Guest blog: 3 ways to optimise WiFi for your next event

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By Roger Sands, co-founder & CEO, Wyebot Inc.

When you run events, you know that there’s no such thing as too much preparation. If you want your attendees to come back for future events, it pays to triple-check everything. This has to include your network infrastructure.

To prevent your event from suffering from slow or unreliable WiFi, use these tips to ensure your entire network is optimised for all conferences, trade shows, and meetings.

Run active monitoring

Companies that run network tests that mimic customer behaviour have better network reliability track records. Look for a testing solution that has the ability to connect to the network as a client device while still capturing data, and that allows reporting on historical data. This ensures that the results of the tests will exactly match customers’ experiences, that no data is lost while the tests are running.

Also, you can go back in time over the past week or month to review historical trends or focus on a particular intermittent issue. Run the tests on a scheduled basis to get continuous data on network health and prevent any surprises popping up during your next event.

Prepare for your network’s busiest time

Don’t just use the data from network tests to understand the present-day network. It’s important to understand how the network has changed over time and what changes might need to happen in the future.

First, identify your network’s peak usage time. You can narrow it down to an overall event or get even more specific and narrow it down to a specific time, such as morning registration or an afternoon of livestreaming. Then, look at the results of your network tests from that time. Compare the data to analytics run during off-hours. This will allow you to see how users impact the network and will help you plan for any upgrades and design changes that will be necessary to keep the network optimised in the future.

To make this process easier and more efficient, work with a testing solution that automatically stores historical data. With the data automatically compiled and stored, it’s a simple matter to review the network’s exact performance at any given time.

Whether you are wondering if service is slowly degrading, have a question on a specific issue, or are preparing data for a capacity planning meeting, having quick access to historical analytics is key.

Reduce interference with 100% visibility

A WiFi network is a vast, dynamic ecosystem that consists of the entire RF environment, connected devices, backend and frontend infrastructure and nearby networks. If you want an optimised network, you have to have visibility into that entire ecosystem, not just one or two pieces. Without 100% visibility, it is impossible to identify all network interference issues. Without identification there can be no resolution and user experience will suffer.

Use a WiFi analytics platform that provides 24/7 monitoring and data analysis for every part of the ecosystem. Networks aren’t static and any change at all, from a nearby network implementing a design change to new devices connecting, sends out a ripple effect that can negatively impact your network. With 100% visibility you can proactively defend against interference, keeping your network performance reliably strong.

Molly Hookings
Author: Molly Hookings

Molly joined the editorial team in March 2019. She has several years’ experience working in broadcast and journalism, as well as marketing and PR. Past experience includes working for the BBC and independent publishing houses. If you have a story you think Molly might be interested in, please email: molly@eventindustrynews.com