Enterprise organizations rely on reliable, secure wireless networks to keep their operations going. Troubleshooting WLAN issues can be a pain for IT pros, especially network admins of mixed networks.
Having worked with companies of all different sizes from a variety of industries, our team has seen and heard it all. Based on real feedback, below are the five most common WLAN issues that IT pros from large organizations deal with, and our suggestions on how to address them.
The reliability of your WLAN is heavily dependent on not only the architecture of your hardware and software but also the design and placement of the crucial pieces of your network. So if you’re getting spotty signal in certain parts of your WLAN, make sure that your access points and routers are positioned optimally.
Walls, ceilings, and large objects can inhibit the reach of your wireless signal. Even metal filing cabinets can affect your WLAN’s performance. Therefore, moving your hardware to the right place can make a big difference.
Physical object interference is one of the most common issues that can be diagnosed with the naked eye, but another type of interference which is invisible and a huge pain to IT pros: RF interference.
802.11 technology has made the overall performance and reliability of WLAN networks much more suitable for daily enterprise use. Despite this, the invisible culprit, radio frequency (RF) interference, causes issues.
RF interference can be caused by any device that emits electromagnetic signals. Examples of devices that emit these signals are:
At least a couple of these devices can be found in almost any enterprise organization that has WLAN networks. Due to the underlying technology, even 802.11n access points themselves can be a source of RF interference.
Fortunately, many access points and network management tools like Cisco PRIME allow IT admins to identify the sources of interference.
If your WLAN router has antennas, the positioning of them can make a huge difference when it comes to the strength and reliability of your wireless signal within your network. Some wireless AP manufacturers will suggest a preferred way to position your antennas, but we typically have encountered the following types of configurations during wireless audits:
On 2.4GHz networks, we’ve seen the perpendicular antenna configuration to be the most optimal. On 5GHz channels, we’ve seen that anything but the flat configuration seems to perform well.
The point is that your WLAN antenna configuration is just one potential way to tweak your network hardware to increase the signal strength and reliability.
Hardware issues are another major contributing factor to poor WiFi performance on large WLANs. More specifically, the two most common hardware issues we see affecting WLAN performance are having the wrong number of access points, or having outdated firmware.
Deciding on the number of access points your network needs can be tricky. This design issue can be challenging for even the most seasoned WLAN architects. Also, power configuration and channel selection can make the architectural decision-making process more complex. There is no straightforward answer to this issue. The type, number, and configuration of your WLAN’s routers, controllers, and access points will depend on the size and demands on your network.
From a business perspective, choosing the right mix can also be pricey. Overall, doing your due diligence into the architecture of your WLAN’s hardware is a crucial step.
In addition to power configuration and channel selection, firmware updates can have a major effect on your WLAN performance. Security updates and bug fixes are addressed in firmware updates, and sometimes a coordinated and updated plan is all that is needed to fix wireless signal and performance issues.
Sometimes, firmware updates can address security issues. However, many security protections need more than just a hardware update to fix, especially when it comes to protecting sensitive data.
Common wireless issues that we’ve seen include, but are not limited to:
On large enterprise networks where there is a mixture of both public and private networks with a variety of different user types, security configuration can be very complex, but it’s a necessary task.
At a minimum, we recommend WPA2 as the preferred type of wireless security protocol for authentication. WPA2 is relatively more secure than its counterpart options. For large networks and enterprises, external firewalls, endpoint protection, anti-virus, and malware protection, and even network access control solutions like Cisco, ISE should be a standard in WLAN architecture and design.
Larger and more complex networks often need more than simple tweaks to increase wireless performance, reliability, and security. If you do not have the resources internally to run a full wireless audit, then we recommend experimenting with the following things until you can fully diagnose and fix the cause of your WLAN issues:
Having issues with your WLAN? Our team of experienced engineers routinely travels nationwide to help companies diagnose and solve their wireless networking issues. Reach out to one of our engineers today to schedule a wireless network audit – 734-408-0200.
