6 ways to help upgrade WiFi network

TipsMake.com - According to Chris Kozup, Cisco's flexible solution marketing director, up to 4 out of 5 Cisco customers have had problems with their wireless network. Many of them have not been prepared to control the growth of phone devices - iPhones, Androids and now iPads - in the past few years.

He added: ' It took us three years to observe the growth of about 1 billion devices capable of connecting to Wifi and it took 5 years to witness the growth of 7 billion devices. Apple has been at the forefront of the manufacturing team when it launched a mobile browser experience that consumes bandwidth (at data level) really well with wireless networks .

6 ways to help upgrade WiFi network Picture 1

Back a few years ago, and you will have no trouble finding employees with more than one phone device. They now have smartphones, laptops, and can be a barcode scanner or other wireless network devices. WiFi-based devices increasingly occupy an important place in the workplace. Kozup said: ' They are demanding an important mission .'

Kozup pointed out that up to 80% of Cisco customers had to do something to stabilize their wireless network, while 20% of other customers had stability.

Organizations within the higher education group and health care center tend to rely heavily on WiFi and therefore they are better prepared in the 'invasion' of the phone.

iPads and other WiFi-based devices also have a place inside hospitals, which is not surprising when nurses or doctors use them. Kozup said: ' In the hospital, there is a nurse call system, patient call system, heart rate monitor, . all are connected to WiFi . "

In another aspect, according to Kozup, financial services tend to be slow as they connect to upgrade WiFi networks to the most advanced technology devices. The reason is that concerns about security in WiFi networks are not much concerned. Low-tech devices also need to upgrade WiFi networks.

So, what should a CIO do to be able to upgrade WiFi? Cisco has advised users to focus on the 6 important things below:

1. Fill the coverage area

In the early days of WiFi, CIOs often place an access point in hot spot areas such as meeting rooms. The reason is because of the thinking that employees can disconnect their laptop computers from wired networks and bring them to the meeting room.

Today, employees tend to move a lot and attend meetings in many different places. They often need links and therefore, the need to have a reliable connection to the intranet is understandable. Kozup said: ' You will not need an internal network that will work well in the meeting room but lose the signal at a certain corner of the building '.

Cisco's advice : Configure 2.4 GHz for 20 MHz and 3 non-overlapping channels. Some organizations have proposed a 2.4 GHz configuration change into a 40 MHz support channel and a 20 MHz support channel. However, having 3 non-overlapping 20 MHz channels provides better network access and WLAN design more effectively than a 40 MHz channel and a 20 MHz channel. This configuration will help businesses deploy better wireless networks to optimize wireless reception and wireless coverage.

2. Receive weak signals?

Kozup said that older devices, such as those that do not support the latest wireless networking standard 802.11n, will be more difficult to capture from access points. Result: poor wave.

Cisco's advice : Take advantage of radio frequency reception technology to focus strong signal to older 802.11a / g products whenever they are connected to the network.

3. Eliminate obsolete technologies

According to Kozup: ' Let's face the problem, sometimes too old technologies need to be removed. Devices that support the first wireless networking standard - 802.11b - are really slow and reduce performance. We need to convince people to remove the old technology in their networks. By doing so, they were able to speed things up . '

Cisco's advice : Since most 802.11b standards are 'out of phase' compared to devices running 802.11g or 802.11a / g / n, Cisco recommends that all businesses turn off the data transfer rate below. 2.4 GHz in WLAN.

4. Working with higher frequencies

6 ways to help upgrade WiFi network Picture 2

WiFi operates at 2 frequency levels: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Most devices, including iPads, are dual-band devices capable of operating on both frequency bands. KoZup said: ' The truth of the problem lies in the 5 GHz frequency range is stronger and wider than the 2.4 GHz frequency band. Therefore, we need to make sure that these devices (iPads) are connected as close to the 5 GHz frequency range as possible . '

The problem is that dual-band devices tend to connect to the 2.4 GHz frequency range. Cisco has released a product called BandSelect that can automatically receive dual band devices and 'catch' them using a 5 GHz frequency band.

Cisco's advice : Because the 5 GHz frequency band is 8 times more spectrum than the 2.4 GHz band, and it's often less clumsy, Cisco BandSelect makes sure that devices can use the 5 GHz frequency band. . This also means that the 2.4 GHz band will be more widely available in both environments.

5. Is the phone device secure?

Does the iPhone, iPad, Android, and other mobile devices have a high level of security that helps to trust businesses? They can, when they are configured correctly with exact authentication protocols.

Cisco's advice : Some phone devices support 802.1x authentication in an enterprise environment. WiFi wireless network will be automatically displayed by each device or can be set under WiFi settings profile. The correct 802.1x method will be automatically selected for each wireless SSID or users can select them at Settings > WiFi > Security .

If there are no digital certification requirements, users only need to enter their user ID and password to gain secure access to the enterprise wireless network. If the validation method of businesses and organizations requires digital certification, IT will have to create configuration profiles and send them to mobile phone users.

6. Clean up the surrounding space

6 ways to help upgrade WiFi network Picture 3

If you have experienced unpleasant working times when connecting to a slow WiFi network, this means that you should clean up the surrounding space. Microwave, cordless phones, Bluetooth-enabled devices, wireless speakers, etc. can be factors that cause frequency instability.

KoZup said: ' Pay attention to all Bluetooth devices in a business. They can be the cause of the workability of iPhone, iPad and Android devices in this environment . "

Cisco's advice : Cisco has a spectrum analyzer called CleanAir that detects and automatically reduces annoying frequencies by configuring the wireless network around the source of interference that enables devices to communicate. together in a clear universal access point.