredictable. Using specialist antennas can overcome these problems and improve performance, but there are also disadvantages that need to be carefully weighed up (the impact on spatial multiplexing). This can all become quite a balancing act.
A bad Wi-Fi design that needs to be reinstalled is a cause of stress, and a waste of time and money.
A good Wi-Fi design will deliver benefits to your organisation and it will be easier to maintain.
That is why on-site tests and measurements are an essential first step before deploying a new Wi-Fi solution.
The pre-requisites for good Wi-Fi need to be incorporated into your overall networking strategy and plans.
If you are an end-customer or an IT reseller, we can provide the specialist ad-hoc resources necessary to complement your in-house resources.
But, with years of experience of large network procurements we can also help with independent consultancy, design,and project management to assist with the procurement life cycle.
The Benefits of an Independent Wi-Fi Design Assessment
An independent Wi-Fi design assessment as part of the procurement of your Wi-Fi offers very specific benefits to ensure quality and best-value for your Wi-Fi network.
- It provides an established stake in the ground that represents your agreed design requirements.
You can then tender for different vendor or reseller solutions on an apples-for-apples basis, so you can be assured that you get the best price for a solution that meets your exact requirements. The elements of the design serve as your measured acceptance criteria and ensure that what is delivered will meet your requirements. - An independent verification against the agreed design requirements also ensures that your supplier has delivered what they are contracted to provide, to give you total peace of mind.
(Coverage on its own, is not an adequate acceptance criteria to ensure the performance of your Wi-Fi).
Good Wi-Fi is invaluable at work and at home. It helps us to get a job done when we have to move around.
These are the use cases we are seeing...
- For both Public Sector and Corporate offices, Wi-Fi allows more efficient use of office space. Mobile workers, who move from site to site, or who are now spending a lot of time working at home, can come into the office when necessary and use hot-desks that provide the necessary space but use up less overall resources. Wi-Fi can provide access to the internal phone system through a mobile phone or PC, as well as access to all internal applications, both on site as well as being delivered through their home network to make the home/work transition seamless. Systems such as govroam, provide automatic access to the Wi-Fi for staff who move from site to site.
- In health, Wi-Fi is being deployed for holistic connected clinical systems, to improve the speed and quality of dealing with patients, which is very important with the high-demand on the NHS during the COVID pandemic. Free NHS Wi-Fi is also provided for patients to access tailored information about well-being and services, which can be accessed whilst at NHS sites as well as at home. Wi-Fi also improves the patient experience through wayfinding apps. Location-based Wi-Fi can also be used to locate critical pieces of medical equipment quickly, support staff and patient safety, and provide location-based workload prioritisation.
- Across a range of industries, IoT Wi-Fi technology can also provide environmental monitoring and minimise energy use.
- In retail and distribution, Wi-Fi is deployed within stores (e.g. supermarkets) and warehouses (e.g. online-retail) as part of their logistics operations. This is particularly important given the current high demand on online services whilst people try to stay at home during the COVID pandemic.
- In education, Wi-Fi can be used to enhance lessons and teach independence. The quality of Wi-Fi on Campus and in University Accommodation is a factor in the satisfaction ratings for University Students which determine University rankings. Wi-Fi can also be used to enhance day-to-day tasks such as taking attendance. Staff and Students are offered quick and easy access to Wi-Fi at educational establishments and teaching hospitals that implement eduroam.
- In hotels, Wi-Fi is an important part of the overall service for both business and leisure guests, with streaming TV services often being used by guests
- In public spaces, Wi-Fi can be engineered to deliver a better alternative to mobile data, and it doesn't use up a mobile data allowance. Wi-Fi can also be used by venues to collect voluntary information about consumer preferences and movements, that allow them to better tailor their services to their customers and improve their businesses.