Back to the Basics: Is Your WiFi Network Doing What It’s Supposed To Do?

When it comes to wireless networks, there’s a lot we could talk about.  We could get into the nitty gritty details of WLAN architecture or discuss the high level points of a site survey, but when we get right down to it, what we all really want to know is if the network is doing what it’s supposed to do.

Is it providing uninterrupted, reliable service to every connected device?

Is it providing that service at an optimal level?

There’s no reason why the answers to both questions shouldn’t be yes. If you look at your network and find that the answer is no, or find that you can’t answer the questions, it’s time to work with a WiFi Analytics platform.

Remove the Mystery

Wireless networks are dynamic and complex, but they shouldn’t be mysterious. Whether you’re a network administrator, or someone with hardly any tech experience, WiFi Analytics platforms deliver the insights and information that you need to know exactly what is happening with your network at all times.  

This includes, but is not limited to: 

• End User Experience
• Real-time health and performance of all applications and infrastructure
• Airtime and client utilization
• The types and number of devices connected to the network
• The capabilities of connected devices – are they 2.4GHz or 5GHz capable? Are they WiFi 6 capable?
• Any network issues
• Any security issues
• Client distribution

Do I need to know all that?

Only if you want to reduce both the number of issues plaguing your network and the time spent identifying and resolving them. 

A wireless network should work as flawlessly as your electricity. Just like you flip a switch and automatically expect light, you should automatically expect trouble-free WiFi as soon as the network is “on.” The only way to really ensure this optimization though is with complete visibility into the entire network ecosystem. With that visibility, issues can be identified and resolved proactively, preventing end users from being affected. 

You could gather a large IT team and assign each member a different part of the network to watch and analyze 24/7…but that’s not at all realistic.  However, bringing in an automated WiFi Analytics platform to perform this core service is not only realistic, but easy.

Divide and Conquer

With an AI-driven WiFi Analytics platform watching and analyzing network health and performance, IT is free to focus on other mission-critical responsibilities. When network issues do arise, the platform will automatically alert IT and identify the root cause of the problem, speeding up the Mean-Time-to-Resolution (MTTR).

As networks continue to expand, adding more and more devices and data every day, they are outpacing a human ability to ingest and understand that data in a timely manner. Adding an automated analytics platform to your network is the only way to dynamically scale your network and support business critical operations in a cost-effective manner. 

Key Analytics

Remember, the goal here is to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your wireless network is providing optimal service at all times. To give you that confidence, an analytics platform should provide you with:

• Complete Visibility: this includes all connected devices, frontend and backend infrastructure, and the entire RF spectrum. Problem resolution cannot happen without problem identification, and as WiFi issues can be rooted in any one of these areas, IT needs insight into each one. 
• 24/7 Monitoring: the platform must monitor the network day and night, whether anyone is onsite or not.
• Automatic Alerts: if the platform identifies any issue, IT must be automatically alerted for quick resolution.

The Wireless Intelligence Platform (WIP) provides these essential capabilities and takes it a step further.

• 100% Visibility, 100% of the Time: With multiple radios, WIP monitors the 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrums 24/7. It uses a third radio to perform all network tests, ensuring that it never has to stop monitoring one of the spectrums and risk losing data.
• 24/7 Real-Time and Historical Analytics: WIP not only provides real-time insight, but also automatically saves historical device forensics, providing IT with instant access to data from the past day, week, or month. The platform automatically creates graphs that display trends over time with data on APs, client distribution, and airtime and client utilization. This is incredibly useful in determining how network health and performance have changed over time, and identifying specific upgrade needs for cost-effective budget and capacity planning.
• AI-Driven Alerts: with its AI-engine, WIP learns to recognize normal network behavior and will proactively alert IT if that behavior changes in any way. All alerts identify the root cause of an issue, and provide actionable recommendations for resolution. WIP also provides automatic alerts if any of its network tests fail.

Additionally, WIP is remote capable, giving IT the ability to access the network, troubleshoot, and resolve all issues from any location. This means that networks remain optimized, whether IT can travel onsite or not.

Operational Efficiency

Wireless networks are resilient and can continue providing reliable service even with undiagnosed issues – as long as the network isn’t under any stress. As soon as that changes, issues move rapidly front and center.

Don’t let this happen to your network. Support IT with valuable, AI-driven insights into every aspect of the network and see improved performance, reliability, and security. Remove all WiFi worries today with the Wireless Intelligence Platform and give your WiFi-dependent business the optimized network it needs.