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TROUBLESHOOTING PERFORMANCE IN HEALTHCARE ENVIRONMENTS
Introduction
Healthcare IT is unique compared to other enterprise verticals for a few key reasons . The heavy reliance of wired copper and fiber optic connections combined with clinical , patient and guest Wi-Fi needs means that IT operations ( ITOps ) staff must be ready to quickly troubleshoot and resolve network access and performance issues at a moment ’ s notice . As a result , troubleshooting a healthcare network requires an extra bit of effort and the right troubleshooting and analysis tools . This Top Tips brief will examine six unique cable / Wi-Fi troubleshooting scenarios that are common in healthcare settings .
Guest WiFi
These days , when patients and guests visit a healthcare facility , easy access to guest Wi-Fi services is expected . In areas of a healthcare IT campus where patients and visitors are frequent , the reliance of guest Wi-Fi is much higher compared to most typical enterprise offices . Healthcare ITOps staff must be prepared to field larger numbers of trouble tickets where patients / visitors are having problems connecting to or receiving sufficient latency / bandwidth from the guest Wi-Fi network .
Due to the fluid nature of wireless propagation and the high likelihood of external interference causing wireless performance problems in the 2.4 , 5 and 6GHz unlicensed spectrum ranges , these IT administrators need access to a portable tool to connect to the guest Wi-Fi network in problematic locations . Depending on the reported guest Wi-Fi issue , ITOps staff may be required to :
• Connect to the guest Wi-Fi network to verify signal strength using calculated dBM values ;
• Run ping / traceroute tests ;
• Ensure that roaming between Wi-Fi access points is functioning as intended ;
• Verify that DHCP / DNS services are working properly ; and Perform throughput stress tests to verify that sufficient bandwidth is available
Multi-gig Wired Ethernet Connectivity at The Access Layer
Healthcare IT equipment such as medical imaging devices and the use of electronic health records ( EHR )
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