Networks and WiFi
Office WiFi and networks, surveyed rather than guessed at
Almost every business has one room where the signal drops. It is usually blamed on the broadband, and it is almost never the broadband. Fixing it needs somebody in the building with a meter rather than another router bought online, and that is the job.
- Surveyed on site
- Included in support plans
- Guest and staff separated
The signal problem is almost never the broadband
When one room is slow and the rest of the building is fine, the internet connection is by definition working. What is failing is the last thirty feet: the wireless signal between the access point and the device, weakened by a wall, a metal cabinet, a floor, or another network on the same channel from the business next door.
Upgrading the broadband will not touch it, and neither will a better router if the router is at the wrong end of the building. What fixes it is measuring where the signal actually fails and putting an access point where the measurement says it should go, which usually means cabling rather than another wireless box repeating a weak signal badly.
This is the clearest example of a job that cannot be done remotely, which is why it sits inside our support plans as an included visit rather than being sold as a project.
Network work is included in our business IT support.
What we do
- A site survey with a meter, walking the building and recording where the signal actually fails rather than estimating from a floor plan
- Access points positioned and cabled properly, because a repeater extending a weak signal produces a wider area of poor coverage rather than a fix
- Channel planning, so your network is not fighting the businesses either side of you
- Router and firewall configuration, with the default password changed and the management interface not exposed to the internet
- Separate guest and staff networks, so a visitor's laptop is never on the same network as your file server
- Secure remote access for staff working from home, configured rather than left as an open remote desktop port
- Business broadband arranged and installed where a line change is warranted, with the contract in your name
- Coverage across yards, workshops and outbuildings where the work actually happens
The two configurations that matter most
Separating guest and staff traffic is the single highest-value network change most small businesses can make, and it costs nothing but the configuration. A visitor's laptop, an engineer's phone or a compromised device on the guest network should have no route to your file server or your accounts machine.
The second is the firewall itself. A surprising number of small business routers are running the password printed on the sticker with remote management enabled, which is an open door reachable from anywhere in the world.
- Guest traffic isolated from business systems
- Default credentials changed, management closed off
- Remote access through a proper route rather than an open port
Difficult buildings, and why they are different
Some buildings are genuinely hard, and pretending otherwise leads to three visits and a bad outcome. Steel-framed industrial units reflect and absorb signal in ways a plasterboard office does not. Care homes have thick walls, long corridors and extensions built decades apart, with a requirement that coverage reaches every resident room rather than only the areas staff gather in. Older buildings with solid walls defeat consumer equipment routinely.
In all three cases the answer is the same and it is not more powerful hardware. It is more access points, positioned by measurement, connected by cable. That is more work than plugging in a mesh kit, and it is the version that still works in a year.
It is also why we survey before quoting. A number given without walking the building is a guess, and on a difficult building it is usually a wrong one.
Coverage in care settings is covered specifically under IT support for care homes.
Tell us which room it is
Everybody knows the room. The back office, the far end of the workshop, the upstairs meeting room, the yard.
That is the whole starting point. The free review includes walking the building and measuring it, and you keep the findings whether you work with us or not.
Get in touch
Talk to us about networks and wifi
A few lines is enough. We will tell you straight whether we can help, what it would cost and how quickly we can be there. No hard sell, and no follow-up sequence if you decide against it.
- We reply within one working day
- A straight answer, including when it is no
- Free process review available, before any money changes hands
Would rather just ring? 01623 354250, Mon–Fri, 9am–5:30pm.
Frequently asked questions
If the answer is not here, ask us. You will get a straight one, from someone who does the work.
Mon–Fri, 9am–5:30pm
Why is our office WiFi slow in one room?
Because the wireless signal is failing over that last stretch, not because the broadband is slow. Walls, metal, distance and interference from neighbouring networks all weaken it. The fix is an access point positioned where a survey says it should go, cabled rather than repeating a weak signal.
Will faster broadband fix it?
Almost never, if the rest of the building is fine. That is the clearest sign the connection is working and the wireless is not. Upgrading the line is money spent on the wrong problem.
Do we need a separate guest network?
Yes, and it is one of the cheapest security improvements available. A visitor's device, or a compromised phone, should have internet access and no route to your file server or accounts machine. It is a configuration change rather than new hardware.
Is this included in a support plan?
Network troubleshooting and configuration are included, and so are the on-site visits it needs within the coverage area. New cabling, additional access points and hardware are quoted separately, because a survey and a fresh installation are not the same as fixing a fault.
Can you cover a yard or workshop?
Usually, with outdoor-rated equipment positioned properly. It is a common requirement on the industrial sites around Mansfield and the A38, and it needs surveying rather than assuming a unit indoors will reach outside.
What about staff working from home?
That needs a proper remote access route rather than an open remote desktop port, which is one of the most commonly exploited configurations there is. We set up secure access and make sure the home machine is as managed as the office one it replaced.
