Let’s face it, when we think about WiFi performance it tends to always come down to speed.
No one complains if speeds are fast and reliable, however, get it wrong and not only are your end-users going to complain, but your bottom-line will suffer from decreasing productivity as well.
With more and more businesses relying on mobile devices, the IoT and cloud-based systems to operate, there is no room for error when it comes to the quality of your wireless network.
So why do so many businesses and organizations continue to suffer from slow speeds and overall poor WiFi performance?
Here are two simple reasons why your wireless network is falling short.
You’re WiFi Design Did NOT Plan for Capacity
In the past, your environment was very predictable, where the business owned and controlled all the devices accessing the network. Because of this, WiFi designs would focus solely on coverage.
Fast forward to today and things have changed quite dramatically. Thanks to BYOD, and the IoT, we now have to support a growing variety of types of devices as well as increasing numbers of devices.
This has created quite a challenge when it comes to delivering fast and consistent WiFi performance.
In many cases, businesses get into trouble because their WiFi design failed to plan for capacity.
Capacity means answering several key questions:
- What types of devices are being used?
- How many devices?
- What’s the device mix?
- What types of applications are being used?
Watch the video below for an in-depth explanation of why planning for capacity is so important for fast WiFi performance.
You’re NOT Measuring Performance
Today’s end-users are more demanding than ever, not only from a technical perspective (devices, applications) but also from an expectation perspective.
These two factors have made it absolutely essential to measure performance from the end-user’s viewpoint.
Again, not having the ability or just not doing this all together is a major difference that separates fast networks from slow networks.
If you’re not measuring performance on an on-going basis, there is no way to know how well your wireless system and your end-users are performing.
Wireless is dynamic, you can’t deploy your network and assume everything will run smoothly. Everything is constantly changing from the moment you deploy, from the devices and applications, to usage and even the RF environment itself, things change that require adjustments along the way--it’s a never-ending cycle.
To ensure your end-users are getting the fastest speeds to support a productive and enjoyable experience, we must monitor what the end-user is seeing from their perspective as well as from the systems point of view.
Software today, like a network management system, provides us with the real-time visibility we need, essentially turning our network into a giant sensor.
We can then run proactive tests and monitor an extensive list of parameters to gain deep insights into what our end-users are experiencing.
With the right wireless system in place you can establish SLAs on performance to guarantee everyone and everything is receiving the resources they need, in this case blazing fast connections.
Moving Forward
Speed is not everything when it comes to your wireless system, but it's definitely the most noticeable to your end-users (except during a security breach).
There are many variables that can impact the speed of your wireless network, however, planning for capacity and measuring performance are two of the most critical to get right.
If you're experiencing slow speeds and can't figure out why, there are a variety of tests that we can use to diagnose and fix your problems. Simply contact us here and we'll be glad to help you on your way to faster wireless.
