ICT Today

October/November/December 2022 I 7 COVER ARTICLE By Patti Fisher, RCDD, DCDC, OSP, RTPM, WD and Bree Murphy, RCDD Often described as an essential and required utility in both enterprise and residential markets, Wi-Fi has become a necessity in many businesses. An unpredicted spike in network traffic, caused by an overabundance of new Wi-Fi-enabled client devices and applications, can wreak havoc on the network. As a result, the user experience suffers because of problems, such as repeated buffering, slow connection speeds, and web pages not loading, among other issues that ultimately hinder the availability and performance of the network. This can be detrimental to businesses in the enterprise market where Wi-Fi is expected and also required for the operational use of the facility. Currently, the many emerging technologies and new devices under development that can operate across various types of wireless systems will soon find their way onto the Wi-Fi network. High-use cases include high-bandwidth applications, high-resolution video streaming, the Internet of Things (IoT), the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). The devices and applications supporting these emerging technologies will no doubt exploit the availability of the Wi-Fi network, and for customers in the enterprise market, the challenge will be how to keep up with the increased bandwidth demands to provide seamless connection and communication. Planning for a robust infrastructure that will support future generations of wireless now means considering new technologies that can improve performance capabilities, update the cabling infrastructure, and modernize wireless access point (WAP) installation methods.

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