WiFi Performance

ASK4’s wireless service has been specifically designed for multi-tenant buildings. When planning our wireless network, our engineers use our proprietary WiFi design methodology, surveying equipment and years of experience to work out exactly where to install our mesh of industry-leading Wireless Access Points (APs), to provide blanket coverage across the building. The APs all work in unison, via a central controller, to create one large WiFi network. Each unit regularly checks the wireless environment to ensure its configuration is optimised to get the most of out the Internet connection.

WiFi networks on such a large scale are highly complex and there are numerous factors that can affect the quality of the service. These are taken into consideration as much as possible during the design stage, however with some, there is a limit to what we can do to mitigate them.

Interference

Other devices, WiFi networks or objects can cause interference to a WiFi network. These could be such items as:

  • wireless printers

  • bluetooth speakers or headphones

  • personal APs or routers

  • games console controllers

  • christmas and fairy lights

  • microwaves

Absorption

WiFi uses electromagnetic waves to send and receive signals, which in theory can pass through objects easily. The reality is that much like sound, signal will be absorbed by objects and materials in between the AP and the user’s device. Materials such as thin walls and doors can be penetrated quite easily, however thicker and heavier materials may cause more issues. Modern buildings are designed to produce the best possible insulation between rooms, however this can come at a cost to the WiFi signal. Whilst we plan our WiFi networks around the building design, the objects in between the user and the AP will always be a factor.

Devices

We design our WiFi networks to provide coverage throughout the building, meaning accessing our broadband shouldn’t be a problem in most areas. As data is sent and received by both our APs and users’ devices, the wireless abilities of the user’s device must be considered. A laptop will usually contain a powerful and high performing WiFi card and antenna, compared to what you might find inside a smartphone, which has requirements to be energy efficient and fit into a small form. For this reason, the same level of performance should not be expected across all devices.

Another consideration is the age, quality and standard of the device that is being used. Newer devices will typically support faster speeds - look for either “802.11n” and/or “5GHz” within technical specifications to ensure that they are capable of these industry standards. If the device only supports 802.11a/b/g and 2.4GHz, it may not perform as well.

As ever, if any of your tenants are encountering any problems at all with our service, our Support team are happy to help and can be contacted here.