Wireless Network Management: 3 Best Practices for Enterprises
Running an enterprise network isn’t easy. From the initial designing and planning stage to the final installation and operation phases, companies need to pay attention to their network’s performance, efficiency, and availability. Managing your networks allows your enterprise to fully keep an eye on your networks, and wireless networks are no exception to this. For businesses, wireless network management gives them insights into how their wireless communications are functioning.
Network teams can implement a series of tools and practices in order to fulfill these management tasks. Without a thought out wireless network management policy in place, your enterprise can’t expect its wireless network to run properly. Part of an effective wireless management strategy is implementing a series of best practices that help your enterprise effectively manage their network. Read on to discover three wireless network management best practices that your company needs to adopt.
Full wireless network visibility
The first step in every network management policy is ensuring you have full visibility into your network’s operations. This encompasses not just knowing and tracking every area of your network, but also having a complete view of the various factors that the network can be affected by. Security, performance, signal strength, and bandwidth usage, among other things, need to be documented and observed by the network management team.
To gain this visibility, network teams need to implement a multi-layered approach to monitoring, performance tracking, and signal testing. Wireless networks allow anybody with a compatible device to connect to the network, and they don’t need to be right next to the network’s cables in order to do so. Thus, wireless management extends beyond the network’s infrastructure and must also be able to detect and oversee any devices connected to the network.
Troubleshooting network issues
Wireless network management doesn’t stop at determining whether or not the network is currently working. Enterprises also need a system in place to check their network for any possible network issues that arise. This system could be a network tool, such as a network performance monitor (NPM). This tool constantly checks the network for problems that currently are – or could in the future – bringing network performance down. You also need to be able to troubleshoot any problem on your network, including diagnosing the issue and removing the issue, or at least stopping it in its tracks.
Wireless security management
Of all the problems that affect wireless networks, security is definitely the most important to manage. Because any wireless device can connect to the network, your network is at risk to hazardous devices that can send harmful data across your infrastructure. Implementing protocols that promote wireless security, such as data encryption and authentication, helps your enterprise effectively manage the safety of your network.
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