+39 02 8718 8553 sales@tanaza.com

How to build a reliable Wi-Fi network for offices

by Jul 10, 2017Classic Hotspot, Cloud Management, WiFi Networks

office
The Internet literally revolutionised the way companies work, communication is now easier than ever, information is shared in a blink of an eye and cloud applications for business management are proliferating. We have all faced an internet disconnections in the office and been stuck, unable to work.

That is why having a reliable Wi-Fi network in an office is something fundamental.

 

When deploying a WLAN at your offices, there are two main points that you should consider: the infrastructure of the network and the management of Wi-Fi access for employees.

 

The network infrastructure

First of all, you need to receive internet from an internet service provider, choosing the offer wisely according to your bandwidth needs. Consider that the number of users and the level of usage will define your needs in Mbps.

 

Example:

  • Tanaza’s sales & marketing offices: 20 employees, high usage of the internet, 200 Mbps.
  • For 50 employees, high usage of internet (video streaming and VoIP calls), consider 600 Mbps – 1 Gbps.

 

Once you have determined the quantity of bandwidth needed, now comes time to choose the hardware.
There are currently many vendors on the hardware market, and each access point has its own characteristics regarding design and performances.

Regarding the aesthetic of the access point, it is better to opt for ceiling mountable access points that can be installed almost everywhere and don’t occupy space on desks. Eventually, if you want to cover a little garden or any outside area, you will also need an outdoor access point, otherwise, use indoor access points for your offices.
The Ubiquiti AC series (like UAP-AC-Pro, UniFi LR or UniFi Lite) access points or the LigoWave Infinity series can answer to your needs for your offices.
Last but not least, access points like from EnGenius fit perfectly for this kind of deployment, consider to use 3 of them for an open space with 50 employees

 

Management of the Wi-Fi access for employees

 

Having a free internet access is necessary for little tasks at work like answering to emails, send files through DropBox or Google Drive, communicate with customers using Skype and much more. But a Wi-Fi network has to be configured to secure and regulate its access.

A cloud management platform for a Wi-Fi network is the best option because you can modify and configure the network from any device, at any time and in any place. You can decide whether to ask a managed service provider to manage your network or to do it on your own.
Tanaza is a multi-vendor software that allows you to manage your Wi-Fi network easily and remotely, from the cloud.

With Tanaza, the network administrator has the possibility to restrict the number of devices per user, control the status of the access points in real-time, and receive automatic emails in case of troubleshooting. Managing a network becomes something really easy and scalable for the network administrator that has access to all kinds of settings right at his fingertips.

When deploying a WLAN within offices, the network administrator can simply configure different SSIDs protected with a password.
For example, the administrator can configure one SSID for the IT staff of the building and another one for the employees. Both require a password to access the Wi-Fi.

The role of the network administrator is also to control the Wi-Fi usage. You don’t want your employees to have access to inappropriate websites while they are at work or to spend too much time on social media sites, like Facebook. For this reason, Tanaza developed a content filtering feature to monitor the network usage and allow you to set up your own rules.

One typical configuration of your Wi-Fi network could be to block the access to all websites like pornography, violence, betting, online games, video streaming etc.
You could also decide to block social media access from 9 am to 1 pm, authorise it during the lunch break and block it again on the afternoon. The platform of this tool has already its own blacklists that are automatically updated.

The content filtering tool is easy to use and flexible to all businesses: it can be used as a real parental control and blocks malware internet pages.

The content filtering is fundamental for your office ‘s Wi-Fi network.

 

Related articles:

3 RF basics you should know to better design your WLAN

Why Tanaza does not make you pay per concurrent users or splash page views

https://www.classichotspot.com/blog/top-3-liabilities-wi-fi-hotspot-providers-offering-free-wi-fi/