WiFi In Warehouses: What You Should Know

It’s common knowledge that warehouses are difficult when it comes to arranging a wireless solution. With many warehouses measuring thousands of square feet, getting reliable warehouse WiFi can be a problem. Space isn’t the only obstacle, however. Everything from racks to stock, equipment and the devices accessing the WiFi can create connectivity problems. To help you make sense of WiFi in warehouses, we’ve put together some considerations you should think about before deciding on a path to take.

Your devices

Getting the WiFi signal out to devices doesn’t usually create a large problem. Getting low-powered devices such as smartphones and tablets to get the signal back to the access point, however, can pose difficulties. With lower-powered devices which require access to your WiFi, it’s important to create a wireless network plan. That way you’ll be able to survey the site properly and set up the right amount of access points in the required locations.

The number of users

Warehouses are busy places, and as a result, the number of users attempting to access the WiFi in warehouses is continually fluctuating. On one day, you may have just a few forklift drivers, the next day there may be investors visiting, meaning the demand for bandwidth dramatically increases. Aside from the number of users, the type of applications they’re accessing will also need to be planned for. With that in mind, you should think about different capacities depending on the applications users access whilst connected to your network.

Change with the environment

Quite often warehouse wireless networks will start by setting the power to the maximum in an attempt to ensure their workers receive a higher-powered signal. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work as it doesn’t address the issue of the lower-powered devices getting a signal back to the various access points. Aside from that, maximum power tends to create more interference than improvements. What you need instead is a WiFi solution that’s able to adapt as the environment changes as well as having the correct amount of access points for your location.

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