Don’t Make These Mistakes with Your Business’s Wi-fi

Wi-fi is the backbone of your business. Whether you realize it or not, wi-fi keeps many essential aspects of your business securely connected including inventory, your hosted PBX system, credit card processing abilities, databases,  and keeps your offsite employees connected. Setting up and maintaining your wi-fi connectivity correctly is crucial and can help you avoid costly downtime.

There are a variety of factors that may impact your wi-fi’s speed, security, and dependability, many of which should be considered when your wi-fi system is being installed. When you’re just getting set up, the telecommunications professional you’re working with should begin with a discussion about your business’s goals and how connectivity impacts them. Then they should build a list of customized recommendations and educate you on the pros and cons of each option. With your goals and budget in mind, they should offer an appropriate wi-fi solution or make recommendations on where your budget should shift.

In an attempt to be budget conscious, businesses sometimes try to cut back on the up-front costs by installing a solution that is just good enough. The problem with installing the bare minimum is that it quickly becomes outdated, doesn’t have the latest security features, or it fails- errors that can stall a business and negatively impact revenue.

The hardware that powers your wi-fi connection can make or break your speed and reliability. Cheap hardware may be fine in the short term, but after some use, however, it’s more likely to break or insufficiently handle the load demands that your business requires at peak work times. While purchasing less expensive hardware may save money on your initial investment, in the long run you’re better off buying the hardware that your telecommunications professional recommends. When you consider the costs associated with repairing hardware along with the revenue and productivity lost, sub-par hardware costs more in the long run.

While we’re talking about hardware, let’s talk about the number of access points (APs) your wi-fi has. These make sure that the wi-fi is accessible in all parts of your building. APs are an expensive but incredibly necessary part of a good wi-fi system. If your wi-fi is spotty in parts of your building, you may need to add additional APs . During the initial surveying, design, and deployment of your wi-fi solution, your telecommunications professional should determine ideal access point settings including channels.

If speed or reception is lagging, your telecommunications professional may need to investigate and adjust the settings of your current APs. There may be some adjustments to various settings that can increase performance. They may need to adjust advanced settings, such as channel-widths, supported data rates, beacon interval, and thresholds for fragmentation and RTS.

Beyond the hardware, there is an unseen factor that can impact the speed and reliability of your wi-fi- bandwidth. This is the amount of data that can be transferred at a given time. Your internet provider will sell you a certain amount based your business’s internet needs.

Insufficient bandwidth will cause even the best hardware to lag and slow essential business functions. Your telecommunications professional should assess your bandwidth needs before suggesting a wi-fi solution. They’ll need to know about the devices typically used, what business functions your business will do over wi-fi, and number of employees. When you consider how many devices people use simultaneously in a business setting, one person can easily take up a good bit of bandwidth.

As time progresses and your business grows, your internet use will likely change. While some amount of growth should be anticipated when your wi-fi is first set up, you’ll need to reevaluate your wi-fi needs as your business grows.

If your wi-fi isn’t performing up to par, don't make do with what you have. Call in a professional, have them evaluate the issue(s), and customize a solution. The issue could be a number of things ranging from inadequate hardware to the simple fact that the demands placed on your wi-fi have changed. Believe it or not, restarting your router probably won’t fix it.