Wireless performance has become business critical
For many organisations, Wi-Fi is no longer a convenience, it is the primary network.
Employees move between meeting rooms, desks and collaboration spaces, while increasingly relying on wireless connectivity as their primary means of accessing cloud services. Video calls, cloud applications, wireless printing, mobile devices and collaboration platforms all depend on reliable wireless connectivity.
The problem is that many wireless networks were designed for a different era.
They were built when people worked from fixed desks, applications lived on local servers and a handful of devices connected to the network. Today, a single employee may use a laptop, phone, tablet and multiple cloud services simultaneously.
The hidden cost of poor Wi-Fi
When wireless performance deteriorates, productivity suffers.
Video calls freeze, applications slow down, file transfers fail and users become frustrated.
These issues rarely trigger a major outage, but they create thousands of small interruptions that impact employee experience every day.
A network that appears to be working can still be costing the organisation valuable time and productivity.
It's not just about coverage
Strong signal does not always mean strong performance. A device may display full Wi-Fi coverage while still experiencing poor call quality, slow applications or intermittent connectivity. Channel congestion, interference, access-point placement, client density and roaming behaviour can all affect performance.
Effective wireless design therefore begins with understanding the building, how each area is used, the devices that will connect and the applications the network must support. Predictive design and on-site validation can then be used to confirm that the environment provides the required capacity and resilience.
Key principles to consider when reviewing your Wi-Fi architecture:
- Can the network support the number of connected devices?
- Is the wireless network planned according to the applications commonly used on the network?
- Is WiFi roaming planned and configured correctly?
- Are wireless channels planned accordingly to reduce interference?
- Is the wired network appropriately planned/configured to support the wireless design?
- Are business-critical applications such as voice and video prioritised appropriately?
- Are guest users separated from business systems?
- Can the network support future growth?
- Do you have visibility into user experience?
Modern wireless design is about capacity, performance and security, not simply eliminating dead spots.
Just as importantly, it's about how the wider network works together. Managing switching, wireless, firewall and security services across multiple platforms can introduce unnecessary complexity and reduce visibility, creating longer resolution times when issues occur.
When designed and implemented effectively, this can provide a more consistent operating model, simplified management and greater visibility across the environment. There are a wide range of wireless vendors out there and we have experience with choosing the best vendor for your environment to ensure the best visibility, security, coverage and density for your Wi-Fi clients is achieved.
Wi-Fi is now part of the security strategy
Wireless infrastructure plays an increasingly important role in cyber security.
Employee, guest, IoT and operational devices should be separated through appropriate network segmentation, access controls and security policies. That's why networking and security should be considered together rather than as separate projects.
As a Fortinet Expert Partner, alongside our wider experience across leading networking vendors, we help organisations create secure networking environments tailored to their operational, technical and commercial requirements.
By considering Wi-Fi, switching, firewalls, SD-WAN and network security as part of the wider architecture, our specialists can recommend the technologies and vendors best suited to each environment. Whether that means an integrated single-vendor platform or a carefully designed multi-vendor solution, the goal is to provide greater visibility, consistent policy management and a simpler support experience.
When connectivity and security are designed as part of the same architecture, it's easier to maintain control, identify issues and respond quickly when something requires attention.
The best networks become invisible to users – but visible to IT
When users stop noticing the network, it's usually doing its job.
Reliable wireless connectivity creates a better employee experience, supports productivity and provides the foundation for every cloud service and collaboration platform the organisation depends on.
The strongest environments are rarely those with the most technology. They're the ones that are designed, managed and secured as a single platform that simply works.
Questions worth asking
If you're responsible for your organisation's technology environment, it's worth considering:
- Are users regularly reporting connectivity issues?
- Is your wireless network keeping pace with business growth?
- Can you see what devices are connected and how they're performing?
- Are networking and security being managed together?
- Could a simpler, more integrated approach reduce operational complexity?
If the answer to any of those questions is uncertain, there may be an opportunity to improve both performance and resilience.
