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Dreaded Dead Spots

We’ve all been there.

 

You’ve set out to do some work in a coffee shop and after ordering your coffee and finding the perfect corner to settle down in you realise the Wi-Fi doesn’t work there.  ‘Typical’ you think as you pace around with your device in hand trying to find a connection.

 

This week we’re trying to discover what it means to have a Wi-Fi dead spot and how to avoid these cursed spaces.  

 

There can be so many reasons for these dead spots but the main ones are building interferences ie – thick walls or awkwardly placed Wi-Fi access points that can’t reach certain areas.  With that in mind, it can be quite easy to fix these mysterious dead spots which makes it all the more frustrating when you come across one.

 

If you find a dead spot in your home or business space the first thing you can do to try and close up these dead spots is to re-position your access point.  Often central locations suit access points best, where they can get away from thick walls or fire exits which can all interfere with signal.   

 

That brings us to our second suggestion – removing obstructions and ensuring that your access point is free of any interference.  Often clients don’t realise how easy it can be to eliminate these obstructions from the area.  If you identify anything near the access point that you think could be causing problems then remove it and see if the dead spot remains – in most cases dead spots require a trial and error approach. Other electronic devices and thick metals can be a source of interference that often go overlooked but it’s worth getting to the bottom of the issue and ensuring that you try removing as many obstructions as possible to see if that affects the dead spot.
If you need more advice on how to avoid these frustrating dead spots then don’t hesitate to get in touch.  It’s always helpful to get an expert opinion if the problem persists.

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Wearables wreaking havoc

This week at Geekabit we’re talking about wearables.

Wearables are the newest fitness craze and it seems that social media is full of people uploading their data.  Everyone is tracking their heartrate and their steps these days and we’re not complaining.  Wearables are a great advance in technology that can benefit health so we’re all for the latest craze.

However, we are not for the congestion that has inevitably increased since wearables became a ‘thing’.  Wearables are often Wi-Fi enabled, however ones that aren’t can really cause problems since the Bluetooth that they operate off of uses the same 2.4Ghz frequency as most Wi-Fi services.

The initial cause of disruption is just the fact that people have gone from having one device to having two or three which puts pressure on the network.  Not only that but as we previously mentioned, there is the danger that your 2.4Ghz band will get congested by wearables operating using Bluetooth.  As people become more and more attached to their wearables and start to take their data seriously, it is becoming hugely important to have a Wi-Fi service that can handle the demand.

Luckily we know a few tricks that can help solve these issues and make sure that your customers don’t get frustrated by the congested W-Fi.  An easy way to solve the congestion is ensure that fewer devices are operating on the network, as every device is using up bandwidth.   It might pay to get a separate network for personal use or for employees if your network is based in a place that is used by both customers and employees.  As always with these things, a survey is a great idea.  A Wi-Fi survey will tell you exactly what is going on with your network and how much it can take vs what pressure is being put on it.  This is hugely helpful to any business experiencing Wi-Fi problems which have potentially come about by increased pressure on the network from wearables.

If you think that your network is being affected by  wearables then don’t hesitate to contact us to gain some useful advice on how to solve these issues.

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Hotel Wi-Fi: Why doesn’t it work?


We have all experienced the frustrations of hotel Wi-Fi.  It seems that despite hotel Wi-Fi being an essential these days, it’s rare that hotel networks actually work efficiently.

 

Incorrect channel plans are the main source of interruption and in some ways the easiest to control.  In most cases channels 1, 6 and 11 are appropriate channel plans and work well in most countries.  Difficulties arise when hotels have each adjacent AP connected to the next available channel.  This causes adjacent channel interference whereby your device connects from channel 1 to 2 to 3 and so on as you move around the space.  As previously mentioned, channels 1, 6 and 11 work well in most countries and using these channels appropriately can significantly improve your network.

 

The other common error is trying to connect to 2.4GHz instead of 5GHz.  As we’ve discussed in previous blogs 5GHz is the more appropriate bandwidth in most cases, yet hotels still connect to 2.4GHz, which as we know is overcrowded and somewhat of a junk space.  Turning off 2.4GHz will help to reduce this interference.

 

Access point placement is also crucial to hotel networks and can sometimes be the downfall.  Client devices need to be in clear range of the AP without things like smoke detectors, exit signs or thick walls getting in the way.  Again, this is easily solved by finding the areas where signal is experiencing interference and relocating the AP’s to more appropriate areas.  Often hotels can try to do the job cheaply and thereby place AP’s in convenient places which turn out to be rather ineffective.  


Those top three hotel Wi-Fi fail are the reason for lots of customer frustration and complaining which could be easily avoided.  If you, or a business you know needs help with hotel Wi-Fi then be sure to put them in touch!

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MU-MIMO: What is it and why do I need it?

It comes as no surprise that the as the number of wireless clients has increased there has been advancements in technology that aims to ease congestion.  It’s fair to say that the 802.11 wireless standard brought with it a few problems, one being the restriction of one way communication from access point to device.  This week we are fascinated by the new standard MU-MIMO which stands for Multiple Input- Multiple Output.  It has the potential to solve some of these issues and ease congestion that many of us see on our networks daily.

MIMO offers a practical solution to the problems of congestion by enabling more than one data signal to travel over the same radio channel at one time thereby creating multiple pathways and easing the congestion which slow networks down.  AP’s and devices are therefore able to transmit data back and forth in this new way which increases the speed of connection.  MIMO therefore relies on multiple radio/antenna chains where each spatial stream is transmitted from a different antenna in the same frequency.

MU-MIMO is an advancement again on the above, and ensures that omni-directional antennas come into play.  All antennas are transmitting data streams at different times with MU-MIMO which increases the range and eases congestion.  Due to this addition of radio chains/antennas the access point is now able to control where the signal is strongest and weakest and can transmit to multiple devices at one time without overcrowding.  Speed and efficiency is therefore acheived without altering bandwith or any other factor.

We are pretty obsessed with MU-MIMO this week and think it’s going to be an essential over the next few years as network pressures increase and the number of devices available to consumers skyrockets.  

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What is 802.11ac and why should i upgrade to it?

Recently we’ve been hearing an uproar of praise for the newest Wi-Fi advance – 802.11ac wireless routers.  This week we set our minds to finding out whether we need to be recommending this new upgrade and what advantages it may have to our clients.

802.11 is nothing new.  Pretty much every model of router made within the last 5 years will be part of this family and most routers support 802.11n.  This wireless standard was introduced in 2007 as an upgrade on the 802.11g which was standard at the time.  It can transfer around 56 Megabytes per second and has long been considered the sufficient standard.  Until now.

802.11ac looks to be the newest contender providing double the throughput of the 802.11n.  Of course, on paper is seems like a better deal offering much speedier access.  However, we’ve been doing some research and we’re not so sure that it’s essential to buy a 802.11ac router just yet.

For starters, most people simply don’t need the speed and throughput that it provides.  The 56 megabytes of the 802.11n is sufficient for most households and we think in most cases the upgrade to an 802.11ac is a little excessive.  Not to mention, most devices don’t support the latest model yet so you could struggle to see the benefits unless you upgrade your device as well which can be expensive and as we mentioned before, pretty pointless.

Overall, the upgrade is an exciting moment for the world of Wi-Fi however we’re not so sure you need to be ditching the classic 802.11n routers just yet!

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IoT’s uncoded

This week we’re asking what exactly is the new cultural phenomenon known as the ‘Internet of Things’ and how it will affect our industry.  The Internet of Things refers to the interconnection of computer devices in everyday objects which enables them to send and receive data – think Fitbit’s and Amazon Echo.  We’ve recently read some rather incredible stats about the Internet of Things:

According to Cisco, the number of connected devices will rise from 15 to 50 billion by 2020 and in 2019 it is estimated that 245 Million wearable devices will be sold (smartwatches, Fitbits, etc.)

Clearly, this growth is going to have a massive impact on the industry and create opportunities. Wi-Fi is essential to the proper functioning of the Internet of Things, however as there is currently no standardised technology we are seeing competition between technologies (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee etc.)  Whist the emergence of these new devices presents many opportunities, there will inevitably be challenges to networks as they become crowded and stressed.

Not only does overcrowding present itself as an issue for the Internet of Things there are questions surrounding the security of such devices.  These new data points are collecting masses of information from their subjects, collecting personal information that may be shared between third-parties (other apps etc.)

Overall, the Internet of Things presents new and exciting opportunities for us geeks working with Wi-Fi, but it seems that it may come at a price as we see the number of devices increase.  Still, we are excited by the prospect of this new technology and the opportunities it may bring to the market in the future.

 

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Pretty fly for a Wi-Fi

This week Quantas have announced free in-flight Wi-Fi services on all domestic trips and are even offering free Netflix and Spotify on their flights. In-flight Wi-Fi is becoming more and more popular, proving the power of connection and the necessity of Wi-Fi access. Even at 35,000 feet connection is essential & in this blog post we want to find out exactly how in-flight Wi-Fi works.

The first way that signal can reach you is through ground-based broadband towers. Effectively this method allows your device to hop from tower to tower as it travels over them. Signal is sent to the aircraft’s antennas and voila! However, this is far from foolproof and problems can occur when passing over large volumes of water where no mobile broadband towers exist. Obviously whilst flying this happens a lot. Luckily though, there is another way for signal to reach your device.

The second way is considered more effective and involves satellite technology. Far, far away in geostationary orbit sit satellites that send and receive information. They bounce signal from satellites to Earth and back again. The aircraft’s antenna then connects to these satellites and connects the aircraft to the closest signal that it can find. An on-board router then manipulates the signal and ensures that passengers receive Wi-Fi signal on their devices.

So there you have it – the mystery of in-flight Wi-Fi solved!

Staying connected is more important than ever and we are always looking to work with businesses to create effective solutions to Wi-Fi problems.

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