If there's one thing we know about creating reliable wireless networks it's that they're complicated to design and easy to mess up.
It's as much of a science as it is an art. You have to have the right amount of experience as well as the right level of certification to design them correctly the first time.
Download this free kit to learn what you need to know before you deploy a high-capacity, secure wireless network.
For most businesses and organizations wireless is but a fraction of their overall IT responsibilities. However, while small, delivering reliable Wi-Fi has also become a mission-critical component that can't be taken lightly.
When it comes to creating a Wi-Fi network that drives productivity, supports mobile devices, and safely delivers the wireless experience your end-users expect, there are four specific features you'll want to make sure you include in your next wireless network design.
Roaming
Access to your network resources doesn't happen in one place at specific times. It happens in many different places, 24 hours a day.
Today's WLANs have to support roaming and they have to do it well. Proper roaming allows you to deliver reliable connectivity to your end-users as they move from one place to another, whether that's inside an office building, hospital or even across a college campus.
If you want to find out more about roaming you can check out a recent blog post of ours that goes into a lot more detail.
Adaptive Radio Management
Wireless is not a "set-it and forget-it" type of system, they're alive, and while design is one thing, managing your network and making adjustments in real-time is a whole other challenge.
Most businesses and organizations don't own the necessary RF tools or have the expertise to properly troubleshoot and make adjustments to their WLAN.
This is where adaptive radio management comes into play. A wireless platform equipped with ARM is like having a network engineer working for you 24/7.
ARM is constantly monitoring your network and making adjustments, which in turn reduces some of the RF problems you might encounter in today's dynamic wireless environments.
Rogue AP Detection
Security should make up the foundation that the rest of your WLAN is built upon. While there are many components that make up your security posture, a basic requirement from day one of your deployment is having the ability to detect and mitigate rogue access points.
Rogue access points are any APs that you did not authorize to be placed on your network, typically these are consumer grade routers (access points).
If you don't have this ability you're leaving everyone and everything exposed to potential security threats. If you need more insight into the need for rogue access point detection check out this recent blog post.
Redundancy
Every industry today relies heavily on connected devices and digital systems that require reliable wireless connectivity. Should any area of your Wi-Fi network go down or stop functioning correctly you need to have a back-up plan in place, this is what we refer to as redundancy.
Redundancy, also known as high-availability is built into your WLAN from day one. What level or degree of redundancy your business or organization needs depends on many factors, most notably your budget and the amount of downtime you can withstand.
In our experience, having some level of redundancy is a critical requirement that every RF design must account for from day one.
Reliability Starts with Your Wireless Network Design
Engineering a wireless network is a technical processthat includes many different components that are all working together to deliver the results your business or organization requires.
The most important concept to remember is that the success of your wireless project is directly tied to the quality of your wireless network design.
You can buy the best products available and deploy them within a crappy design and end up with terrible results
Before you buy, make sure you test your current wireless platform and update your design so you're not left scratching your head when nothing works the way you hoped it would.
At SecurEdge, we deliver affordable, robust, and secure wireless platforms – it’s all we do. If you have any questions about wireless network design or would like to discuss an upcoming project, please contact us here.
