There is no one-size-fits-all solution for wireless networks

By Ian Hocking, Wi-Fi Practice Manager at Optus Enterprise

Making decisions about your networks is never a simple process. There are now hundreds of vendors with thousands of different solutions – all of which require potentially millions of configurations to achieve the ideal network setup for your business.

We’re often asked about the biggest pitfalls to avoid when designing and implementing a new network. Although there are plenty of mistakes that can be made, not conducting a thorough site assessment is an avoidable error we see cropping up often.

The network environment matters

No matter what a vendor or provider may say, there is no silver bullet network configuration that works for every organisation, in every location. In fact, there are no out-of-the-box network solutions that will automatically work in most environments from the first day.

One big reason for this is physics – the location of buildings, walls, power sources and other physical factors needs to be considered in relation to the users and devices accessing the network.

Although we know that connectivity is always improving with the rollout of new network technology, physical barriers still need to be considered. Likewise, no matter how talented your IT or network team is, a network can only ever perform as well as it’s designed.  

Conducting a thorough pre-assessment

A crucial part of the network design process is a pre-assessment of the location, users, and devices on your network. So, what are the steps you should follow in your pre-assessment process?

1.    Stakeholder consultation – By studying where and when each user commonly connects to your network currently, you can then provision the access points, switches, and configurations required to deliver the right level of bandwidth. Make sure you also cover “head-less” devices such as IoT sensors and Video Conferencing units.

2.    Formal design – Once you understand your users’ demands, consider factors such as building layouts, peak demands, and the types of applications being used. Then consider user access configurations for each device, application and workload.

3.    Testing – Even the most seemingly insignificant configuration could render an essential area of your network unusable, so testing is an essential step in the design process.

4.    Security – Default credentials and misconfigured hardware are among the leading causes of data breaches. Your network design should also consider the security risks your network faces today and the newer threats it will likely face in the future.

5.    User experience – Understanding connectivity and security is only half the battle, as you need to understand how the network design will affect user experience, both negatively and positively. Your network design should consider which areas of the user experience are a non-negotiable.

In our experience, poorly designed wireless networks are costly and time-consuming to manage. Whatever business benefits you hoped to gain from a new network could be wiped out by failing to take these simple steps above.

At Optus, we partner with organisations across every sector and design wireless networks that deliver secure and superior user experiences. Through our partnership with Aruba Networks, we work with customers to design and implement a wireless solution that meets their needs today, and in the future.

Get in touch with us today to learn more about our wireless network design process.

Find out more

To discuss how Optus can help you, contact your Optus Account Manager or call the Optus Enterprise hotline on 1300 654 989.