How Healthy is Your Wired Network?

Hiccups while running mundane applications. User headaches. Network administrator’s nightmares … these are a few of the symptoms of an unhealthy network.

Network problems can cause a wide variety of problems, including slow or spotty connectivity, poor network performance, and low user satisfaction.

Unfortunately, the causes can be hidden unless you uncover the issues with a wired network assessment. Here’s what you need to know about the health of your wired network.

Health Checks for the Wired Network

A wired network assessment is a general checkup for your network. It involves:

• Checking the cabling and wiring for age, layout, condition, etc. It will identify and inventory fiber connections, copper wiring, etc.
• Checking the age and general condition of your hardware and networking equipment, including all physical installations.
• An overview and assessment of your logical network, including VLANs, routers, services, etc.
• An overview and assessment of how your networking team is adhering to industry and company best practices.
• An assessment can be made according to the vendors you use, the vendors you plan to use, or you can get a vendor agnostic wired network assessment so that you can remain open-ended about vendor selection until you’re ready to commit and buy.

Don’t Forget Your Wireless Headaches!

While you’re having an assessment done on your wired network, you might also want the professionals to take a look at what’s causing your wireless difficulties. In many cases, updating and upgrading the wired connectivity can improve your wireless service, but in other situations, the problems with your wireless connections have nothing to do with your connection and everything to do with your wireless environment. Wireless connectivity problems can include:

• Old and outdated equipment
• Interference from your environment or other nearby wireless networks
• Areas with a higher than normal or higher than expected density of users
• Applications running on the network that consume lots of bandwidth
• Low powered devices in use, such as tablets and smartphones
• Today’s users just aren’t willing to accept anything less than high-performance connectivity around the clock

How to Get an Accurate Diagnosis & a Surefire Cure

A wired network assessment can be like finally getting a verified diagnosis and receiving the medicine you need to cure what ails you. Whether you need to upgrade your equipment, add more physical installations, or simply invest in more bandwidth, the assessment points you to the solutions you need to get your network back to health.

Ready to improve your network? Request a quote for the wired network assessment you need today.