Building and maintaining an enterprise Wi-Fi system requires a delicate balance between conflicting objectives. That is unrestricted user browsing experience and protection against cybersecurity threats. Without a good enterprise wireless network, this might lead to the positioning of Sophos Firewall in Kenya as a gateway.
When planning wireless network installation, ordinary network users would look at only two factors. The number of concurrent user connections and the radius of signal coverage in terms of meters. Versus the cost of acquiring the wireless network device. When in fact, there are critical features that must be present in a good wireless access point device.
Wi-Fi technology has evolved so much so that what was considered cutting edge a few years back is only but a basic feature. For instance, with artificial intelligence getting into networking. Therefore, wireless access points have been designed in such a way they will be able to detect the direction of logged-in clients. Hence, the enterprise Wi-Fi system directs its signals towards the direction where the users are located.
The signal consolidation technology improves connectivity instead of dispersing the signals all over. Furthermore, signal redirection technology has been known to boost client connectivity and internet speeds.
Below, we offer a summarized guide on what to look for when thinking of installing a reliable wireless network for your business.
Enterprise Wireless Network Features
User protection and data integrity
An enterprise-grade Wi-Fi system must have a captive portal. The captive portal acts as a gatekeeper to the corporate network. A captive portal is basically the login page that every user has to enter their login credentials. The logins define the rights allowing the user access to the network resources.
The captive portal page was designed as a form security measure for authenticating every user in a network. Through this web service, a client user and a guest user will be granted different levels of access rights. Still, this is another method for checking unauthorized access that can compromise network security.
In the same way, the ability to support a VPN connection remains a key consideration when setting up a wireless network for a workplace environment. This is because VPN networks provide the most secure way for linking one private network to another.
see; biometric access control systems.
Device installation and deployment
Following the advancement in networking technology, most Wi-Fi devices are designed with inbuilt PoE capability. This means that the wireless access point will be powered via an Ethernet cable connected to a PoE-enabled network switch. This reduces the need to additional run electrical wiring to wherever the wireless access point is installed.
By simplifying device installation, a company will be guaranteed a clean installation even as savings are made in terms of installation costs. All these savings can be directed to other more critical business functions.
Installation can be made even easier if the Wi-Fi device has IP66 certification. The certification is an assurance that the wireless device can be installed for outdoor use. For the IP66 certified Wi-Fi devices tend to be resistant to weather elements like the rain or scorching sun.
Interconnectivity between the Wi-Fi devices
Most medium and large businesses have two or three wireless access points installed within the premises. At some point during the day, the employees might move from one workstation to another. There should be no need for re-authentication for an already logged in user. The interconnectedness between the Wi-Fi devices ensures that the employees will always be online.
By assuring users of 100% connectivity when in a different Wi-Fi zone, organizations will benefit from mobility. Additionally, employees can still benefit from IP PBX System mobility features including the use of VoIP softphone apps.
Even more, by enabling interconnectivity between access points, a form of network redundancy will be created. In the event that one access point drops the connection, the other access points will still support users’ internet connectivity until it comes back up.
Enterprise Wi-Fi system management
Technology is fast-moving towards centralized management of IT resources. So is enterprise wireless network management. The best setup comes with an inbuilt controller for easy management of several wireless access points from a single platform. Apart from the local management controller, most vendors have cloud management accounts to facilitate remote management of access points.
A wired network has VLANs for segregating the network. Likewise, the wireless network there should be VLANs. The VLANs are usually in the form of SSIDs. At the bare minimum, a good access point should offer at least 8 SSIDs; the higher the number the better.
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