Designing enterprise Wi-Fi for a multi-floor office

"The Wi-Fi is slow" is one of the most common complaints in any office. Usually the problem is not signal strength but design: too few access points for the number of devices, or access points interfering with each other.

Design for capacity

Count the people and devices in each area — meeting rooms and open-plan areas need far more capacity than corridors. Plan access points so that each one serves a manageable number of active devices.

Survey the building

Walls, glass, lift shafts and metal partitions all affect signal. A site survey, predictive or on-site, shows where access points should go before cables are pulled.

Plan channels

• Prefer the 5 GHz band (and 6 GHz where devices support it) for capacity.
• Use narrower channels in dense deployments so neighbouring access points do not overlap.
• Let the controller manage power, but check the result.

Wire every access point

Mesh links between access points halve available capacity. Run a cable to each access point and power it with PoE.

Separate networks

Put staff, guests and devices such as printers or cameras on separate network segments, each with appropriate access rules.

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