What Will 5G Mean To Manufacturing?

 What will 5G mean to manufacturing?

Overpriced private networks never getting off the ground, or a viable alternative to Wi-Fi?

𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: "𝑀𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 5𝐺 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙-𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑠, ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑜𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜 𝑙𝑎𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒. 𝐻𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 3𝐺𝑃𝑃 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 5𝐺. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑤 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠. 𝐼𝑛 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑝𝑢𝑡, 5𝐺 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑎 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒"

𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀:

Low Latency

Extended Coverage & More Devices

Increased Security

Consistent Service Level

Customizable Network

𝗢𝗸, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘇𝘇𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻.

𝗜𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱:

A (to-be) existing infrastructure for manufactures to tap into

Lower cost to connect to data sources and share information

No change to your control networks - they'll probably stay hardwired

Fiber level quality without the physical connections in place

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲:

Manufactures will decide they want a private 5G network which requires a high capital barrier to entry. Not to mention the skillset needed to maintain these networks.

It's unclear how it will perform within electrically noisy environments.

What are your thoughts??

To take advantage of FREE assistance to engineer and design a network solution incorporating 5G for your organization’s network requirements....including network security....simply click on this link and ask. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

FREE Resource For Sourcing And Design A Custom 5G Network

The Future Of 5G (VIDEO)

In this video from the Cyber Heroes Adventure Show Keith Fuentes, VP Customer Success Team, Samsung Electronics; Scott Schober, CEO, Berkeley Varitronics Systems; & Peter Elliott, President, Telecom Insurance Group unpack the challenges and opportunities regarding the 5G rollout!

What Are The Elements Of A Successful 5G Rollout For Business? (VIDEO)

In this video Shira Rubinoff, President and Founder of Prime Tech Partners, discusses the elements of a successful 5G roll-out for businesses with Jason Inskeep, Director of the 5G Center Of Excellence.  The discussion covers how businesses are rolling out 5G, what the level of sophistication is right now, and how businesses can strategically continue the rollout.

To take advantage of FREE assistance to engineer and design a solution for your organization’s network requirements (Wired, Wireless, Fiber, 5G, Cloud, SDWAN, IoT/IIoT, WAN/LAN,) .... including network security .... simply click on this link and ask. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

FREE Network Sourcing And Design Support

What Should Business Executives Think About Before Investing In 5G Technology? (VIDEO)

What are some of the considerations business executives need to think about before making an investment in #5G technology?

Watch this video of Avroheim Gottheil from Ask The CEO as he discusses implementing 5G with Inma Rodriguez of Ericsson. Inma Rodriguez is the VP of 5G Core, and Cloud Solution and Service Line for Ericsson’s Europe and Latin America markets.

To take advantage of FREE assistance to engineer and design a solution for your organization’s network requirements (Wired, Wireless, Fiber, 5G, Cloud, SDWAN, IoT/IIoT, WAN/LAN,) .... including network security .... simply click on this link and ask. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

FREE Network Sourcing And Design Support

How To Configure Wireless LAN's (VIDEO)

In this lab for day 58 of Jeremy's IT Lab free CCNA 200-31 complete course, you will learn how to configure wireless LANs on a Cisco Wireless LAN Controller.

To take advantage of FREE assistance to engineer and design a solution for your organization’s network requirements (Wired, Wireless, Fiber, 5G, Cloud, SDWAN, IoT/IIoT, WAN/LAN,) .... including network security .... simply click on this link and ask. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

FREE Network Sourcing And Design Support

Fundamentals Of Wireless LAN Configuration (VIDEO)

In Day 58 of this free CCNA 200-301 complete course, you will learn about the fundamentals of wireless LAN configuration using a cisco Wireless LAN Controller.

To take advantage of FREE assistance to engineer and design a solution for your organization’s network requirements (Wired, Wireless, Fiber, 5G, Cloud, SDWAN, IoT/IIoT, WAN/LAN,) .... including network security .... simply click on this link and ask. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

FREE Network Sourcing And Design Support

The Fundamentals Of Wireless Security (VIDEO)

In Day 57 of this free CCNA 200-301 complete course, you will learn about the fundamentals of wireless security, such as authentication, encryption, and integrity.

To take advantage of FREE assistance to engineer and design a solution for your organization’s network requirements (Wired, Wireless, Fiber, 5G, Cloud, SDWAN, IoT/IIoT, WAN/LAN,) .... including network security .... simply click on this link and ask. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

FREE Network Sourcing And Design Support

Fundamentals Of Wireless Architectures (VIDEO)

In Day 56 of this free CCNA 200-301 complete course, you will learn about the fundamentals of wireless architectures, including autonomous, lightweight, and cloud-based APs.

To take advantage of FREE assistance to engineer and design a solution for your organization’s network requirements (Wired, Wireless, Fiber, 5G, Cloud, SDWAN, IoT/IIoT, WAN/LAN,) .... including network security .... simply click on this link and ask. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

FREE Network Sourcing And Design Support

The Fundamentals Of Wireless LANs (VIDEO)

In Day 55 of this free CCNA 200-301 complete course, you will learn about the fundamentals about wireless LANs, such as Wi-Fi standards, radio frequency, and the various service sets.

To take advantage of FREE assistance to engineer and design a solution for your organization’s network requirements (Wired, Wireless, Fiber, 5G, Cloud, SDWAN, IoT/IIoT, WAN/LAN,) .... including network security .... simply click on this link and ask. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

FREE Network Sourcing And Design Support

Insights On Designing A Wireless Network For Your Business

 If you assemble 200 Wi-Fi experts in one room, you will most likely get 200 different opinions about proper Wi-Fi design for coverage, capacity, and airtime consumption. However, experienced WLAN professionals will all agree about the importance and value of a properly designed wireless network. The bulk of troubleshooting calls will be prevented if a WLAN is well-planned and designed prior to deployment. Although crucial, a plan for adequate Wi-Fi coverage is only one aspect of WLAN design. A good design must also take into consideration user and wireless device capacity to ensure performance needs. Just as important is a post-deployment validation survey to verify the planned wireless network blueprint. This session discusses the top Wi-Fi design concepts that every wireless network administrator should grasp.

To take advantage of FREE assistance to engineer and design a WiFi network solution for your organization’s network requirements....including a comparison of available providers with rate quotes (with a low price guarantee)....simply click on this link and ask. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Wireless Network Design Resource

Wireless Network Design...The Do's And Don’ts Of WiFi Planning (VIDEO)

 In this video Cerdant Network’s Engineering team manager, Sam Sexton, provides valuable information on laying the appropriate groundwork for a strong and reliable wireless network and how to make sure you're scaling for the future. The discussion focuses on the do's and don'ts of wireless network planning and how to properly use the tools at your disposal.

You can take advantage of FREE assistance for wireless network design and sourcing by simply asking at the link below....It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3:

Wireless Network Design

GRANITE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

 Granite is a leading communications services provider for businesses with multiple locations. Granite provides one-stop solutions for voice, data, Internet, wireless, video, and secure network options throughout the United States and Canada. Their scalability allows your business to grow with imminent demand.

Granite Mobility allows you to use the best performance-carrier according to your location.

• Geographic Perfection – Granite Mobility blends the major mobile operators into one consolidated platform to provide simpler and more cost-effective mobility solutions.
• Flexibility to Fit your Needs – Customized data plans and device options, including mobility as a service, overages protection (NOverage), and access to multiple carrier networks from a single SIM card (SIMplicity)
• Award-winning Customer Support – Ranked #1 NPS in the Telecommunication industry. Answers every call in under 10 seconds with a live voice!

Granite is great at data-only opportunities. Their Tablet as a Service (TaaS) combines multi-carrier connectivity with a wide choice of devices from Apple, Samsung, and customizable ruggedized options. It also includes full lifecycle management, plus a Mobile Device Management platform. This platform allows you to implement policies, restrictions, and the ability to lock or wipe devices if lost or stolen remotely. Granite is not limited to Tablets, as they can customize any Device as a Service.

They also offer a complete wireless solution for primary or backup connectivity to enable an always-on internet.

• End-to-End Solution (WAN Wireless Data) – Combines multi-carrier connectivity, a wide choice of leading LTE routers, full lifecycle management, staging, kitting, logistics, installation, support, and a powerful portal for remote management, monitoring, and reporting.
• Simple, Scalable, Quick Deployment – One simple MRC includes the entire package, router, multi-carrier connectivity, and a fully managed solution in one low monthly payment. Easily order, deploy, and scale customized to your business needs.
• Multiple Carriers for Geographic Perfection – Granite blends all major North American mobile operators into one consolidated platform to maximize coverage. Flexible data plans from 500MB to 200GB, with optional standby second, live Carrier SIM.

Granite Ready Fleet is a comprehensive and cost-effective fleet management solution.

• Distracted Driving Prevention – Create and manage driving policy. Track harsh braking, speeding, phone calls, and texting during drives. Driver scoring and culture tools to change driver behavior.
• Real-Time Location Tracking – Monitor and manage your vehicles in real-time from the web or smartphone. Always know where your drivers are to better manage their routes according to current traffic and schedules.
• Custom Alerts & Notifications – Easily set up custom alerts and notifications on geography, time, driving events, and other measures. Stay up-to-date in real-time all day, every day.
• Detailed Reporting – Use this data to streamline your operations, decrease fuel consumption, and ease maintenance costs. View fuel fill-ups, fuel usage, time spent idling, and vehicle efficiency.
• Vehicle Health – Easily track scheduled maintenance, battery health, engine temperature alerts, fuel levels, and diagnostic trouble codes.

Their Daily Dashboard also empowers clients to take control of their communication services.

• Simple to Manage – The ability to manage your complete wireless inventory regardless of the underlying carrier through one pane of glass.
• In-depth Analysis – Ability to utilize historical data to help understand usage trends and optimize services.
• Alerts and Notifications – Set custom alerts at the connection, pool, and account levels to mitigate any overages and flag heavy data users.
• Customizable Reports – Granite can create tailored reports to fit your company’s unique needs at no extra charge.

Mobile Device Management simplifies your technology platforms with efficient, advance, and economical solutions.

• Mobile Device Management – Mobile device management capabilities for all platforms; allows customers to manage and control all device activities through our online portal.
• Mobile Application Management – Mobile device management capabilities for all platforms; allows customers to manage and control all device activities through our online portal.
• Mobile Data Usage Control – Allows customers to drive down mobile data consumption and costs by setting data limits and restrictions on non-business sites and apps.
• Mobile Security & Policy Compliance – The solution makes it easy to protect your mobile devices against mobile threats. It also helps to enforce your organization’s policies by filtering and blocking content deemed inappropriate.

To learn more about Granite and take advantage of a comparison of 100s of other providers ... including FREE network design and sourcing support ... simply ask at FreedomFire Communications.

WiFi For A Hotel .... What To Think About

First, the hotel's WiFi strategy needs to be finalized, and following this you would know where the service needs to be available, if it will be free, if it will be solely used for guest browsing, or if it will also facilitate value added services to the hotel itself .... such as wireless point-of-sale, wireless security, wireless signage, wireless VoIP on the compound, etc. There are a plethora of resources online that you can check for the technicalities of some of these types of equipment - this is not a challenge.

After this, everything begins with an on-site survey to determine the layout of the hotel, and placement of the access points. This should include RF mapping for larger properties (or any property for that matter, since it removes alot of the guesswork).

Bearing in mind you're working with a budget, you need to let that budget dictate the type of equipment you're going to use. From Access points & routers, to POE switches, packet shaping & filtering, to billing & authentication platforms. Or whether you're going to do it all with a cheap and simple Dlink setup, complete with login ticket printers. There are a multitude of different architectures for these networks.

You will also need to agree upon work schedules with the Hotel Management, because they may not want technicians and engineers visible throughout the compound while guests are enjoying their stay there. This can lengthen or shorten the duration of the project (depending on what Hotel Management decides) and can have direct effects on project cost. All of which needs to be presented to Hotel management in different scenarios.

One of the make-or-break details that often get overlooked is the available bandwidth being piped into the hotel to feed this Wireless network, and depending on the size of the hotel, it needs to be considerable. I'd suggest Ethernet or fiber if you can get it.

Once you've done a simple traffic analysis to quantify bandwidth requirements, based on information from the hotel such as average room occupancy percentages throughout the year, you can determine what is required. Once you can get this required bandwidth from a service provider, you're golden. Whether or not the budget allows, you should always push the Hotel to choose a corporate data package with an service level agreement (SLA) attached to it, so as to guarantee uptime for the guests. This is critical if the hotel has a high percentage of business travellers.

For assistance in finding just the right bandwidth solution ... at best price .... I recommend using the free services at FreedomFire Communications.

Once the physical aspects of the network is in place and everything has been neatly tucked away, you need to develop a nice walled garden for the hotel - although this is something the larger hotels normally do, for branding and marketing purposes. However, this is an additional step that needs to be done, whether or not it is your responsibility. This can facilitate something as simple as the logon splash screen, or it can offer more interactivity based on the tech savviness of the hotel.

Finally, this can be as simple or as complex as the hotel and their budget requires, but even in the most complex scenario it really is quite simple and is one of the easier wireless implementations to deploy.

Some Unfamiliar Ways To Boost Mobile Signal Strength

A name flashes on the screen of your mobile phone and a smile appears on your face as the caller is someone very dear to you but suddenly you see just a single signal strength bar and all your joy disappears immediately. Has it ever happened to you? If yes, you are in dire need to know the ways which can make your cell phone receive stronger signal strength at your place. Here are some unusual but highly effective methods to boost mobile signal reception.

1) Utilize Tesla Coils and Tape

Take a little piece of Tesla coil, an electrical resonant transformer circuit, and tie it to the external antenna of your phone with the help of some tape. It really helps boosting the signal strength received by your phone. However, this option is feasible only if you can find the external antenna on the phone.

2) Put Paper Clips to Work

Here comes the most hassle-free way to enhance the signal strength received by your cell phone. Paper clips are easily available anywhere. You just have to place it in the external antenna of your phone. But you must be careful while doing that, as improper use of these clips can cause scratches on the screen or body.

3) Pick Your Discarded Radio Antenna

No, we are not cracking a joke here, the trick really works. All you have to do is to take a copper wire and connect your mobile phone's external antenna to a radio antenna. If you still don't believe it, you can watch testimonial videos posted on YouTube that guarantee good results from the technique.

4) Take Clue from Tin-Can Telephone

Remember the tin-can telephone you used as a kid? Make it again by soldering two cans and attach it to your phone's external antenna using some copper wire. It will surely take some time but the results would be amazing. It can increase 2 or 3 signal bars on your phone's screen.

5) Create an Extra Antenna

Take a piece of insulated wire, ideally 20cm long, and wrap it around a stick to make an antenna of your own. When placed on the mobile phone's external antenna, it works as an extra antenna and brings in more signal strength to allow uninterrupted, high-quality calling and browsing experience.

6) Never Let Signal Bars Go Below 2

Drained batteries need more power to search for signals. That's why keeping your phone always charged can be a good way to keep connectivity issues to the minimum. Make sure the battery of your phone is charged at least to 2 bars all the time. Whenever you find it draining beyond that point, start charging it.

I hope you will find these methods to keep battery issues at bay helpful. You can also invest in a good quality mobile signal booster to enjoy sound signal strength in your home, office, or car.
Mobile connectivity issues are very common these days. Weak signals cause severe calling and browsing issues. Here are some tips to strengthen the mobile network coverage at your place or in your car. These ways involve using very common things and are quite easy to go for.

By Vijay Mishra

How To Secure Your Internet And Wi-Fi

I have touched on this in past articles. Now there are Smart speakers with Alexa, Siri and Google built in I thought I would give you some suggestions on how you can protect and secure yourself.
It is important to recognize that all your smart appliances must go through some type of router before getting to your device. The router will then allow you to connect either through hard wire or Wi-Fi. Hard wire would be faster and more secure; however, Wi-Fi is easier and found in more devices. In either case make sure that your router has a strong password that you created. Make sure that you have the highest-level security for your Wi-Fi such as WPA/WPA2. Also, if your router is more than 5 years old you should consider replacing it with a new modern router. This will ensure that you are using the latest hardware and software security.

Smart speakers are appearing in homes everywhere, they were the highest selling in Amazon this past Christmas season. They are good at playing your favorite music and getting better all the time at following your commands. They can control your alarm system and lock and unlock your front door. Before you allow Alexa, Siri or Google to unlock your front door, ask yourself how secure are they. Can they differentiate your voice form the voice of a stranger? What if you left your house and a stranger came to your front door and said "Unlock the Door" would it unlock? Voice recognition is getting better every day, so test your device before trusting it.

Are smart TV's tracking what you watch? The answer is yes, they can. I have written another article that explains how they do this and more important how you can stop it.

Do you have cameras inside your house? Many of us do. Ask yourself are they secure and how do I prevent them from being taken over by some smart actor. That could put you into a very embarrassing situation.

It is important to carefully investigate every new smart device that you purchase to determine how it works and what data it collects about you. Then secure that device within your home network. If you are not sure about a particular device disconnect it from your home network. Remember, most every device that you have in your home has to go through your router, secure it!

By George Uliano

George Uliano is a security professional with years of law enforcement and security experience. He earned a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and Business graduating with honors. George holds three U.S. patents on different locking principles. This combination gives George and His Company Locking Systems International Inc the unique ability to provide its customers with the correct security at an affordable price.

For additional information or to purchase Locks go to http://www.lsidepot.com

Key Benefits Of A Fully Managed Wi-Fi Solution

The rapid rise of new disruptive technology trends - cloud, social media and mobility -has added a new dimension to business operations. Connectivity is now the most critical factor for running a competitive business. How will businesses support these devices? Turning to cloud-based Wi-Fi providers is one way. With an outsourced wireless solution, you can overcome many of the challenges of providing access to an ever-increasing number of mobile devices while keeping pace with wireless technology advances.

Wi-Fi providers that offer a hosted, cloud-based WLAN serve a wide range of businesses. Migrating to an outsourced model for wireless network management makes sense for any company that needs to provide wireless. Let's understand a few benefits of a fully managed Wi-Fi solution:

Geographically Dispersed Locations

The traditional wireless network uses a physical hardware controller to direct access points. However, if your business operations are distributed across locations, the traditional controller-based configuration is less desirable. In a cloud-based model, wireless LAN services enable plug-and-play capability for devices across all locations.

Ease of Business

The first and the most noticeable benefit of outsourcing WLAN management is the hassle-free access to connectivity. The IT team no longer needs to deal with the stress of network downtime and constant demands for accessibility from users spread across the company.

The entire WLAN ecosystem is managed by the technology partner, who takes care of all the Wi-Fi requirements of the company - from analyzing enterprise requirements, designing and installing a customized WLAN system to day-to-day management and operations of the system.

Risk management

Mitigating risk is important in all areas of business, and managing a Wi-Fi network should be no different. All businesses are concerned with addressing consumer privacy; however, there are unique considerations that must be addressed as they relate to the Internet. Consumer privacy expectations are an important topic in today's news. It is considered a best practice in implementing public Wi-Fi, so that a user must agree to a Terms of Service (ToS) that usually incorporates an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). This opens them to a serious risk.

Customer engagement

Managed Wi-Fi offers business owners another way to reach their customers. Videos, promotions, surveys, and other types of content can be displayed on the page customers see when they connect to the network, serving as a digital engagement tool for a business to deliver messages. One of the biggest benefits a business receives by offering public Wi-Fi is the potential to develop deeper relationships with customers and the capacity to improve its understanding of customer interests.

Complete visibility

With a fully managed wireless network, companies gain an unprecedented level of visibility and control over the entire network. A cloud based centralized WLAN monitoring dashboard provides deep visibility of the entire WLAN infrastructure and provides application-level and user level control. Managers can control Wi-Fi usage by app category and make quick decisions with weekly or monthly reports.

Dynamic scalability

Managed WLAN services have the added advantage of being highly scalable. Organizations can rely on rapid provisioning and deployment of additional WLAN nodes to match sudden workload spikes.

IT Staffing Constraints

Many companies, especially small- and medium-sized businesses, have insufficient in-house IT resources to manage robust wireless networks. Yet, all businesses must embrace mobility to remain competitive. Service providers can provide the solution you need with access to advanced technology, tools and expertise. If you don't have sufficient in-house IT resources, you're still able to leverage critical mobility capabilities. If you do have in-house IT staff, you can refocus their efforts on other projects.

Growing Operations

A major benefit of working with service providers is the ability to scale your WLAN solution as your business grows. When network demands increase, your managed WLAN solution can scale accordingly. The ability to scale is especially critical for organizations that can't always predict demand, such as when internal staff and outside visitors require network resources for their own devices. Examples include educational institutions, health care facilities, hospitality companies, retail operations and any organization trying to manage unpredictable demand.

The last few years have seen the corporate work culture changing drastically. Employees no longer sit for hours in front of their desktops; mobile devices and laptops allow people to move freely and work from anywhere in the building. This dynamic work culture is perfect for enhancing teamwork and nurturing innovation and an enhanced WLAN ecosystem is an essential component of this new work environment.

By Saumya Sinha

Understanding Broadband Technology

This class teaches students about the various types of broadband technologies available to connect homes and businesses to the Internet. We discuss the pros and cons of the different options so that students can make an informed decision about purchasing their Internet service. 

Topics Covered......

Basic Broadband Concepts 

T1 

Carrier Grade Ethernet 

Point to Point Wireless 

Wireless 

DSL 

Cable 

Satellite