In an office, Wi-Fi is as essential as electricity: when it slows down or drops, Teams calls, cloud files and tills stop. A consumer mesh system looks like a simple, cheap fix, but in an office with dozens of devices it quickly hits its limits. Here is how to plan office Wi-Fi properly.
Why consumer mesh struggles in an office
- Wireless backhaul. Mesh nodes talk to each other over the same radio the clients use. Every extra hop cuts throughput, especially when nodes are far apart or behind walls.
- Many clients. Home kits are built for a home's worth of devices. In an office everyone has a laptop, a phone and sometimes a tablet, plus printers and conference phones.
- No central management. No overview of who is connected and where the problems are, and no way to manage settings consistently across several sites.
- No VLANs. Guests, staff, printers and cameras often end up on the same network.
How to plan
- Cabled access points. Each access point (AP) gets its own network cable. The same cable also powers it via PoE, so you need a PoE-capable switch. A cable is faster and more stable than any wireless backhaul.
- The number of APs depends on users, not just floor area. In an open-plan office one AP can cover a large area, but a densely occupied room, a meeting room or a building with thick walls needs more. Consider how many people are on video calls at the same time.
- Walls and materials. Concrete, brick, metal and glass reflect and absorb the signal. Plasterboard has less effect. Lifts, metal shelving and stairwells are typical dead spots.
- Frequency bands. 2.4 GHz reaches further, but has only three non-overlapping channels (1, 6 and 11) and lots of interference. 5 GHz is the main office band. 6 GHz (Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7) offers many clean channels, but has shorter range and needs compatible devices.
- Standards in brief. Wi-Fi 6 copes well with many devices at once. Wi-Fi 6E adds the 6 GHz band. Wi-Fi 7 adds wider channels and simultaneous use of several bands. For a new office, at least Wi-Fi 6 or 6E makes sense.
Keep the guest network separate
The guest network must be separate from the staff network: its own SSID, its own VLAN and a firewall rule that allows only the internet, not your printers, NAS or servers. Client isolation is also useful so guest devices cannot see each other. Change the password regularly or use a guest portal.
Site survey
Before installation, do a site survey or at least plan from a floor plan. After installation, check coverage in every room: meeting rooms, the kitchen and corner offices. This shows where the signal is weak, where APs interfere with each other and where neighbouring networks cause interference.
Typical mistakes
- The router or AP is in a metal cabinet, under a desk or in the server room. An AP belongs in the open, ideally on the ceiling.
- Too many APs on the same channel. They interfere with each other and the network gets slower, not faster.
- Transmit power at maximum. A device hears the AP from far away, but the AP cannot hear the weak phone, and clients stick to a distant AP. Moderate power with more APs works better.
- A home router plus extra mesh nodes in a 20-person office.
- Everything on one network, including guests and smart devices.
When to call a professional
If Wi-Fi drops during calls, the office is moving or expanding, or you need a separate guest network, it is worth having the network planned by a specialist. ITABIKS plans and installs office networks, including cabled FortiAP access points, phone +372 53 888 229.