When your office Wi-Fi isn’t working properly, do you know who’s responsible for fixing it? If you’re the Office Manager, Operations Manager or Facilities Manager then it might be you that gets lumbered with all the Wi-Fi complaints. But it isn’t always obvious who is actually responsible for fixing it. Hint – It’s probably not your internal IT team. 

Do you know who you should call when the Wi-Fi repeatedly goes down? Perhaps;

• Your Internet Service Provider?
• Your MSP or IT support company?
• Your network installer?
• Or a specialist Wi-Fi consultancy?

We wish there was a universal answer, but unfortunately there is not, because all of these organisations solve different types of IT problems.

An ISP is usually concerned with getting the internet connection into the building.

An MSP (Managed Service Provider) may manage computers, servers, Microsoft 365, switches, firewalls and the general IT environment. 

A Wi-Fi specialist concentrates specifically on how the wireless network performs in the real physical environment.

There are several different layers involved in providing connectivity to an office, and different organisations specialise in different parts of that chain.

Our role here at Geekabit is not to replace an MSP or internal IT team. We can work alongside them when a wireless problem requires more specialist RF, survey, design or diagnostic expertise.

Why office Wi-Fi falls into a slightly awkward gap

Imagine you’re at work. The internet connection is working. The switches are online. The Access Points all appear online in their management dashboard.

Yet users are still reporting:

• Slow Wi-Fi
• Intermittent disconnections
• Poor Teams or Zoom calls
• Problems in certain rooms
• Problems at particular times of day
• Devices that won’t roam properly
• Excellent Wi-Fi in one part of the office but poor performance elsewhere

This can become frustrating because every individual component appears to be functioning. So what is actually the problem?

Wi-Fi is unusual because part of the network exists in radio spectrum rather than cables.

A switch port can be online and an AP can show as healthy while the actual experience for somebody sitting 15 metres away can still be poor.

That is where traditional IT monitoring can have limitations.

What does your ISP actually look after?

An Internet Service Provider generally provides:

• Fibre, leased line or broadband connectivity
• The connection between the premises and the internet
• An ISP-provided router
• Public IP addressing
• Sometimes DNS or related services
• Fault diagnosis relating to the external internet connection

If the entire office loses internet connectivity, the ISP may therefore be exactly the right organisation to contact.

However, remember that internet and Wi-Fi are not the same thing.

A business can have a perfectly healthy 1Gbps internet connection, while somebody in a meeting room has a terrible wireless connection.

If the internet circuit is performing correctly, changing broadband provider or increasing the headline connection speed may do nothing to solve the underlying Wi-Fi problem.

For example: A laptop communicates wirelessly with an Access Point. That AP connects through Ethernet and switches before traffic eventually reaches the internet connection.

There are therefore several places where performance can deteriorate before the traffic ever reaches the ISP.

What does an MSP or IT support company look after?

MSPs perform an extremely important role for businesses and may manage a very wide range of technology, including:

• Laptops and desktops
• Microsoft 365
• User accounts
• Cybersecurity
• Servers
• Backups
• Firewalls
• Switches
• VPNs
• Printers
• Software
• General IT support
• Sometimes Wi-Fi infrastructure

Many MSPs are perfectly capable of configuring and maintaining business wireless systems.

However, Wi-Fi is only one part of a very large technology estate that an MSP may be responsible for.

There is a difference between managing Wi-Fi equipment and specialising in wireless networking and RF engineering.

An MSP may be able to see that:

• An AP is online
• Clients are connected
• Firmware is current
• A switch port is operational
• The internet connection is working

But persistent problems can sometimes require investigation of what is actually happening in the RF environment.

This is not a criticism of MSPs. We all have our specialisms and place in the chain. 

In the same way that an MSP might bring in a specialist for structured cabling, penetration testing or a complex telephony project, wireless networking can also sometimes benefit from specialist expertise.

So what does a Wi-Fi specialist do differently?

A Wi-Fi specialist concentrates specifically on the wireless environment and the infrastructure supporting it.

An investigation into unreliable Wi-Fi goes considerably further than just checking whether Access Points are online.

Depending on the Wi-FI problem, Geekabit may investigate:

RF coverage

• Where does usable Wi-Fi coverage actually exist?
• Are there coverage holes?
• Is the signal reaching areas from the APs that were intended to serve them?
• Are users connecting to distant APs because there isn’t one appropriately located nearby?

Signal-to-noise ratio

SNR is the difference between the power of your wireless signal (RSSI) and the ambient background noise, measured in decibels (dB). Just having a detectable signal isn’t sufficient.

The useful signal needs to be sufficiently stronger than the surrounding noise for reliable communication.

Channel utilisation

• How busy are the Wi-Fi channels?
• Are neighbouring networks competing for airtime?
• Are Access Points using unnecessarily wide channels?
• Are multiple APs competing with each other?

This can be particularly relevant in dense London office environments where many other businesses may operate wireless networks nearby.

Non-Wi-Fi interference

A specialist can use spectrum analysis to investigate radio activity that may not appear in a normal Wi-Fi management dashboard.

Not everything using the same spectrum as Wi-Fi is necessarily another Wi-Fi access point.

Access point placement

AP placement shouldn’t simply be based on where it was easiest to run a cable. You need to consider:

• Building materials
• Walls
• Floors
• Glass
• Metal
• Office layout
• Meeting rooms
• User density
• Device density

Capacity

A wireless network needs enough capacity for the number and type of devices actually using it.

A meeting room containing 20 people with laptops and phones presents a very different requirement from an empty corridor.

Roaming

Users increasingly expect laptops, phones and other devices to remain connected while moving around an office.

A specialist can investigate whether AP placement, power levels and network configuration are helping or hindering roaming.

Specialist equipment matters

The Wi-Fi engineers here at Geekabit do a lot more than basic IT troubleshooting. We look at Wi-Fi problems, ask the diagnostic questions needed to identify the issue, and use different tools to find the solution.

A professional Wi-Fi investigation might involve:

• Wireless site survey equipment
• Spectrum analysis
• Wi-Fi packet/connection analysis
• RF planning software
• Ethernet cable testing
• Network performance testing
• Client association analysis
• Continuous monitoring where intermittent problems need to be captured over time

Geekabit uses specialist professional tools including platforms such as Hamina as part of wireless surveys, planning and analysis.

Diagnosing wireless performance issues requires specific measurement rather than guesswork.

A phone showing three Wi-Fi bars is not a wireless survey.

Why Wi-Fi problems can be difficult to diagnose remotely

Many of our London based clients are businesses that already have remote IT support.

Remote monitoring is extremely useful and can identify many network problems.

However, some wireless problems are inherently physical. For example:

• A newly installed partition changes RF propagation
• A meeting room becomes heavily occupied
• Furniture or storage changes
• An AP is installed in a poor location
• Radio interference appears intermittently
• Neighbouring businesses change their wireless networks
• Users are connecting to an AP on another floor
• Building materials attenuate the signal
• Device density has increased since the original Wi-Fi installation

Some of these problems cannot be fully understood from an online/offline indicator in a cloud dashboard.

Sometimes somebody needs to visit the building and measure what is actually happening in the air.

A Wi-Fi dashboard saying “everything is healthy” doesn’t necessarily mean everything is healthy

Modern cloud-managed Wi-Fi systems provide excellent monitoring, but their dashboards shouldn’t be treated as the complete picture.

An AP can be:

• Online
• Connected at Gigabit Ethernet
• Running current firmware
• Reporting no obvious errors

And yet all while users are still experiencing poor performance.

The controller primarily knows what the infrastructure can report to it.

It doesn’t necessarily reproduce the experience of the laptop sitting in the corner of a boardroom.

This is just one of the reasons onsite surveys and measurements remain valuable.

What if the problem isn’t actually Wi-Fi?

Here at Geekabit, we don’t approach every problem assuming Wi-Fi must be responsible.

A proper investigation may discover problems involving:

• Ethernet cabling
• Switch ports
• Fast Ethernet rather than Gigabit links
• VLAN configuration
• DHCP
• DNS
• Internet connectivity
• PoE
• Client devices
• Application performance

The objective is always to identify the fault rather than sell unnecessary Wi-Fi hardware.

Sometimes the most useful outcome of a Wi-Fi investigation is proving that Wi-Fi isn’t the problem.

That evidence can then help the MSP, ISP or internal IT team investigate the correct part of the network.

Should a Wi-Fi specialist replace your MSP?

Usually, no.

Our Wi-Fi engineers here at Geekabit aren’t trying to become your company’s general IT helpdesk.

If your business already has a good MSP or internal IT department, you should continue letting them do what they do well.

Geekabit Wi-Fi professionals can complement them by providing specialist wireless expertise when required.

Examples of how Geekabit could work for you include:

• MSP manages the overall network; Geekabit performs the wireless survey.
• Internal IT manages UniFi/Meraki/Aruba/etc.; Geekabit investigates an RF problem.
• MSP specifies switches and firewall; Geekabit designs AP placement and wireless coverage.
• Fit-out contractor installs cabling; Geekabit specifies where AP cables should terminate.
• MSP identifies persistent Wi-Fi complaints; Geekabit performs onsite spectrum analysis and diagnostics.

Our team at Geekabit can then provide findings and recommendations that the existing IT team can implement, or we can assist with implementation where appropriate.

Our Wi-Fi engineers are more than happy to work with your existing IT company, not compete with them.

When should you call the ISP?

Calling your Internet Service Provider is likely to be the right starting point when:

• The whole office has lost internet access
• The router cannot establish its internet connection
• Broadband/leased-line performance is below the contracted service
• There is an external line fault
• There appears to be an ISP routing or service issue

However, if wired devices have excellent internet connectivity while Wi-Fi users are struggling, the ISP is much less likely to be the answer.

When should you call your MSP?

Your MSP is likely to be the right starting point for:

• General IT support
• User/device problems
• Microsoft 365
• Server issues
• Firewall configuration
• Network configuration
• Security
• Switch management
• Routine management of existing APs

If they can identify and resolve the wireless issue, there may be no reason to involve anybody else.

When should you bring in a Wi-Fi specialist?

A Wi-Fi specialist, like the wireless engineers at Geekabit, becomes particularly useful when:

• Wi-Fi problems have continued despite normal IT troubleshooting
• Problems only occur in particular areas
• Wi-Fi becomes unreliable when the office is busy
• Meeting rooms consistently have problems
• Teams/Zoom calls drop despite fast internet
• Users remain connected but performance becomes poor
• Problems are intermittent and difficult to reproduce
• Adding access points hasn’t solved the problem
• Nobody knows whether the problem is interference, coverage or capacity
• You’re moving into a new office
• You’re redesigning or fitting out an existing office
• You need evidence about what is actually happening in the RF environment
• You want an independent assessment of an existing wireless network

London offices present particular Wi-Fi challenges

From working with different clients across London, we see that many London offices occupy:

• Multi-tenant buildings
• Converted buildings
• Older buildings with thick internal structures
• Modern offices with extensive glass and metal
• Shared office developments
• High-density commercial areas

Businesses may have little control over the RF environment outside their own premises.

An office could potentially have many neighbouring wireless networks operating above, below and alongside it.

This makes proper RF planning and measurement particularly valuable.

We’re not saying that every London office is automatically a terrible RF environment. 

However, dense commercial buildings can present additional challenges and this is a common occurrence for London based businesses.

Geekabit’s approach

Geekabit specialises in Wi-Fi and networking, rather than providing generic outsourced IT support.

For businesses based in London and the South, we can provide services including:

• Wi-Fi troubleshooting
• Wireless site surveys
• Spectrum analysis
• Wi-Fi design
• RF planning
• Network Health Checks
• Access point placement and optimisation
• Network and cabling diagnostics

Our approach is always:

Measure → Diagnose → Recommend → Fix

Rather than just ‘buy more equipment.’

Our expert Wi-Fi engineers here at Geekabit can work directly with you and your business, alongside your internal IT team, or in partnership with your existing MSP.

Conclusion

Your ISP, MSP and Wi-Fi specialist don’t necessarily compete with each other. They solve different parts of the connectivity puzzle.

If your internet connection has failed, contact your ISP.

If you have a general IT or network problem, your MSP may be the best starting point.

But when persistent wireless problems require an understanding of coverage, capacity, interference, RF behaviour or the physical office environment, then specialist Wi-Fi expertise can provide another level of diagnosis.

For businesses in London and across the South, Geekabit provides independent Wi-Fi surveys, troubleshooting and network health checks — and we’re happy to work alongside your existing MSP or IT team.

Still being told your office Wi-Fi looks fine when your users say otherwise? Talk to Geekabit about an independent Wi-Fi assessment or Network Health Check.

FAQs

Is Wi-Fi normally the responsibility of an MSP?

It can be. Many MSPs install, configure and manage business Wi-Fi as part of their wider IT services. However, wireless networking is a specialist discipline involving radio frequency design, coverage, capacity and interference. If a persistent problem cannot be identified through normal network monitoring and troubleshooting, a specialist wireless survey or RF investigation can help identify what is happening in the physical environment.

What’s the difference between an ISP and a Wi-Fi provider?

An Internet Service Provider supplies the connection that brings internet connectivity into your premises. Your Wi-Fi network distributes network connectivity wirelessly around the building. It is therefore possible to have an extremely fast and reliable internet connection but poor Wi-Fi inside the office. Changing ISP won’t necessarily solve an internal wireless problem.

Why does our IT company say the Wi-Fi is fine when staff still have problems?

The access points and network infrastructure may appear healthy from a management dashboard while users still experience problems with coverage, interference, congestion, roaming or capacity. Some wireless problems require onsite measurements to understand what a client device is actually experiencing in a particular location.

Do I need a Wi-Fi specialist if I already have an MSP?

Not necessarily. Your MSP may be perfectly capable of resolving the issue. A specialist becomes useful when a problem requires more detailed wireless surveying, RF analysis, spectrum analysis or Wi-Fi design. Geekabit can work alongside an existing MSP rather than replacing them.

What does a professional Wi-Fi survey actually measure?

Depending on the type of survey, it can assess factors including signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio, coverage, channel utilisation, interference, AP placement and wireless capacity. The objective is to build evidence about how the wireless network actually performs throughout the premises rather than relying solely on AP status information.

Can neighbouring businesses affect our office Wi-Fi?

Yes. Wi-Fi uses shared radio spectrum, so networks in neighbouring offices can contribute to channel utilisation and contention. This can be particularly relevant in dense multi-tenant office buildings. A professional survey can help establish what other wireless activity is present and whether it is materially affecting your network.

Can you investigate Wi-Fi interference?

Yes. Geekabit can use wireless survey and spectrum-analysis tools to investigate RF conditions and identify patterns that may be contributing to poor wireless performance. Importantly, not all radio activity affecting Wi-Fi will necessarily appear as another Wi-Fi network in a standard network scan.

Can you tell if the problem is Wi-Fi or our broadband connection?

That should be one of the objectives of troubleshooting. Testing the wired network, internet connection and wireless environment can help isolate where performance deteriorates. A slow application does not automatically mean the Wi-Fi is responsible, just as a fast broadband speed test doesn’t prove that the wireless network is healthy.

Can you work with our existing IT company?

Yes. Geekabit can work alongside an existing MSP, IT support provider or internal IT department. We can investigate the wireless environment and provide findings and recommendations for the existing IT team to implement, or assist with the remedial work where required.

Do you have to replace our existing Wi-Fi equipment?

No. Replacement should not be the default recommendation. Some problems can be resolved through configuration changes, AP repositioning, channel planning, cabling repairs or other changes to the existing network. The first objective is to understand the problem and then determine the appropriate solution.

When should we consider a specialist Wi-Fi assessment?

Consider specialist assistance when wireless problems are persistent, intermittent, limited to particular areas, worse during busy periods, affecting meetings or voice/video calls, or have continued despite normal IT troubleshooting. A survey is also useful before an office move or fit-out because it allows the wireless network to be designed before AP and cabling locations become fixed.

Does Geekabit provide Wi-Fi services in London?

Yes. Geekabit provides specialist business Wi-Fi services for organisations in London and the South East, including Wi-Fi surveys, troubleshooting, RF analysis, wireless design and Network Health Checks. We can work directly with businesses or alongside their existing IT providers.