How to Upgrade Your Wireless Access Points

Are your wireless access point's outdated and in need of an upgrade? Do you not know which brand/model to choose? You should consider several things when upgrading your wireless access point. Speed and performance requirements are two of the most important things to consider when upgrading your wireless environment.

To avoid upgrading again, you should plan for 5-10 years. Also consider the number of users the access points will support and the type of applications that will be running on them. Some applications are more demanding than others, such as video or gaming apps. What kind of devices will connect to them? In the future, there will be more mobile devices than ever before, especially with the Internet of Thing devices. Every person could already own at least 3-5 devices (i.e. laptop, iPhone or Kindle, and other IoT gadgets). These numbers are increasing so ensure your new wireless devices have sufficient bandwidth to support all of these devices.

There are many vendors that offer great wireless access points. They also offer different licensing models. Some prefer not to subscribe for a year. It all depends on what you need and how you plan to manage your wireless devices. Some vendors offer cloud-based management options that allow you to have internet connectivity, and then manage access points from the internet.

This alternative option does not require a yearly subscription. They are cloud-based, and you must be on your company network to manage it. This option doesn't require you to pay a yearly subscription fee. It's all one payment.

Once you've determined what type of applications you are using, how many devices you have, and how you plan to manage them, you can choose from a variety of wireless access point brands like the Aruba IAP models, or the Cisco Meraki.

You should also consider the network cabling you have and any network switches. The network cabling must be capable of supporting the new access points, such as Cat5e or Cat6a. Cat6/6a can support any interface type greater than 1Gigabit. If you are using PoE+ or PoE+ power, the switches you have to support the latest wireless access point models should be sufficient.

Once you know what Wireless Access Points you will need, the next question is how many you should get. To determine the number of access points that you will require, we recommend that you have a site survey. A site survey can help you determine which area of the building has weak signals and where you need coverage.

If you're still unsure on how you should upgrade your wireless environment or which models you should go to, feel free to contact us at support@accendnetworks.com, we will be glad to assist you with scoping out what is needed for your next wireless project.

Paula Wong is the CEO and Founder at Accend Networks. Accend Networks provides managed IT, managed security, and IT solutions.