When WiFi is NOT Your Area of Expertise but it is Your Job

We can’t all be RF (Radio Frequency) engineers, but we are all WiFi dependent. So, what are you to do when managing your company’s WiFi falls on your shoulders even though you’ve never claimed to be a WiFi expert?

First of all, don’t panic. Thanks to technology, you aren’t in this alone. It is possible to resolve and minimize issues without a RF engineer onsite (although having a RF engineer is absolutely a bonus). Here’s what you need to know and how to use The Wireless Intelligence Platform (WIP) to make everything easier.

1. What are you responsible for?

The WiFi isn’t just one thing. It’s an ecosystem made up of lots of pieces, including infrastructure like cables, controllers, and access points (APs); devices like laptops, tablets, smartphones, and IoT devices; and the radio frequency (RF) environment, which refers to the general airspace where WiFi signals travel back and forth between devices. Everything in this ecosystem needs to be working reliably for optimal WiFi performance. So, the first thing you need to know is what makes up your network’s specific ecosystem.

A great way to get this information is with the WiFi Automation platform, WIP. Once plugged in, WIP starts working in minutes and provides complete network visibility. It allows you to see everything that is connected to your network and if there are any issues. Issues are reported automatically and proactively as soon as they occur, which allows you to resolve them before business is impacted. WIP automatically identifies the root cause of issues and provides actionable solutions with all issue alerts. This results in a 90% faster Mean-Time-to-Resolution (MTTR).

If you are working solo and someone reports a WiFi issue, there are a long list of “could be’s” to investigate before the root cause is identified and the issue can be resolved. Cut out this time consuming middle step, and let WIP automatically deliver the necessary information.

2. What can you schedule to work automatically?

The WiFi ecosystem is dynamic. It is going to change and some of those changes will cause issues. The ecosystem needs to be monitored at all times, but it doesn’t have to be monitored by you at all times. Let WIP do the monitoring and alerting so that you can focus on other important business responsibilities.

In addition to 24/7 automatic monitoring, with WIP you can schedule network tests to run as often as you need (we recommend at a minimum of once a day, but more frequently is better). WIP performs WiFi connectivity and internet connectivity/ping tests; application tests; performance tests; device monitor tests; device discovery tests; security audits; server tests; and throughput testing.

Performing these tests on a scheduled, automatic basis provides extra peace of mind that the WiFi ecosystem is working optimally, unless you are otherwise alerted.

3. What’s the plan for when you aren’t onsite? 

What if there’s a WiFi issue and you can’t get onsite to fix it? You can talk to someone who is onsite and hopefully walk them through a resolution – or, you can use WIP, which is completely remote capable.

With WIP, you can troubleshoot and resolve issues from anywhere at any time. Being unable to travel to the office is no longer a problem.

4. What happened last week or last year?

You might not know it, but this is an important question. Ensuring optimal WiFi requires more than day-to-day monitoring and troubleshooting. You also need to know long-term trends on the health and performance of the entire ecosystem.

• How many new devices joined in the last six months? Is the network nearing max capacity?
• Are APs exhibiting gradually degrading performance?
• Were there any compatibility issues after a recent upgrade?

The answers to these and other questions provides critical insights into the overall health and performance of the network. When it’s time to make budget and capacity decisions for the coming year, having overall trends on hand helps administrators understand what your specific network needs, rather than responding to market trends.

WIP provides historical device forensics with data on APs, client distribution, RF analytics, WiFi and non-WiFi interference (for example, from microwaves), and the noise floor (the level of background noise, which impacts WiFi signals). Data is automatically saved and graphs displaying the trends are automatically created.

With 100% network visibility, automation, remote capabilities, and historical device forensics, optimizing the WiFi becomes quite a bit simpler. WIP:

• Saves up to 90% in MTTR
• Reduces WiFi problem tickets by 60%
• Reduces remote site visits by up to 80%

Use WIP as your “network engineer in a box” and remove the complexity and mystery from your WiFi network ecosystem.