In modern workplaces, a fast and secure internet connection is just as important as electricity, as everything depends on uninterrupted internet access, be it cloud-based collaboration tools, video conferencing, emails, or file-sharing. Despite the internet being so important for modern workplaces, many offices still suffer from slow internet speeds, weak signals, and frequent disconnections because of poor WiFi setup.
If you are setting up a new office WiFi network or upgrading an existing one, there are some common mistakes that you should avoid so that you can save your time, money, and a lot of frustration.
1. Poor Router Placement
One of the most common mistakes that people make, not in their homes but also in offices, is that they place their router in a poor location. Poor router placement is one of the most common yet overlooked mistakes that can harm the quality of the Wi-Fi network. Many people tuck Wi-Fi routers away in server closets, under desks, or inside cabinets to keep them out of the way, but this ends up doing more harm than good.
Placing a router in a closed space or behind anything can obstruct and weaken the signal. The farther a device is from the router, the slower and less reliable the connection becomes. To prevent this, it is recommended to place the router in a central and open location in an office, and if possible, mount it on a wall or ceiling for best coverage.
2. Not Using Business-Grade Router
Having a business-grade router is recommended to get the best possible performance from your router, but unfortunately, many people have consumer-grade routers that cannot simply match the demands of a busy workplace. Offices typically have dozens of connected devices simultaneously, and consumer-grade routers aren’t powerful enough to handle this load effectively.
To prevent this issue, invest in a business-grade router that is designed for commercial environments and ensure that the router has features like band steering, MU-MIMO, and load balancing accessible on the admin panel, like http://tplinkmodem.net, to improve performance across multiple devices.
3. Ignoring Network Security Settings
Ignoring network security settings is something that you should never do in an office setting because your WiFi network is a prime target for hackers and malicious actors. Unfortunately, many people still use the default admin username and password, outdated encryption methods, and weak passwords for WiFi networks.
Ignoring network security settings or employing poor settings can put your business at risk of data theft, malware infections, unauthorised access to internal files and devices, and compliance violations. To fix this, immediately change the default admin login as you set up your Telstra Smart Modem or any other WiFi router, enable WPA3 encryption, turn on the router’s built-in firewall, and set up a separate guest network.
4. Overloading a Single Access Point
Overloading your WiFi router is something that you should also avoid because even a high-quality router cannot support unlimited devices. Overloading a single access point leads to network congestion during peak office hours, slow speeds, dropped connections, and frustrated employees.
To fix this issue, make sure that you deploy multiple access points strategically across the office, use a mesh WiFi system (if possible), separate traffic using Virtual LANs, and configure Quality of Service (QoS) settings to prioritise important applications on the network like VoIP, video conferencing, file transfer, etc.
5. Not Planning for Future Expansion
In an office setting, you should always have scalability in mind because you never know when you might need an expansion. In a home setting, you can set up any router you want, but in an office, scalability is important because when your office doubles in size, adopts new cloud tools, or introduces more devices, then you will need a scalable connection that can accommodate more devices.
For this purpose, it is important that you choose scalable networking hardware that allows you to readily add access points or expand bandwidth instead of starting from scratch so that you can easily accommodate growth.
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