The Essential Wi-Fi Maintenance and Monitoring for  IT Pros

What are the essential tools and strategies for maintaining and monitoring Wi-Fi networks effectively? A while ago we held a webinar series covering basic Wi-Fi technology concepts as well as the tools used in wireless throughout the lifecycle. 

In this post, we’ll summarise the final episode of the webinar series, hosted by Grant Shelley: Essential Wi-Fi Maintenance and Monitoring Tools for IT Professionals. 

Watch webinar recording

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Successful (Wi-Fi) Network Best Practices

Understanding the complete Wi-Fi network lifecycle helps identify where different tools and approaches provide the most value. The typical lifecycle includes four main phases: 

• Planning serves as the foundation where your best chance of project success lies. Start with a good architectural floor plan that shows building materials, scaling, and well-defined indoor/outdoor areas.  
  
• Validation involves understanding whether your simulation matches what's actually happening in the real world - critical when you haven't personally deployed the network.
  
• Deployment benefits from integration capabilities that allow auto-deployment from design tools directly to access point vendors.
  
• Monitoring and troubleshooting represent the ongoing operational phase where networks need to maintain effectiveness over their typical 3-7 year lifespan. 

The Truck Roll Approach

The traditional approach to network troubleshooting often involves sending technicians to sites with survey equipment. This is commonly called a "truck roll" and it presents several challenges: 

• Coordination Delays: Getting technicians to sites can take weeks while network issues continue impacting business operations.

• Intermittent Issues: Problems that come and go are difficult to capture since on-site data collection is static.

• Travel Costs: Supporting multiple sites across different regions involves significant travel expenses.
  
• Priority Pressure: Network issues almost always become priority one situations requiring immediate resolution. 

Remote troubleshooting - Hamina Live View 

Hamina Live View, part of Hamina Network Planner Plus, provides an API-driven troubleshooting option through integration with leading Wi-Fi cloud vendors: 

Key Capabilities

• Instant RF Visibility: Generate an API key from your cloud vendor and gain immediate access to live network telemetry.

• Network Status Monitoring: See which access points are up/down with MAC addresses, firmware versions, and uptime data.

• Client Troubleshooting: Comprehensive client diagnostics without requiring software agents on devices.

Hamina Live View allows you to monitor the status of your APs in real-time.

Use Cases for Live View

Live View opens up numerous practical uses beyond basic network monitoring. By providing instant access to live network data without requiring site visits, it enables IT professionals to perform tasks that traditionally require physical presence or expensive truck rolls. Here are some practical use cases for Live View:

Site Audits

Conduct remote site audits without travel. Instead of manually noting equipment details on-site, access point information, switching infrastructure, and network topology become immediately available through API integration. 

Remeditation and Redesign

Import current access point locations and use environmental learning to simulate moving equipment and observe RF coverage impacts. Test remediation strategies before implementing physical changes. For network refresh cycles, start redesigns with actual current network data instead of blank floor plans. 

Advanced Troubleshooting

Live View can be a powerful troubleshooting tool that could save you a trip to site:

• Visual Heat Maps: Immediate heat maps showing coverage, SNR, data rates, and interference patterns.

• Interference Analysis: Identify Wi-Fi and non-Wi-Fi interference sources, with specific problem access points highlighted.

• Channel Utilisation: Real-time data showing channel congestion and optimisation opportunities.

• Client-Level Diagnostics: Detailed client statistics through access point packet captures, including latency, signal strength, retries, and protocol information.

• Remote Client Management: Force client reconnections and other management functions without physical device access.

Hamina Live shows you the real-time status of each client device connected to your APs.

Environmental Learning and Simulation

One of the most powerful features involves using live network data to improve simulation accuracy. The system can use known RF environments from live networks to enhance predictive modelling: 

1. Remove Physical Constraints: Delete walls and other physical barriers from the simulation environment while keeping access points in their current locations. 

1. Environmental Learning: The system uses live RF data to understand how signals propagate through the actual environment, creating more accurate simulations without requiring detailed physical modelling. 
2. Dynamic Testing: Move access points virtually within the simulation to see how signal propagation changes based on the learned environmental characteristics. 

This approach enables sophisticated "what-if" scenarios for network optimisation without requiring physical changes or site visits. 

Alternative Use Cases

Beyond troubleshooting, customers use Live View for: 

• Compliance and Auditing: Generate comprehensive network documentation remotely.

• Capacity Planning: Understand utilisation patterns for future growth planning.
• Multi-Site Management: Centralised management of distributed locations.
• Vendor Migration Planning: Use current network data as foundation for technology upgrades.

The platform extends beyond wireless to include switching infrastructure visibility, showing switch models, power budgets, port usage, and available ports. Visual indicators display client density and distribution across channels and access points. 

Key Takeaways

Network monitoring through APIs has transformed how we manage networks. Instead of waiting for problems to surface, tools like Hamina Live View let us see what's happening with RF signals right away, dig into issues thoroughly, and test different scenarios before making changes. 

The ability to monitor the network remotely also reduces time and money spent on traveling. For companies with networks spread across multiple locations and countries, these savings can add up quickly. Traditional monitoring tools still have their place, but being able to troubleshoot and optimise networks from anywhere has become a game-changer for day-to-day operations. 

Most Wi-Fi installations stick around for 3-7 years, which means they need to keep working well long after the initial setup. When you can manage these systems efficiently without sending technicians on-site for every issue, you protect that investment while keeping operating costs under control.