Seven Characteristics Of Highly Effective Wi-Fi Network

We have spoken a lot about how Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and mobility will change the way we communicate and how it will transform our businesses. We have also seen how BYOD will enable people on the move remain productive. It is now time that we talk about associated infrastructure and its development if we want to see success of BYOD. If we are serious about fuelling the growth of BYOD in our offices, we have to relook Wi-Fi and its associated challenges.

If we look at a good Wi-Fi network, we should look at the expectations from them in detail. Here are seven characteristics that build a successful Wi-Fi network:

1. Security – The emperor would need new clothes as the traditional means of protection using WPA2, password-based security network or VPN may not provide foolproof security. We would like to see much more secure and wiser networks to prevent any unauthorised access through innovative means.

2. Centralised Management – Management of the wide variety of wireless devices spread across the geographies is a huge challenge today. If we implement solutions where we can wisely manage the devices from one location, it can bring a paradigm shift in the way we look at Wi-Fi.

3. Mobile Device Management (MDM) – Ability to recognise and serve the BYOD devices and ability to secure and manage each type of device can fuel the growth of BYOD.

4. Multi Tenancy – This feature, if available in a wireless network management system, would make it possible for delivering Wi-Fi as a service. This is possible using combination of various devices and new emerging models.

5. Uninterrupted Connectivity – This will make user experience similar to wired devices and make adoption easier. Low downtime, redundancy and maintenance free Wi-Fi networks are need of the hour.

6. Speed – Currently, speed in a WI-FI network is one of the concerns. Ability to smartly control available bandwidth will bring Wi-Fi closer to its wired counterpart but with other advantages.

7. Access Anywhere – Ability to roam around across geographies and get the access wherever they come within range is something users will want in a Wi-Fi network.

The question of how this can be achieved is not difficult to answer with the variety of solutions which can meet few or most of them in different price ranged. “Wi-Fi-as-a-Service” (WaaS) can be a stepping stone for moving towards BYOD adoption in any organisation. WaaS is already being provided by some suppliers in different parts of the world and I see a big boom in this service being introduced in India to provide various advantages.

The author is Founder and Managing Consultant at CIOSpecialist.