INTELLIGENT MOBILE TECHNOLOGY
As we prepare for this shift, we look at some
mistakes that must be avoided.
First step Wi-fi
When it comes to Wi-Fi in the classroom,
you must get buy-in from the right
people. Meet with building management
about installing a Wi-Fi solution to
help professors use technology in their
teaching. It is difficult for building
management to visualise new Wi-Fi
hardware. Bring access points and mounts
that would be used in the classroom.
One of the easiest supporters will be
the professors. Professors are your best
resource in acquiring funds for new Wi-Fi
deployments. Once the service is requested
by more teachers, the campus budget
committee begins allocating more funds to
the project.
Everyone must have the common
background to reach the end-goal with
minimal pushback. Start here, with buy-in
for any classroom Wi-Fi project.
Blending technology
It is almost a cardinal sin to install
an access point that clashes with
architectural design. Installing new Wi-Fi
in historic buildings can be complicated
and frustrating. The campus wants to
maintain the original look and feel but
you are tasked with ensuring the campus
is moving forward with new technology.
Ignoring the aesthetics of a building is
the quickest way to get left out of future
project planning.
You will want to work with the
architects and their team members to
prevent less-than-ideal cabling locations.
Help educate them on why you need access
points placed according to a design.
Giving the architects options shows
them you are a resource willing to help
lend to their architectural designs without
compromising the quality of Wi-Fi.
Plan and design
The Achilles heel of Wi-Fi is one of no plan
and design. Classrooms and lecture halls
are dense with devices. Start by speaking
with the professors. Understand how
they want to use Wi-Fi. The challenges
SMBs and
wireless
networks
V
ery few SMB owners have a fully
functioning IT department. But
they are still expected to provide
modern and engaging experiences
for their customers, using the latest
technology. How many non-IT people
know the first thing about how to set
up and secure a network?
Recent studies suggest that 66% of
small to medium businesses consider
the use of the cloud, applications
and mobile devices to be a strategic
priority. They recognise that they
stand a good chance of improving
their customer experience by making
such investments.
A truly robust network requires
you to manage filtering for a million
websites, create individual user
profiles and set security protocols for
different applications.
That is too much for many
business owners, so they need
management tools and software that
does the hard work for them.
For an SMB, the wireless
solution should be able to handle
any business application easily.
It has to accommodate a growing
number of mobile users and have
built-in security as a given. This
is why straightforward set up and
quick, precise remote monitoring and
troubleshooting should be a feature
for all new technology made available
to the SMB.
are increased with students bringing
in their own devices, creating a BYOD
environment. Wi-Fi is being used to create
an interactive learning experience.
The approach we must take is to
design and architect a Wi-Fi network
to meet the requirements of classroom
activities using capacity planning,
predictive and validation surveys, and
the selection of proper antennas and
mounting solutions. You would not build
a house without planning it and making a
blueprint first.
Incorrect configuration
The most common mistake in configuration
is to allow a WLAN system to automatically
make configuration decisions without
tuning. Many engineers leave auto-RF
settings to their defaults. Configuration
must be based upon the design for the
classroom. And knowing what exactly those
knobs do is just as critical as the design.
Understand what results there may
be for specific settings, such as using
higher minimum data rates, disabling
low data rates, transmit power selections,
wider channel widths, and others. Poor
configuration and optimisation will lead to
a poor user experience.
Upon completing configuration,
perform a validation survey to ensure the
deployment matches the design and meets
the requirements.
Monitoring dashboard
Working with unlicensed spectrum will
gather its own set of issues. In order to
support teaching and learning in the
classrooms we must be proactive. Having
no monitoring in place is a big mistake for
a large environment supporting professors
and students. There are certain metrics
and thresholds to monitor which will
indicate the overall health of the Wi-Fi
network. More advanced tools can drill in
further to specific access points and groups
of access points for accurate results down
to near real-time.
Monitoring will reveal issues which
may not be apparent to the end users.
Issues such as retry rates, poor roaming,
and average throughput. Have a system
which can monitor end user experience so
IT can respond quickly. Wi-Fi is not a set
and forget it technology. The unlicensed
spectrum is susceptible to a variety of
issues. We must treat it as a lifecycle,
from planning to design, configuration,
monitoring, optimisation, and back again
to planning.
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