As with so many technological things, something that starts off on a big scale, slims down for the everyday. It wasn’t that long ago that wireless mesh networking was was used to span cityscapes; now it can be found in homes, helping signal to reach games consoles and tablets in your loft and basement.

You might find yourself seeing mesh networking everywhere, but is it always the right choice? Hopefully this blog will help you understand why and when your business would need to use wireless mesh networking. And if it doesn’t, well you can just give our Wi-Fi experts a call instead!

 

What Actually is Wireless Mesh Networking?

Mesh is one of those great words that depicts a picture of what is it perfectly. If you imagine access points (APs) all connected to each other, drawing lines from AP to AP to AP etc, the interconnections between each one starts to look like a woven mesh. You could even think of it as a safety net – an analogy that will pop up again later!

APs are attached to the wired network, whereas devices talk to APs wirelessly. APs use that cable connection to send data to switches for distribution (also known as backhauling data). An AP that is connected by a wire is a root AP. In a situation when an AP doesn’t have a wired connection, for example if it loses it, it can then operate as a mesh AP. This it connects wirelessly to another AP for backhauling.

You might be wondering why we don’t just eliminate as much cabling as possible and connect all AP’s wirelessly. The reason for that is when an AP is working in mesh mode, there is a performance penalty. So generally, the rule is wire wherever you can, and mesh where you must.

 

Optimise Your Connections with Wireless Mesh Networking

Unfortunately, not all APs are able to transform from a root AP to a mesh AP well. To form a proper mesh, a certain amount of intelligence is required. The Wi-Fi environment is a dynamic one, and one where the best connections can’t be predetermined. In mesh AP mode, an AP needs to be able to search for and assess every AP to pick the optimal AP mesh partner when working in mesh. If an AP loses its cable connection, it has an instant to determine which AP to mesh with in the blink of an eye.

Imagine there’s a little WLAN engineer inside every AP. It determines which AP to mesh with using the same data, variables and calculations that an experienced WLAN engineer would use. Algorithms enable APs to collect data, analyse options, and make the best mesh connection.

 

Make your Wi-Fi More Resilient with Wireless Mesh Networking

Mesh networking is a firm choice for those looking for Wi-Fi resiliency. At the start we mentioned the mesh being like a safety net – This mesh technology hass reat back up capability should there be any disrutions in the wired network.

Take a look at whether your APs have a check box saying ‘Enable Mesh’ when configuring your network. This can be found in either an on-premises controller or a cloud based Wi-Fi dashboard. Once checked, each AP in your network should be able to transform to a mesh AP from a root AP if needed, and vice versa when it detects that the wired connection is restored.

 

The best mesh technology is self-organising, self-optimising, and self-healing, so you have the confidence to just leave it to it.

3 questions you should be asking if trying to implement this type of network are:
– Do your APs support mesh? How easy is it to configure?
– Do all of your APs have integrated mesh technology?
– Does the mesh automatically configure itself? Can it self-heal if an AP fails?

The answer you want is YES! To learn more about wireless mesh networking, give our Wi-Fi experts a call.

Incase you’re wondering what both of these things are… Wi-Fi bridges and Wi-Fi mesh are both instead of physical cabling.

You might be a bit disappointed to know that the magic of Wi-Fi isn’t all up in the air – Access points (APs) need to finish in a wired connection. While the end users may be free to roam free with Wi-Fi, APs prefer to be a cabled.

However it might not always be possible to run a physical cable to connect to an AP. It might be that there’s no actual access, or it could be that there is an option but it’s too expensive. And that’s where Wi-Fi bridges and Wi-Fi mesh come in – They fill the gap! Well, the air actually.

Sometimes it’s super apparent which one is the best choice, and other times it’s a bit of a smackdown in the bridge vs mesh arena.

So here are some points to consider in the wireless-to-wireless connection contest.

(It’s also worth noting that sometimes there’s a bit of confusion here with Wi-Fi extenders too. These are closely related to a repeater or booster and are designed to amplify Wi-FI signal strength so that it can be extended past it’s reach).

 

What is a Wi-Fi Bridge?

Here are the basic things to know about a wireless bridge or wireless Ethernet bridge (so-named because the bridge replaces Ethernet cabling):

• A Wi-Fi bridge is an appliance with one purpose. It’s set up in a fixed configuration, for example, point to point. Bridges tend to be used outdoors, but that’s not to say you can’t use bridging from an outdoor location to an indoor one. An example of where this might be useful is a warehouse where spanning the whole thing would make cabling cost-prohibitive).
• In general, a bridge is designed specifically to span greater distances and carry more data through the air compared to mesh technology.
• In physical terms, a Wi-Fi bridge looks a bit like an AP and is a RF device just like an AP too. However, they’re not people oriented, can’t talk to Wi-Fi clients and where they lack people skills they make up for it by making up for it on their mission to transport data wirelessly.
• A bridge can be segmented to support multiple networks. You can use VLANs to separate and secure traffic over a Wi-Fi bridge.

 

What is Wi-Fi Mesh?

In essence, Wi-Fi mesh technology does the same thing as Wi-Fi bridges. They do the same thing but are very different – A bit like saying you can watch movies at a cinema as well as on a tablet. You use them for the same thing, but they’re really rather different.

Mesh technology will wirelessly connect an AP to a cabled AP. But here’s how it handles the task:

• Mesh is enabled or disabled inside your AP. You can check whether it’s a standard feature or not. On those where it is featured, you can make mesh available by just clicking “Enable Mesh” on the on-premises controller or if it has one, a cloud-based Wi-Fi dashboard.
• Mesh is people-oriented: Because mesh is actually inside an AP, clients and devices can still talk to the AP. So mesh is more of a multipurpose solution than a bridge. So for example, perhaps you’re having an outdoor event like a school fete and you have a vendor that needs a Wi-Fi connection. Mesh would be the best decision here as you can create a connection between the cabled AP and the uncabled AP across the field.
• Using a bridge wouldn’t really be worth it just for something temporary, and it also doesn’t talk to user devices.
• One of the downsides however, is when you use mesh there is a performance penalty for the root AP because it’s backhauling the data from the uncabled AP, supporting other mesh APs and devices, etc. So while visitors to the fete might get the benefits of using the vendors Wi-Fi hotspot, the performance wouldn’t be as great as without mesh being in use.
• Mesh is dynamic but not divisible. Mesh networks can form dynamically in the event that an AP in a network loses its wired connection. But you can’t separate the bandwidth of a mesh connection with VLANs.

 

So Which One is Right for Your Wi-Fi Deployment?

Perhaps the best bit about mesh is that it’s built into your APs, so you have it at your disposal whenever you need it. And if needed, adding bridges is pretty straightforward too. If you’re still not sure which to use and when, then why not give our Wi-Fi experts a call here at Geekabit and we can run a couple of planning scenarios to determine which would be best for you. And we can install it too!

Are you familiar with the laws of physics? Maybe, maybe not. We’re talking specifically electromagnetism – The same laws that govern mobile phones and radio waves also govern Wi-Fi which means that there are particular elements that are predictable.

Here we’re going to aim to clear up 3 misconceptions about capacity, interference and roaming.

Myth #1 – Capacity: Higher capacity means an AP talks to more devices at the same time

First things first – How many devices can an access point actually talk to at one time? The answer is one.

How then does an AP appear to be talking to many devices concurrently, and how do some AP’s support greater capacity than other AP’s?

Imagine you’re out on a Saturday night, sitting in a busy pub, music’s blaring, and you’re trying to keep up with the conversation next to you and across the table. You can never quite make out what everyone is saying can you? You’re trying to follow everyone’s conversations but end up missing the main bits of all of them because you’re trying to do it all at once.

So imagine now that the AP is at the pub, they’re sat at the table nodding, appearing like they’re talking to everyone at the same time (everyone being devices). An AP is like the ulimate socialite – They look like they’re talking to everyone at once but what they’re actually doing is listening or talking to each device in turn at superhuman speed.

They interact with one, and then move on to the next. All the conversations between the AP and the device are based on the assumption that they will be brief ‘conversations’ or interactions. A device requests to connect – Done. A device requests to download – Done. A request to upload – done.

While it might seem like they’re talking to them all at once, they are actually not in continuous contact – They interact and then move onto the next. Constant, super quick interactions.

 

Myth #2 – Interference: Add more APs to get more capacity

One of the pluses of knowing the laws of physics when it comes to Wi-Fi, is you can be confident in what your Wi-Fi designer is telling you is right.
For example, you don’t want them telling you that putting two AP’s close together will increase capacity.

As we just explained, devices have to wait their turn to speak to an AP. If two are sharing the same channel, then they’re going to create interference rather than extra capacity. You could have 2 AP’s or 2 dozen, but if they’re all on the same channel then only one will be able to transmit at any given time.

 

Myth 3 – Roaming: AP’s drop their signal

What it comes down to is this: AP’s are cleverer than devices.

AP’s don’t sit there saying ‘Hey! You! Disconnect from that AP, and connect to me now!’

Unfortunately, it’s the device that’s in charge of roaming, and they just don’t have the smarts that AP’s do. They’re a bit clumsy when it comes to disconnecting from one AP and connecting to another, and that’s where dead spots come in.

Obviously roaming is a wonderful feature, but not during those hand-off periods. Devices tend to desperately hang on to that connection until it gets really bad, before looking for the next one. What you really need is the smartest AP technology, where it tells your device to just let it go and enables the device to find a stronger signal before the current one goes bad.

 

The best bit about dispelling myths about Wi-Fi is not only that it helps you avoid mistakes in design, but also helps you appreciate smart wireless network designs and installations. You can rely on the laws of physics for better Wi-Fi, and you can also rely on Geekabit.

Give one of our Wi-Fi experts a call in Winchester, London or Cardiff and we’ll show you how we can improve your business Wi-Fi.

Subjective, is what it is.

Technology moves at a quick pace and our society tries it’s best to keep up with it – We are always reaching for the best smartphone, the latest smartwatch, the most innovative laptops/ tablets and the flashiest televisions.

But what about Wi-Fi?

You can put an ‘HD’ sticker on a TV, or a number of megapixels on the latest smartphone camera, the amount of gigabytes of storage on a tablet. These are quantifiable things, technology that can be measured and defined.

Smart Wi-Fi is a little different. Is your Wi-Fi as smart as my Wi-Fi? It’s a bit like me saying my baby is more beautiful than your baby. I mean, he is, but that’s beside the point – It’s subjective.

There’s not an independent industry measurement for smart Wi-Fi or a shared definition or published standard. Devices, networks and tech aren’t tested by the Wi-Fi Alliance and certified ‘smart’.

Product manufacturers could stick a ‘smart Wi-Fi’ label on to anything really, but what would that really mean?

It might be subjective, but there are absolutely ways of judging the smartness claims on products and choosing the smartest Wi-Fi.

Firstly, there are a couple of distinctions to make.

Smart Wi-Fi vs. Wi-Fi extenders – An extender is often used interchangeably with a booster or repeater. This technology amplifies the signal when it starts to weaken over distances, thus improving coverage. This isn’t really ‘smart Wi-Fi’ it’s just a product carrying out a fairly straightforward task, designed to manage a specific potential issue.

Smart Wi-Fi vs. Wi-Fi automation – When designing and installing a wireless network, a designer is able to automate a repetitive set of actions based on a set workflow. Smart Wi-FI would instead have the ability to adapt to the unpredictable, rather than follow a standard set of actions.

 

Smart Wi-Fi has autonomy, rather than needing to be micro-managed

Imagine a smart access point (AP) as a new starter at a company. The smart AP has done it’s research, knows the layout, knows what it’s doing, and gets on with it. It doesn’t need too much attention, guidance or managing. The smarter the access point, the less attention it needs.

For example, let’s look at wireless mesh networking; It doesn’t require handholding. If you check the box on the management console to enable it, the smart AP knows when it loses its wired connection, and when it does, it’s already looking for the best AP in the network to wirelessly connect to. All of this is based on the criteria the WLAN engineer would use. What’s really smart about this, is that the amount of time you’ll spend coordinating this activity to be your backup is absolutely none.

Wi-Fi conditions are ever-changing and fast-paced. For it to be watched by a member of IT staff would mean having their constant and undivided attention, and that usually just isn’t feasible. And what if your business doesn’t have an IT department? If it gets to a point where users are complaining that there are dead spots, lost connections and long slow waits for service, then your Wi-Fi isn’t smart. It’s depending on a member of IT staff to come and give it a little tweak every time the conditions change , and that’s not efficient for anyone. Conditions are always changing with Wi-Fi, so the smarter it is, the less tweaking and managing it needs.

 

Smart Wi-Fi tunes in to its environment

Out in the real world there is an adundance of interference that could effect radio frequency (RF) signals at any given moment. The signals might conflict with other radios, they’ll differ with cable length or bad cables, they’ll struggle with thick plaster, concrete and metal and can even falter due to static electricity and Electromagnetic Interference.

In last weeks blog we spoke about Wi-Fi Site Surveys. Sometimes a part of these surveys is a heat map, where at the start of a WLAN deployment plan you figure out where the strong and weak RF signal areas are. However, when these conditions change, whether gradually over time or all of a sudden, AP’s aren’t always smart enough to adapt to the change.

Most AP’s use fixed antenna technology – It will be chosen based on transmitting either in a single direction, or all directions at the same time. The decision is based on the results of the Site Survey and heat map. However, if conditions were to differ from those found on the site survey, you would have to call on a WLAN Engineer to come and reposition your AP.

There is however a patented RF technology where a smart antenna senses user locations and device orientation and adapts. It can transmit in all directions or a single direction, can strengthen the signal and extend the coverage area. This smart antenna technology of course goes hand-in-hand with the software built into the APs that allows them to monitor the current conditions and make changes in real time to ensure the optimum signal.

The more smart technologies you can combine, the smarter your Wi-Fi is going to be.

 

Is smart Wi-Fi for you?

We said at the start, it’s subjective. How do you value your time? Do you have an IT department or do you rely on outside services? How important is reliable Wi-Fi to your business?

If you don’t have the time or resources to be tweaking your Wi-Fi everytime conditions chang to make sure it’s performing to the level required then smart Wi-Fi could well be the answer you’ve been looking for.

What were you doing 15 years ago? Were you scrolling through emails on your phone whilst sat in a cafe, or working remotely via laptop? Chances are the answer is no, as wireless networks were still rather a rarity.

If you worked somewhere with a big budget for IT including systems as well as in-house experts, you may well have had Wi-Fi at your business back then but in today’s digital world wireless networking is an absolute must across all industries no matter how big or small the business.

The prevalance of Wi-Fi is now akin to having electricity and running water (imagine getting to work and not being able to turn on a light, or make a coffee?). Not being able to check your emails or even a sneak peek at your social channels whilst the kettle’s boiling is almost as unimaginable.

But even though we have Wi-Fi almost everywhere, does that mean it’s reliable enough to support your workforce? Is it fast enough to meet the needs of your company?

Making sure that the Wi-Fi is working as efficiently as it could, and should, be isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity and an investment for your business.

 

So let us ask you – Is your Wi-Fi reliable enough? Is it fast enough? Is it keeping your workforce happy and productive?

If you answered no to any of these questions then read on…

What can you do about it? You can start with a Wi-Fi Site Survey.

Who can carry out a Wi-Fi Site Survey? Trusted Wi-Fi experts with knowledge and expertise of network design – like us here at Geekabit.

You could just leave it to the experts, but if you’re interested in exactly what a Site Survey is and what it entails, then carry on reading.

There are 4 categories of Wireless Site Surveys – Which is right for you?

• Predictive Site Surveys – Cost effective, time efficient and accurate. You tend to get the best results from this kind of survey if you’re able to supply your building blueprints or floor plans, as it relies on the engineer using simulation tools to create a radio frequency (RF) model of the environment in your exact location. This type of survey is generally good for small or new projects as it wouldn’t analyse what you currently have, or identify why you’ve been having issues.
• Physical Site Surveys – The above is great for simpler Wi-Fi networks, but if yours is more complicated then a physical site survey could be the better option. During the survey the engineer focuses on applications that roam across access points (APs) as well as applications that are especially sensitive to latency.
• Passive Site Surveys – In this site survey the engineer will use software to passively listen to traffic on your wireless network. This identifies any problems with access points, signal strength, and environmental noise.
• Post Validation Site Surveys – This type of wireless survey is to make sure that your Wi-Fi network is performing at the level it was designed to perform.

 

What’s Included With Wireless Site Surveys?

What can you expect when you invest in a wireless survey and what’s included?

Perhaps the most important element of a site survey is actually having a Wireless Network Design Engineer come on site to carry it out.

They are specialists in their field and will do the following:

• Manual inspection of wireless hardware including mounting and orientation
• Running wireless analysis software to capture data on your wireless performance
• Assessment and analysis of data captured and presented in a report document

The report begins with general information including:

• Purpose – Why is this wireless site survey being conducted? What is the goal? (Often, assessments are scheduled to determine if RF coverage shown in a Predictive RF design matches what’s seen during the survey. Other times, assessments review the current wireless network design and identify sources of ongoing performance problems.)
• Scope – What’s included and what’s not?

Survey Test Infrastructure – What hardware and software tools are being used to measure RF coverage?

The report outlines requirements such as:

• Signal strength minimum
• Signal-to-noise ratio minimum
• Data rate minimum
• Minimum number of audio access points

 

A floor plan listing routes for the site survey, as well as access point locations

 

Coverage and performance narrative including:

• Data rate heatmap for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless frequencies (the highest possible speed that a wireless device can transmit data)
• Maximum effective throughput heatmap for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless frequencies (Due to its half-duplex nature, true data throughput tends to be about half of the data rate.)
• RF signal strength/coverage heatmap for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless frequencies (the most basic measure of wireless networking health that can often explain problems with unreliable connections and low data throughput)

 

Depending on the type of site survey, you may also have

• CCI (co-channel interference) analysis that identifies any crosstalk between two different transmitters on the same RF channel
• ACI (adjacent channel interference) analysis that identifies any extraneous power from a signal on an adjacent RF channel.

 

In most wireless site surveys, a floor plan with access point locations, data rate heatmap, throughput heatmap, and signal strength heatmap is created for each floor in the building.

 

How Can Your Company Benefit From This?

You may be wondering how your business will benefit from signing up for a site survey, and what kind of information is typically found.
Generally, the main aim of carrying out a Wi-Fi Site Survey is to find things that would have a negative impact on the performance of your network.

Some examples of what we might find are:

• Identifying access points that are deployed for the wrong purpose. For example, if you were using the incorrect models of APs in locations throughout your office or building, you would likely end up with very low signals. If the APs you’re using have omni-directional antennas and they are installed on 20-30 foot ceilings, any devices being used at ground level would be receiving very low signal levels.
• Identifying RF cell overlap problems between access points. Using the same example, if you were using omni-directional antennas on your APs, there would likely be too many RF cell overlaps between the APs. This would mean that when a device saw multiple APs using the same channel, wireless devices using the network would have to ‘wait in line’ before they could use that channel.
• Identifying a coverage void or null with outdoor APs. If a network is designed poorly, they may not have thought about mounting heights and thus, identifying this as a problem and changing the height of the AP would alter its covereage because of the antenna’s vertical bandwidth.
• AP power levels left at default configurations. Many people believe they can set up their own Wi-Fi network, but don’t (or can’t) configure their hardware, so leave them at their deafult settling. Power levels can, and should be, customised so they are matched to the power levels of your devices. If this isn’t done, performance will suffer.
• APs installed/mounted at troublesome locations. Again, this would come down to poor network design, where APs are mounted too close to objects that block or alter the RF signal. This would ultimately mean that the signal delivery to your devices would take a hit.

Where these issues are identified and solutions are implemented, your business could see a dramatic and immediate improvement in your network performance, even if only one of these issues was present. This in turn could really boost productivity in your workforce and improve client satisfaction.

 

So if our engineers found these issues, what would their recommendations be to remedy the problem?

Our experts would suggest:

• Better suited AP models, especially AP models with an antenna that can better adapt to your environment and needs
• New indoor RF wireless network design that takes into account emerging software application requirements
• New outdoor RF wireless network design that’s better suited for outdoor spaces where there are usually no reflective objects or attenuators
• Removing channel bonds as needed to limit the possibility of channel reuse and all the co-channel and adjacent channel contention problems that crop up
• Removing lower data rates again to improve the design of the wireless network by forcing devices to use closer APs with better signal strength
• Setting/optimizing symmetric power levels to match the lowest power device
• Improving AP mounting for improved RF signal delivery
• Improving bridge/mesh links to greatly improve signal quality

 

In conclusion?

Investing in a wireless site survey for your business will provide you with an invaluable insight about the performance of your wireless network. From this detailed report from our expert Wi-Fi engineers, you’ll learn what needs to be addressed to improve end user experience and overall system performance. This in turn makes for productive employees and happy clients.

It also provides a great baseline for the future, where you can measure wireless network design improvements and document performance upgrades.

If you would like any more informations, or talk to one of our experts about a Wi-Fi Site Survey for your business, please don’t hesitate to contact us here at Geekabit on one of the below.

Phone: London 0203 322 2443 / Cardiff 02920 676712 / Winchester 01962 657 390

If you’re not sure whether your Wi-Fi is working as efficiently as it should, or you’re wondering whether there is a way of improving it and how, then you could consider doing a Wi-Fi survey.

Perhaps you’ve secured new office space, and want to overhaul the Wi-Fi set up before you and your employees move in. The site survey is an important tool for ensuring no issues happen when business begins. It could also save you money in the long term by enabling you to choose the right equipment up-front.

If you choose Geekabit to carry out your Wi-Fi site survey, you will be provided with an appropriately experienced and qualified Wi-Fi professional who will have undertaken similar work for a number of years. Their experience and expertise will mean that they will likely know what to expect and thus what to recommend for your needs.

What exactly will we do?

When we arrive we will generate coverage and performance heatmaps, determine network requirements and test network health to spot any potential issues.

We’ll check both 2.4 & 5GHz separately as well as Access Point coverage and Signal to Noise Ratio.

There will be a detailed review on capacity requirements and bottlenecks, providing a report on all surveyed areas.

Built-in requirements for VoIP, RTLS, video etc will be checked. We’ll factor in customizable requirements unique to your location and locate all access points. All APs, per SSID, channel or AP will be analysed.

Using the data we collect, we can visualize all or selected surveys, as well as measured, simulated or both.

We are also able to simulate how the network will perform using different Wi-Fi devices, helping make recommendations for what products you will need.

Our surveys fully support 802.11a/b/g/n/ac and provide a detailed, combined Wi-Fi and spectrum analysis.

Will we need anything from you?

Ideally you will be able to provide us with scale maps and drawings of your offices. If this isn’t possible, then we will have to factor in extra time to generate these prior to the site survey. This will mean that there will be an extra cost incurred.

Which brings us to the price. This is mainly based on the time it takes to survey each area of the building.

We then generate the survey report. This will provide analysis and recommendations to give an accurate guideline of products and where to place them.

Our average Wi-Fi site survey cost starts at around £750 for a multi-floor office of 300-400 workers, or a small care home based on one days work.

For more information or to get in touch, head to our website https://geekabit.co.uk/what-we-do/wi-fi-site-survey/

We’ve done the maths and Ubiquiti UniFi comes at a much better price than the likes of Cisco and Ruckus equivalents. Does that mean that their products are actually ‘cheap’ or are the alternatives just somewhat over-priced?

It kind of goes with the territory that as performance increases, prices reduce. The technology industry has a long history of this.

Let’s take the world’s first mobile phone, for example. The Motorola DynaTAC 800x had half an hour talk time before the battery died. Can you imagine? It also cost almost $4000. So just think how much mobile phone technology has advanced since then – And how much your current iPhone or Samsung would cost if the price had increased with the tech?

And what about the first laptop? Well, it wasn’t really a laptop, more a portable PC, if portable is the right word. At 28lbs and the size of a sewing machine, you wouldn’t be sliding that Compaq into a backpack and hopping onto the train to work would you. And again, it was a whopping 3 and a half thousand dollars. Not quite the touch screen and clip on keyboard you can get today.

Thankfully, again, the price for a laptop today does not reflect the leaps in technology since 1983.

And so we found ourselves back to Ubiquiti UniFi. Is it cheap or are it’s competitiors over priced?

We work with these products a lot with our clients as their vision for making networking technology available to everyone very much matches our ethos here at Geekabit.

The Ubiquiti UniFi products are typically found to be 80% cheaper that competitors prices, but offer comparable performance.

Why is that then, if it they’re not just ‘cheap’?

The difference with Ubiquiti UniFi is that their approach to traditional industry practices are a little different and thus avoid what they deem unneccessary costs. This means that these costs don’t get passed down the ladder to the consumer, meaning they can offer a comparably performing product at a much lower price.

Where Ubiquiti UniFi is different:
– They don’t waste money on employing sales people. Their products literally speak for themselves, as I’m sure our clients will agree, and instead rely on word of mouth and internet evangelism to spread the word on why to choose Ubiquiti UniFi over other more pricey options.
– Their user community, ourselves included, have knowledge and expertise that can be shared to provide support outside the realms of what the organisation itself provides. Basically, we help and liaise with eachother.
– Ubiquiti UniFi products are built for their specific purpose. They don’t have unneccessary or gimicky features built in, as they are rarely used or needed by the end user. This means that an exhaustive list of features doesn’t push the price up on what could be a simple and easy to use piece of kit.

We have to agree with Ubiquiti UniFi that it’s all about perspective. Are their products actually cheap? No. They’re built for purpose, allow their performance and ease of use to speak for itself, and rely on their user community to share the love.

They’re not cheap, they are priced what they need to be priced. They’re a cheaper option, but only because the alternatives are at a higher price point, or over-priced perhaps, not because they themselves are cheap.

For more information on the Ubiquiti UniFi products, have a scroll through our previous blogs. And to see how this networking technology could be beneficial to your business, get in touch with our Wi-Fi experts here at Geekabit.

All we hear about when it comes to Wi-Fi is wireless, wireless, wireless. Everything nowadays seems to be wireless! But there are instances and situations where cables might be better or necessary. Maybe you stream lots of videos, play games or transfer data between computers regularly on your home network – Or maybe you need to do all of these things for work! In these situations, cables are your friend.

But which one? Cat5, Cat5e or Cat6?

While all these cables look almost identical and can all plug into an ethernet port, there are some differences internally.
If you’re looking at your cables now and wondering which they are, look at the text printed on the cable and it will usually state which one it is.
It can actually get rather over-complicated when looking at the differences between them, mostly due to network standards, so this is going to outline the basic differences. All you really need to know is how each cable will affect the speed of your network.

Cat5: A bit older and slower

• An older type of network cabling
• Cat5 or Category 5 cabling were made to support theoretical speeds of 10Mbps and 100Mbps
• It might be possible to get gigabit speeds on a Cat5 cable, but it would have to be a shorter cable and even then it wouldn’t be guaranteed
• You won’t tend to see these for sale so much as they are an older type of cable, but you might have them already from a previous router or other network device that you’ve previously purchased.

Cat5e: Faster and with less interference

• Cat5e, or Category 5 enhanced cabling, is a bit of an upgrade from Cat5
• In theory, it’s faster than Cat5 because it’s made to support 1000 Mbps “gigabit” speeds
• Sometimes you get interference or ‘crosstalk’ between wires inside cables, but Cat5e reduces this
• In comparison to Cat5, these enhancements mean it’s more likely that you’ll get faster and more reliable speed

Cat6: Even faster, but maybe not completely necessary

• Cat 6, or Category 6 cabling is one step up again and has a few more improvements from Cat5e
• It’s specifications on interference are stricter
• In certain cases, it is capable of 10-Gigabit speeds
• It depends on your requirements as to whether this cable is necessary. If it’s a home network then the speeds and interference improvements might not even be needed for regular usage
• It’s more a case of, if you’re buying new cables then you may as well get the latest one with all of the up-to-date improvements, but not necessary to rush out and buy them to replace your current Cat5e cables.

Decisions, decisions… Which one is best?

• One thing to note is that your internet speed is different to your network speed. Upgrading your cables isn’t going to make loading websites any quicker. The speeds on your network are usually higher than your actual internet speed.
• It will, however, be useful if you are transferring files or data between computers, for example backing your computer up. Using using gigabit-compatible hardware can make things move along faster.
• It’s not just the cables you need in order to be gigabit-compatible. You’ll also need the right router and network cards in your computers. Modern ones tend to have compatibility built in but if you have older PC’s or routers then they might not be.
• You can find out compatibility with fast speeds by Googling the hardware’s model number.
• If you have no problems with your current network speeds and it does the job it needs to, then it’s not really necessary to upgrade everything.
• Perhaps you want or need to increase your network speeds to the best possible, then upgrading from Cat5 to Cat5e could be the way to go for you.
• Want to find out whether your Cat5 cables can reach gigabit speeds (some do)? You could run a speed test. This can be quite tedious though, and you might instead just want to spend a few quid to get all Cat5e or even Cat6 cales.If you have to run these cables through walls (not just through your office) then that will put the cost up (and effort) in which case you might decide it’s not worth the trouble to upgrade.

Remember…

• All these speeds we’re talking about are purely theoretical. Your whole network can support gigabit ethernet, but you will still be unlikely to see speeds of 1Gb/s.
• However, your data transfers will be much faster than those on non-gigabit hardware.
• Cable length also affects speeds, so if you’re running cables throughout your house and using cables longer than 100m, you may notice a decrease in speeds.

In summary, upgrading your cables from old Cat5 might help you if you’re transferring lots of data over your network, and it wouldn’t be expensive to try out the Cat5e or Cat6 cables if you’re not having to put cables through walls. It’s definitely not something to stress about though, especially for home use, but might be more useful in a business environment.

Did you know here at Geekabit, our installation teams are highly experienced in new builds, retrofitting and extending existing networks. We can help you with all your cabling needs! Why not get in touch?

A common theme of questioning that our team of Wi-Fi experts often get asked is around Wi-Fi connectivity for startup offices, so we thought we’d jot down some of our thoughts for anyone in a similar position.

We have a wealth of experience working with all sorts of businesses and organisations, from huge outdoor festivals, to startup business offices, all with one thing in common – Getting connected.

This blog covers some things to bear in mind when you’re setting your Wi-Fi up. Although, the easiest thing to do would be to give us experts a call! But then we would say that wouldn’t we… So here you go, all things Wi-Fi for getting your new office online.

Factors to Consider

User base and usage patterns
– What’s your number of users?
– Do you use Google Drive / Dropbox? If you have a big user base and use these heavily you’ll need more upstream bandwidth.
– How many devices are going to connect? (Laptops, mobile phones, printers, local servers). If you have many users, all with multiple devices, you’ll need a more powerful router that can handle the amount of devices.
– Do you have employees that work remotely? Do they have to connect via VPN to access local files? This will require more upstream bandwidth, a proper router and might also require a fixed IP address.

Do you need a fixed IP address?
This isn’t usually necessary, apart from the case described above.

Outages and Failover
Basically, how fundamental is the Wi-Fi connection for your office to keep ‘business-as-usual’? If the internet was to go down, would you need an alternative connection? If your router failed, do you have a plan to put in place where you could quickly replace it?

If your business is largely online, or in tech, the internet going down is going to mean that most of your employees cannot carry on with their work. This would support an argument for investing money in a reliable Wi-Fi setup – Get good, reliable hardware and two internet connections instead of just one.

Internet Connection Options

You might be wondering if there’s a difference between the internet connection you would use at home and in the office, especially if you have a small business in a startup office. But there is likely a difference in the connection you need, and generally not as simple as a household internet connection.

The main problems you’ll find are:
– End-consumer internet connections usually come with a lot of downstream but very limited upstream.
– There might be volume restrictions which would lead to bandwidth limits. For example, if your bandwidth was limited to 10GB per day, this could be reached within minute in an office with 25+ people.
– If the internet went down, there would likely be no SLA with your provider in terms of when it would be fixed / back online. It’s generally a lot longer for a household connection that a business one.

Business Connections
These type of connections are mainly available from ISPs for office buildings, although a business broadband contract can sometimes also be arranged for businesses that run from home.
They tend to be a bit more expensive, but this is really worth the money as there will be proper SLA’s in place and as much upstream as there is downstream (handy if you use cloud based services to save and share your files).

Router/Hardware options
If you are a small company, then end-consumer hardware is probably okay to use (up to 30-40 devices). Larger companies will need a proper router which can do automatic failover, more expensive but necessary.

 

If you’re sat reading this blog, chances are you’re in a position where you’re trying to set up Wi-Fi in your office. If you don’t know what some of the jargon means, or are still unsure of what you need, then maybe consider not trying to do it all yourself. If the internet connection is important for your business to run, then we’d really recommend getting a professional to come and get this sorted for you.

Here at Geekabit, our London, Hampshire and Wales based Wi-Fi experts are ready to help design and install the Wi-Fi setup that’s right for you and your business. Wi-Fi isn’t a luxury, it’s an important investment to making sure your business stays online.

What We Do

Get in touch…

London Office – Tel. 0203 322 2443
Cardiff Office – Tel. 02920 676712
Hampshire Office – Tel. 01962 657 390

 

We’ve just completed installation of a new customised Ubiquiti UniFi setup for a growing chain of coffee shops in Hampshire.

Geekabit was delighted to be selected by nationally recognised Josies, based in Winchester, Bishops Waltham and Petersfield, for the custom installation to start 2019.

Incorporating bespoke social media logins, capturing data for ongoing marketing and analysis, we have built a customised Wi-Fi management portal to support them in achieving their business aims.

Each site has the latest Ubiquiti UniFi AP Pro installed, with the Ubiquiti UniFi Gen2 Cloud Key Controller, linked to our own AWS-hosted cloud portal. This also allows us to know almost instantly when a site is offline and customer Wi-Fi access has been disrupted, as well as providing live data and feedback remotely for each site.

Steve Cross, Geekabit CEO, comments: “As specialists installing Ubiquiti Wi-Fi products in London, Wales and Hampshire, we’ve been pleased to be working with yet another successful and growing organisation who want to provide a superior Wi-Fi service for their customers”.

You can visit Josies and find out more at: https://www.josieswinecoffee.com/