Wireless Network Optimization

In enterprise applications, the performance of WLAN is often not truly realized. How can we improve the performance of wireless networks and bring extraordinary application experience to users? Maybe you should look at the following four optimization suggestions.
What is the expected performance of companies that deploy wireless networks? It is very likely that the performance of the wireless network has not met the requirements, especially when the wireless network becomes the mainstream part of the next-generation data center infrastructure.
David Newman, partner of the Network World testing alliance and president of Network Test, said: "The idea that WLAN performance is always poor is actually a very common misunderstanding. People usually say, 'You already have a wireless network. What else do you want? 'In fact, WLAN can have very good performance. Of course, this involves some network design issues ."
Therefore, with the help of Newman and other wireless experts, we have the following four suggestions for optimizing wireless networks and improving application performance.
1. install access points that exceed the planned number
Craig Mathias, head of Farpoint Group, said deploying more access points can improve network bandwidth, throughput, and reliability. Mathias said: "People always try to get as far as possible transmission distance from the Access Point. In fact, this is a wrong approach for any wireless-based device deployment. In the past when access points were priced at thousands of US dollars, this was a good way to save money. But now the Access Point prices are generally very low, generally between 400 to 600 USD), this policy is no longer correct ."
Mathias said he prefers to optimize network bandwidth rather than distance transmission. In addition to occasionally surfing the internet to check whether e-mails are used outdoors, some users need more bandwidth to run larger applications. This requires that there are enough access points to meet different needs of users. For enterprises, it is necessary to carefully study Network Management logs to understand the types of applications accessed by users, the locations where they are accessed, and how often they are accessed.
2. Do not place the transmitter in a location too high from the ground.
Leonard Scott, Head of Information Service at Corpus Christi, Texas, said network designers often design the launch device five or six meters above the ground, I am still trying to place it 15 meters above the ground to see if it works better ...... However, this is not a good idea, because wireless signals can only spread horizontally, but not upstream and downstream. Scott pointed out: "when the device is installed away from the ground, it is difficult for the ground user to receive signals ." Scott once deployed a wireless network that covers the Internet access of Corpus Christi citizens and some municipal staff applications.
In fact, the Installation Height Error of the transmitter is not limited to municipal Wi-Fi projects. Mathias says the company sometimes places launch devices at heights out of aesthetic or safety reasons, or mistakenly believes they will achieve better coverage. This method works well in warehouse applications with low bandwidth requirements, because only barcode scanning or similar work is required in the warehouse, and the network throughput requirement is not high. In the office environment, it is often counterproductive to force the launch device to cover farther distances. A better choice is to place the launch device on the wall of a small compartment.
3. Avoid band congestion
Although major chip vendors are gradually suspending their support for the 802.11a wireless standard, Newman recommends that this standard be used whenever possible. The 802.11a standard helps to optimize the performance of the wireless network, because it runs in the rarely used 5 GHz band, and is much less affected than the 802.11g standard running in the very crowded 2-4 GHz band. "In addition to WLAN devices, some mobile phones, microwave ovens, and cordless phones also run in the GHz band," Newman said. However, this band does not have enough bandwidth for all these devices ."
Some people are opposed to using the 5 GHz band because the radio wave transmission distance is not as far as the GHz band. Mathias does not agree with this. "If you accept my advice and try to optimize the wireless network for the network capacity rather than distance, distance will become no longer important," he said ." In addition, the 802.11n standard will support the GHz and 5 GHz frequencies in the future. Therefore, enterprises can directly migrate from 802.11a to 802.11n in the 5 GHz band.
4. centralized architecture
In Newman's view, the decision to adopt a centralized or distributed architecture is like a "religious competition ". The centralized architecture uses wireless controllers to manage all access points, while the distributed architecture requires access points to be individually managed. Newman said: "I prefer those ideas that the centralized architecture is more conducive to optimization. You only need to set the features you use once, and then these features will be pushed to the entire company's network ." These features include the radio frequency setting of the Access Point and the QoS mechanism to prevent the delay of audio and video transmission streams.
Mathias also prefers the centralized approach. "I like the management capabilities provided by the centralized architecture," he said. When using a distributed architecture, trying to control each access point and remembering each IP address is hard to find ."
However, companies that make commitments to distributed architecture can also have some optimization methods. Some manufacturers, including Colubris Networks, give users the same management flexibility as they do when using a centralized architecture, Newman said.
If these suggestions are not enough to optimize your wireless network performance, Newman also has the last one-use wired. "Of course, this is just a joke ." Newman said.