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What the AP Vendors aren’t Telling You – Is it really a WiFi issue?

June 4, 2018

We’ve all had moments, sitting at work, when suddenly panic ensues because of something that didn’t happen.

The e-mail didn’t send.
The website didn’t open.
The video call didn’t connect.

Instantly, the words the WiFi is down echo from corner to corner of the office space. The most important question seems to be – how soon can the problem be fixed?

Unfortunately, the real issue might not be with the WiFi at all. The questions everyone should be asking – why did this happen and how can we fix it? – oftentimes aren’t asked until valuable time has been spent looking in the wrong direction.

Complex Environments

WiFi might seem simple, after all, most offices have been using it for decades and it’s practically taken for granted, but we have to remember that the WiFi isn’t a static, stand-alone entity. It is one part of a vast wireless network, and networks should be thought of as dynamic, living parts of the office.

Almost anything in an office could be connecting to this living network – laptops, phones, tablets, printers, watches, smart assistants such as Alexa – and they all connect in unique ways and have diverse needs. If the WiFi seems to slow down or vanish, it could be because there aren’t enough APs in the office to deal with this large influx of wireless devices, but more information is needed before making this diagnosis.

  • Here are just a few questions that should be asked.
  • Each wireless connected device has frequently changing capabilities and operating platforms. Is the wireless network optimized to handle these changes?
  • If it isn’t, where in the life cycle of the network are issues originating?
  • Are all devices experiencing the same issue?
  • Has something like this happened before?
  • What has changed since the problem occurred?

It might even be necessary to ask questions such as:

  • Do you know who is accessing your network?
  • Do you know what devices are accessing the network and what demands they place on it?

More Information Needed

These questions probably don’t have obvious answers – unless you’re working with a wireless analytics company. Wireless networks need constant surveillance and analysis for optimization and best practices, because they are dynamic and ever changing. We can’t expect what worked yesterday to work next month, and without a holistic understanding of the entire wireless ecosystem, we can’t expect problems to be resolved efficiently and effectively.

Wireless analytics should provide complete visibility and specific diagnoses of any issues. It should be immediately clear if the issue really does lie with the WiFi and, whether it does or doesn’t, how to rapidly fix it and alleviate negative consequences.

At Wyebot, this is what we do. We’re experts in the field of wireless analytics and use our combined 100 years of network experience to bring the future of analytics to present day problems. Our platform is proactive and automatic. Using machine learning, it keeps up to speed with dynamic wireless networks and notifies IT of problems before they occur. It then goes a step further and presents actionable items that can be taken to resolve the issue before it affects business.

It not only provides complete visibility 24×7, but also keeps historical analytics showing trends over the last day, week or month. This means that while the platform optimizes the network for present day business, the historical analytics can be used to optimize for the future as they show important changes in usage and operability.

Don’t let assumptions about your wireless network slow down business. Support your IT team with an automatic, proactive wireless analytics system today.