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To help keep your Wi-Fi performing well, monitoring the end user's experience on the network is crucial. Learn about the impact of client devices
The biggest tool you can harness to improve the performance of your Wi-Fi network is visibility. And without knowing the client devices you’re serving, users’ behavior, and the issues they bring to the table, you won’t be able to deal with problems quickly or implement fixes for the future.
7SIGNAL deploys wireless network monitoring tools that give you the transparency you need to stay ahead of problems before the end-user notices or complains. Learn how to detect which devices are connected to your network at a given time, and why it matters.
Discovering device type
Fortunately, several tools will allow you to discover which kinds of devices connect to your network at any given time. These tools and platforms show you a list of connected devices and the operating system they’re using. This knowledge allows you to better plan out your network strategy, and it's also crucial to ensure that people aren't using your network who shouldn’t be.
The properties of each device can be employed to determine how best to manage the network. One example is detecting how many mobile devices are using the network, so you can factor in things like roaming capability or the level of support needed for a given action that’s only associated with a particular type of equipment.
Using a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server is one way to learn this information. This server assigns IP addresses to client devices, and it is often included in a router, access point (AP), or firewall. The DHCP server helps network managers avoid having to set up new client users manually.
The DHCP server provides network managers with helpful information, aside from just the IP or MAC address. Your wireless router will list the IP and MAC addresses that are currently connected to your network, and the other information provided will depend on the type of router—but may include the hostname and device type. Network scanners can also provide information about who and what's connected to your network at a given time.
The benefits of discovering the devices connected to your network include knowing the density of traffic, better planning for the most-used device types, and watching out for unwanted visitors.
Monitoring from the end user's perspective
Discovering what devices are using your network gives you valuable planning insight based on the equipment that connects most often. However, it's important to take this a step further and monitor what's happening with the network from the perspective of these devices.
You won't know exactly how your network is performing at a given time without having complete visibility into the end user's experience. Traditional approaches to problem response have meant deploying reactive monitoring tools that don’t solve anything before the user notices the issue and complains.
Instead, seamless connectivity depends on the ability to monitor what the end-user is experiencing moment by moment. This allows you to proactively solve issues and provides your team data for future strategies.
7SIGNAL gives you the insight you need
7SIGNAL’s wireless monitoring tools provide visibility into what's happening with your network at a given time, from the end user's point of view. 7SIGNAL’s Mobile Eye helps you keep all mobile and IoT devices connected, and it can be used on Windows, macOS, or Android to run both passive and active Wi-Fi tests, continuously. The Mobile Eye also provides information about device roaming behavior.
The Mobile Eye enables your Wi-Fi management team to solve issues right away. These considerations are especially crucial for high-traffic organizations, such as universities, hospitals, or large enterprises, where many different types of devices are connected at once. The information gathered by the Mobile Eye is then uploaded into the cloud so you can view the data easily and instantly.
The tool also helps you identify whether a device or location is not in compliance with your service-level performance targets, and you can figure out whether issues are related to wired or wireless devices.
Learn more about why 7SIGNAL is the number-one solution for wireless network monitoring by contacting the team today. Our solutions usually improve the end-user Wi-Fi experience by a 50 to 100 percent over baseline network performance.
7SIGNAL® is a leader in enterprise Wireless Network Monitoring. The 7SIGNAL platform is a cloud-based Wireless Network Monitoring (WNM) solution that continuously troubleshoots the wireless network for performance issues – maximizing network uptime, device connectivity, and network ROI. The platform was designed for the world’s most innovative organizations, educational institutions, hospitals, and government agencies and is currently deployed at Booz Allen Hamilton, IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Walgreens, Microsoft, and many others. 7SIGNAL continuously monitors the connectivity of over 4 million global devices. Learn more at www.7signal.com.