WiFi network has been broadly implemented in the corporate and educational world since its inception. The workforce and

students are set to return to offices and school campuses over the next couple of months. Companies and schools want to ensure the wireless connectivity is fully functional to provide connectivity while maintaining social distancing. Previous WiFi designs will need to be revisited to rethink coverage, performance, and bandwidth utilization. How many people will come back to the office, how will students be spaced in lecture halls, what WiFi security threats need to address to prevent a security breach is questions network WiFi engineers need to consider again.

With all those questions in mind, how do companies and schools prepare their WiFi Infrastructure for users to return?

You can also look at our WiFi Network Considerations post to learn more about wireless network deployments.

Address the WiFi issues you had before the pandemic:

Remember the dead spots around the office and college campuses that caused users to relocate and congregate in other areas? It was not a bid deal before, but now it may be. How about a slow and erratic connection in conference rooms, lecture halls, or the cafeteria? Some overwhelmed IT departments don’t have the time or WiFi Experts onsite to consider those issues, let alone the resources to fix them.

Remember that a successful WiFi Installation is more than a strong signal:

This is especially true in office environments with a small IT department. To become a WiFi Expert requires years of study and experience, just a Windows Server Administration, Firewall Engineer, or Data Base Administrator. Many companies attempt to solve their network communication limitations by doing a WiFi router setup, adding a couple of access points, and calling it a successful WiFi installation. It goes without saying that they’ll soon realize things are not supposed to work that way.

It may be time to upgrade your WiFi infrastructure to WiFi 6 technology:

WiFi 6 technology is based on the latest IEEE 802.11 ax standard. It provides greater capacity, efficiency, coverage, and performance than existing WiFi 5 technology as it utilizes 1200 MHz of the 6 GHz band. That offers a tremendous improvement over the current technology as more applications rely on WiFi connectivity.

Look into upgrading your other network services:

This is especially important if you’re are considering upgrading to WiFi 6. You can expect more traffic on the WiFi network; you need to make sure your switches and routers can support the new throughput to prevent any network lags. Students expect a reliable WiFi network across campus; employees rely on it to maintain communication and productivity. Having your devices function properly is paramount for a successful WiFi Installation.

Think Security:

Many WiFi deployments are an extension of the LAN. Broadcasting your LAN over the air, even with user authentication, requires proper planning to prevent network breaches. Do you what a WIPS solution in place, how are users authenticating, do you have a solution in place to prevent Evil Twin attacks, can your network withstand a Dos attack, is your network self-healing? See how Hackers use aircrack-ng to break into WiFi networks.

Be open minded about your hardware:

Many companies are very hardware-centric, they get deployed hardware solutions from the vendor for years. Although such an approach has its merits it’s also important to consider what the competition is offering. There are a handful of leaders in the WiFi realm fighting head to head to dominate the market share, but at the same time there are a good number of emerging companies trying to take a share of the market, these companies usually offer more cost-effective solutions without compromising performance.

It is interesting to think that the pandemic has made us reconsider how we conduct business; with the constant need to stay connected and the ever-presence of attack threats, companies need to revisit how their WiFi networks are being installed and managed. We can use technology to support the business goals as we are all adapting to this new normal. There’s no doubt that the right solution and services will help adjust to the new changes in an organized and seamless fashion.

JDTech is a WiFi Installation company in NJ proving Wireless Support Services to businesses and organizations since 2011. With a reliable team of WiFi Engineers, Security Experts, Network Engineers, and WiFi Installers, we can deploy the right WiFi solution for your environment. Contact us at info@jdtechsolutions.net or 888-580-4450 for more information about our WiFi Services and Solutions.