According to research, if the internet was to go down for everyone on the planet for just 60 minutes, it would cost the global economy £1.5 billion. Having good internet is now an expected service for most people, it needs to just work, because when it doesn’t it’s frustrating and it loses people money.
You might think that having great business WiFi is as simple as getting the right hardware and plugging it in, but that isn’t necessarily the case. Here are a few things you need to think of, to prevent those annoying dropped connections that hit your wallet hard and make you turn into the Hulk.
Wired connections are speedier than wireless
This isn’t us saying that you need to have wires trailing everywhere, but think carefully about what’s plugged in using an ethernet cable, and what’s connected to the wireless network. Things that rarely move such as desktop PCs and VOIP telephone handsets are ideal to be plugged in, while mobiles and tablet devices are better suited to the Wireless. Limiting the number of devices connected to your Wireless network will also make it speedier for those who do need to use it.
This may take a bit of planning if you’re about to move into a new office, or shift around your old one, so it’s worth working out where all of your ethernet sockets are, and jotting them down on a plan of your building so you can work out where the desks are going to go without too much hassle.
Have a backup
If you’ve been round here for a while, you’ll know that we LOVE talking about backups. We can’t stop, it’s in our DNA. But something not often discussed, is having a backup WiFi connection. If your business is reliant on a good connection, and would significantly lose out as a result of any downtime, then consider having a backup connection that you can switch to in the event of an emergency. This will provide you with peace of mind should a problem occur, and if there’s anything the last two years has shown us, it’s got to be that no-one knows what’s around the corner.
Put your access points in the right place
What is an access point (AP)?
An access point is a device that provides another point of connection to your WiFi network, they are used a lot in bigger buildings that need extra coverage. What a lot of people don’t realise, is that putting more APs closer together could be doing more harm than good. If they’re too far apart there can be signal blind spots where they can’t reach, but if they’re too close together their signals can interfere with each other, also causing spots of bad signal. If your APs have been added willy nilly here and there as you’ve grown, it might be worth an engineer taking a look for you and planning out the optimum places to put them.
Basically, there are lots of things to think about when it comes to business WiFi, and if you want to make sure you’re avoiding unnecessary downtime, you should definitely be aware of these things so you can act fast.
Do you have everything you need?
This might sound like a condescending question, but let us explain. If your business started out as a one man band and has grown over the years, often what happens is that systems and hardware get added as they’re needed, which can lead to a little bit of a hodge podge of things. This in itself can cause WiFi issues, and if you find yourself at this stage, then talking to an IT provider is probably a really good idea. Unless you’re very technical yourself, they might think of things that would improve your connection with wireless that you didn’t even know existed.
We’re always happy to have a chat. Let’s get your WiFi working so smoothly, you forget all about it.
