Ad Image

Why Building Layout Matters to Wireless Signal Strength

Essential Practices for Channel Planning

architecture-house-blueprint-l-3da41f2b495329a5

When it comes to your business’s Wi-Fi infrastructure there are a lot of things to consider: from the solution provider to where you place your routers. But what about the building itself? It’s often overlooked, but it is important to consider how conducive a building is to the wireless network, especially if you’re planning on relocating, rearranging your office or building a new home for your business.

Even though it doesn’t seem like it, the way and office is laid out matters, not in a feng shui kind of way, but for your wireless signal. things like the way cubical walls are placed can block signal for employees in certain parts of the office, and building a designated place for your router before checking to see if it’s the right place can give you slow internet speed that will take time to fix.

Putting an access point in an alcove next to a metallic fixture will slow down your wireless signal. You’re going to want your access point to be centralized to the people who are going to be accessing it and it usually does better for it to be higher off the ground. If an employee is in a cubical and is obstructed from the router by more than one wall or cube wall, they will most likely not get as strong as a signal than if the access point was up higher there it is virtually unobstructed.

Having problems with the placement of access points and wiring that has to do with how the building is arranged or built is a much harder problem to correct than just implementing the wrong solution or having something technical go wrong because it involves physically moving things around the office or in extreme cases, moving locations. Disrupting everyone’s productivity to fix wireless signal takes time and you may not always get it right on the first move.

It’s important to consult with your wireless solution provider, your IT department and the architect or professional in charge of the move to make sure that with your new setup, you’re getting the best wireless speeds for ally our employees everywhere in the building. Most architects will bring this up to you when planning a building. but it’s important to keep this concern on your list when in the consulting process.

 

wireless guide coverFor information on the top 802.11ac solutions, check out our latest Buyer’s Guide:

  • Easy, side-by-side comparison of the top 802.11ac wireless vendors
  • Descriptions of each solution and their strengths
  • Important questions to ask yourself and potential vendors when considering a solution
  • Market overview of the current 802.11ac wireless space
Download Now

Share This

Related Posts