Wireless Network Security & Performance Optimization Assessment
Today’s wireless networks are seeing exponential growth in traffic both from business needs such as VoIP, RFID, mobile employees and laptops, and from personal devices like mobile phones, tablets and MP3 players.
Providing a wireless infrastructure that can properly support this highly connected business environment requires a well-planned network with solid redundancy and high availability.
There are a lot of misconceptions about wireless planning, which make the process seem much more simplistic than it actually is:
Myth: If you put an access point in a ceiling and turn it up, it should work for anyone that can see it.
Fact: Though this may work in a home environment, it typically does not perform well in the office, where demands are greater. In truth, you want to limit cell size to get the optimal throughput for its specific access area. In addition, you want the access point (AP) power to mimic that of the clients it will be supporting.
Myth: If you have an issue with wireless connectivity, you can subvert the problem by adding new access points.
Fact: This tactic simply buries the underlying issue and can actually make things more problematic through the creation of multipathing.
Myth: The access point physically closest to the device that requires wireless access is always the best access point to use.
Fact: Due to potential interferences — particularly from above — this is not always the case. It is also important to limit the number of clients attached to a single AP.
Operating under these misconceptions can waste money and decrease productivity due to poor connections, electro-magnetic interference (EMI) and end-user frustration.
To properly develop a wireless infrastructure that supports your unique business processes, employee roles, office layout and access points, it’s important to first have a clear understanding of your current wireless network and its potential shortcomings.
Why a Wireless Network Assessment
MCPc’s Wireless Network Assessment provides you with that much-needed snapshot of your current wireless infrastructure. In less than one week, we can
help you determine how to optimize and redesign your wireless network for peak performance. The process is simple:
Select a test area of your environment (up to 100,000 square feet). In this test area, we’ll place a laptop with an intelligent Wi-Fi sensor card and antenna. Because the majority of radiofrequency (RF) interference and EMI are intermittent, we’ll physically walk the area several times with this spectrum analysis software. After the sensor has run for several hours, we’ll have data on the following:
- Access-point performance, including transmission rates, throughput and utilization
- Overlap coverage
- Power settings
- Security vulnerabilities
- Instances of RF interference and EMI, and their causes
- Devices accessing the network
- VoIP data communications and location services
- Wireless channel assignments
In addition to the scientific data gathered at each site, site survey experiences and creative techniques are used during each wireless assessment. This mix ensures that your installation gets the best combination of antennas and related equipment, which will maximize your investment while minimizing internal effort and cost.
With this information, we’ll determine the likelihood that solid throughputs can be maintained for important business operations, as defined by you. This may include items such as: VoIP, phones, video streaming, tablets and RFID tags.
Based on your business operations and objectives, a Wireless Solution Architect will then develop a remediation plan that will close any gaps in performance and security, and boost your network performance to the levels you desire.
Once a wireless assessment is complete, a written report will be provided for your internal use and permanent record. Any wiring installer or maintenance technician can use this report as a guide during the installation process.
All MCPc wireless network plans are vendor-neutral, and adhere to IEEE 802.11 standards. In fact, our telecommunications practice lead is a sponsor member of the IEEE 802.11 subcommittee.