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ALI BENHADDOU , NETWORK SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT , ALCATEL-LUCENT ENTERPRISE
EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
Wi-Fi is no longer a nice-to-have , but a business necessity and expectations of what it can deliver and how easy it should be to use for mobility , are being continuously redefined .
The deploying complexity comes from the multiple aspects involved in building a reliable Wi-Fi solution . The first challenge is related to addressing the individual needs of the business and implementing a scalable design providing high speed connectivity with optimal radio coverage built on the latest technologies , insuring the right performance and high availability . The solution needs to be user-centric , easy to connect and provide a secure user experience for employees and guests .
With the Internet of Things ( IoT ) proliferation trend that the market is currently seeing , it has become necessary for the WLAN networks to be ‘ IoT ready ’ providing mechanisms for the IoTs identification and secure containment on the network .
Consequently , having the right management and analytics tools are also key to guarantee the best quality of service , monitor and control applications to help manage and drive strategic business decisions .
Wi-Fi for guests
Providing an easy , secure and fast Wi-Fi for visitors has clearly a direct impact on the customer satisfaction and the business processes optimisation . In addition to providing connectivity for web browsing and social media access , it also enables holistic digital engagement with customers , specifically for those companies embracing the Digital Transformation .
Visitors Wi-Fi has become a critical tool for any business with sometimes direct impact on their revenues . In the hospitality and healthcare sectors for example , a highspeed wireless Internet access is even a key differentiator . Customer data collected while onboarding the guest Wi-Fi and implementing location based services ( LBS ) on top of the WLAN infrastructure helps in connecting better with visitors , understand their behaviour , enhancing the proposed services and optimising the processes . This data could also be leveraged in marketing campaigns to create new revenue streams .
As rapid growth in data use and high bandwidth applications are placing strain on existing networks , it is vital for organisations to deploy Wi-Fi technologies / standards that enhance performance and avoid user frustrations .
Obviously the 802.11x standard , commonly known as Wi-Fi 6 , benefits both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands as it has been developed specifically to solve the main wireless connectivity challenges . Wi-Fi 6 is designed for the lower-latency and bandwidth hungry applications , offering network services for real-time audio and video . In addition , it supports user experience in the denser environment thus maintaining network connectivity for the users in highly populated areas and support for the IoT proliferation .
Succeeding in deploying a Wi-Fi network in an enterprise environment depends on achieving properly its design , planning and maintenance . Common mistakes seen in the field are usually linked to omitting or not adequately conducting the required tasks and activities . This can range from bad site surveys or no surveys at all , wrong capacity planning regarding the number of users and the supported types of applications especially for the high-density areas , failing to develop the right security strategy related to implementing the latest standards , access control policies and intrusion prevention .
Choosing the right WLAN solution vendor is also very important as the selected solution needs to fit the environment and the industry where it should be deployed . www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO
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