Fix your WiFi network!

Sluggish WiFi performance? Dropped WLAN connections? Full bars but no connection? What is it? Do you need professional help?

WiFi has become a necessity. In the modern office mobility is a requirement and cords are a nuisance. Unfortunately many WiFi networks don’t fill the bill. Either the network is underpowered or it has design flaws that hinder its use. Even if you do get connected, the data transfer is too slow or intermittent to be useful.

The basic steps in WiFi consultation:

  • Requirements analysis: What is the network used for? How many users? What kinds of devices? How much data bandwidth? How large is the required coverage area?
  • Environmental analysis: How does the building construction affect radio coverage? What interference sources are there? What kind of networks are already in use nearby? Which bands and channels are optimal?
  • Access point placement: Where to place the access points for optimal performance? How to provide power to the access points?
  • Tuning: Channel planning, transmit power settings, SSIDs, VLANs
  • Security: WPA2 Personal or Enterprise according to the requirements analysis
  • Validation: Verifying that everything works as planned and meets the requirements

In Finland please ask for a quote: petri.riihikallio@metis.fi or call 0400 505 939

Petri Riihikallio is certified:

The first and so far only Certified Wireless Network Expert (CWNE#307) or vendor neutral Wi-Fi expert in Finland. In addition to CWNE there are numerous vendor certifications like:

  • Ekahau ECSE Design
  • Aruba Certified Mobility Professional (ACMP) v8
  • Aruba Certified Design Professional (ACDP)
  • Cisco Certified Network Associate Wireless (CCNA)
  • LigoWave Point-to-Point (LPTP-2)
  • LigoWave Point-to-Multi-Point (LDLB-2)
  • LigoWave Infinity (LNFT-2)
  • MikroTik Certified Network Administrator (MTCNA)
  • MikroTik Certified Wireless Engineer (MTCWE)
  • Ubiquiti Enterprise Wireless Administrator (UEWA-V2)
  • Ubiquiti Broadband Wireless Administrator (UBWA-V2)
  • Wireshark Certified Network Analyst (WCNA)

You can also study these subject yourself. Below are a few introductory articles.

Transmitter

8 reasons to turn down the transmit power of your Wi-Fi

By default almost all WiFi access points transmit at full power (100mW on 2.4GHz). This gives maximum coverage and users see a good signal (“full bars”). However, there are good reasons to turn down the transmit power to a fraction of the maximum.

Wi-Fi symbol

Automatic Wi-Fi channel management

Most Wi-Fi systems have some kind of automatic setting for selecting the channel. Systems with a central controller have advanced RRM or Radio Resource Management solutions. The promise is to optimize channel selection, transmit power levels and other settings. Can you trust this automation?

CWNE#307, Petri Riihikallio

I am the first Certified Wireless Network Expert in Finland. I was certified in February 2019. This article is about CWNE and how I got into this.

Decibels

In Wi-Fi world you are bound to come across decibels. Yet they confuse many of us. Sound is measured in decibels, but Wi-Fi? And what about those negative numbers? How can a signal be negative?

Lock logo

How secure is your WiFi?

Do you have a shared password to the WiFi network? When was it last changed? Hasn’t anyone left the company since?

Wi-Fi logo

Tuning your Wi-Fi by adjusting transfer rates

In most Wi-Fi systems you can disable the slowest transfer rates. This is typically done to improve efficiency since the transfers at slower rates eat up limited air time. This can backfire however with unexpected results.

Radar

What are WiFi DFS frequencies and should I care?

The regulatory bodies are now strict about DFS requirements on WiFi access points. This applies to both new devices and updates to old ones. A simple firmware update may cause a lengthy delay before the network is operable.

Wi-Fi Roaming

Roaming or switching from one access point to the next is a common source of confusion. Technically Wi-Fi roaming is the opposite of the cellular network. Wi-Fi access points are passive and the client devices choose which access point they want to use and when to switch, if they switch. What are the consequences?

WiFi 2.4 GHz

WiFi 2.4GHz band

The original Wi-Fi (also known as 802.11) used the 2.4GHz band. It is still the more popular band since virtually all devices support it. That makes it more crowded and it is also more prone to interference than the alternative 5GHz band.

WiFi 5GHz band and wide channels

On 5GHz WiFi there are more channels and less interference, both are important for fast wireless communications. The bandwidth can even be increased multifold by combining channels.

WiFi heat maps

It is fairly easy to create a heat map of a WiFi network that shows the signal level across the coverage area. What’s the use, what’s the benefit of surveying and is it worth paying for?

WPA3 is the latest Wi-Fi Protected Access

Wireless communication is easy to intercept if you are within range. Good security measures are a must. Wi-Fi security has evolved from WEP to WPA, to WPA2 and now to forthcoming WPA3. What will change?