Connectivity issues can damage your company dynamics. You have probably suffered from slow, intermittent and unsafe connections. If you want to get rid of them, you can use different tools. It’s time for you to get to know them.
In companies, the demands around quality internet connection have clearly increased in the last months. The health crisis and its consequences, such as the increase in cyberattacks, are responsible for this current situation.
According to the Digital 2020 report, published by We Are Social, 42 billion people connect to the internet every day, spending an average of 6 hours online. This connection demand had its peak during the lockdown.
At the end of 2020, record-breaking traffic growth was recorded, surpassing the highest registered mark, dating from 1995. This is because, at the end of last year, year-on-year traffic increased by 27%. In November, a peak of 10.3 terabits per second was recorded. This data was collected by researchers from DE-CIX, the world’s leading operator of Internet exchange points.
Optimizing connectivity in this scenario is quite a challenge. A challenge that has been faced by governments and telecommunications companies of all sizes, from large multinationals to SMEs.
What can companies do to enjoy a quality internet connection maintaining productivity levels in a safe way? In this article, we give you the key points to do it.
The main internet connection issues in companies
Each work scenario has its own peculiarities. Still, we have identified a number of common issues in the process to make connectivity meet business demands. In addition, a good internet connection is also related to greater cybersecurity and protection of business data.
Many WiFi networks tend to saturate by high competition between devices that try to take over the network resources. A situation that gets worse if your company often receive visits who connect to your WiFi network.
Signal problems frequently appear in offices and work facilities. These problems are usually caused by deficient range radius and the presence of elements that lower the signal intensity, such as walls, other devices or metal structures.
On the other hand, there are companies with infrastructures that must be renewed with devices that support the latest technologies for wired and wireless connections (such as high-speed fibre optics and the Wi-Fi 6E standard). An infrastructure renovation may not be as expensive as it may seem.
Finally, we must not forget the problems in the connections that arise as a result of the interferences suffered by the presence of other nearby WiFi networks; as well as from companies that work with outdated network firmware and, therefore, ineffective and unsafe.
How to improve your company WiFi connection
There are several options that will enhance the level of your company’s internet connection. These solutions require having appropriate software and suitable hardware.
Let’s start with the software. This is where the concept of Software-Defined WiFi comes into play. With this paradigm, the features of the access points to your network will be multiplied. Basically, software and hardware are kept separate so that new alternatives for network management can be provided. In this way, management will suit each environment.
From Galgus, we offer companies the benefits of Software-Defined WiFi with CHT technology (Cognitive Hotspot Technology). With it, you will have a much faster and strong connection.
To take full advantage of it, we also have the Cloud Manager tool, which you can use to remotely manage your network. Thanks to this solution you will be able to:
- Define radio parameters, SSID and VLAN’s.
- Update the firmware of all access points from one place.
- Monitoring of valuable data, such as the use of the network, its status, detection of patterns and the definition of alerts.
- Establish location data of network users, creating heat maps.
- Design the distribution of the access points, based on the graphical representation of the signal range on a map.
If we talk about physical infrastructure, there are several devices that will improve your company’s internet connection. Among these alternatives, we can highlight the access points.
In large business centres, it is convenient to distribute access points in strategic locations. Why? First, because it’s difficult for the router signal to reach every point of the workplace, so it’s necessary to deliver it to every access point by using wires. The access points will generate a WiFi network to connect to.
Also because in this way, connections will be distributed between the access points. This avoids having all the devices connected to the same router.
Other interesting products are switches, which are capable of interconnecting large numbers of devices within the same network. You can also use converters, which make it easy to transition from copper to fibre optic cabling without having to invest in a new cable network.
The choice of antennas that direct the wireless signal in the right direction; the use of UTM firewalls that bring together multiple cybersecurity functionalities, and the ability to establish a guest network are also good choices for optimizing connectivity and for protection.
Fortunately, as you have seen, you have options to improve your company’s connection. Depending on how your environment is, physically and in terms of use, some will be more useful than others. Therefore, we recommend you analyze your company’s situation before making a choice.
At Galgus we offer you the appropriate hardware and software resources so that you can take full advantage of your business activities without the need to worry about network access.
