Wireless Signal Degredataion Explained

In the majority of instances people will see their Wireless Signal Represented in Signal Bars where;

3 (or more) Bars – Represents a ‘Full’ or a Strong Signal

2 Bars – Represents Medium Signal

1 Bar – Represents Weak Signal

0 Bars – Represents No Signal

For the purposes of these examples we will represent;

Access Point – Black Line around Dark Blue

3 Bars/Strong Signal – Dark Blue

2 Bars/Medium Signal – Lighter Blue

1 Bar/Weak Signal – Lightest Blue

0 Bars/No Signal – No Blue

Small Office Space (One Access Point)

In a Small Office Space, a single central Wireless Access Point is usually more than adequate dependant upon the quantity of people who will be accessing the Access Point and the size of the space.

Due to the low amount of users in a smaller space, the lower quantity of users and by extension the lower quantity of devices using WiFi, you are less likely to experience significant issues. Users towards the outside edges of a smaller space may experience slightly poorer signal than those closest to the access point, however usually this will not be a noticeable degradation to cause significantly slower speeds unless there are a large quantity of users or devices connected and using the same Access Point.

Larger Office Space (One Access Point)

In a Larger Office, with a single central Access Point, you will usually start to experience issues with Wireless Signal Degradation as there is usually more people, spread out over a larger space.

Towards the edges of a Larger Office Space, you may find that signal for those users is much poorer than those closest to the Wireless Access Point. And whilst this diagram shows no internal walls or obstacles, if you are in a larger office space you may have internal dividing walls that could also cause interference and degrade a wireless signal over distance. It is also worth considering that if your office space is separated out over multiple floors, it is always recommended that each floor has its own Access Points. As, whilst wireless signal can penetrate most building floors, signal can be heavily degraded between building floors. Meaning that users on the floor where a Wireless Access Point is not located will experience significantly lower signal compared to the floor where it is located.

In Larger Office Spaces, such as the one depicted in this example, we would usually recommend 2 (or more) Access Points separated at an optimum distance to ensure that all of the space receives coverage.

Large Office Space (Multiple Access Points)

In Very Large Office Spaces, Warehouses, Multi-Floor Offices or even High Density Office Spaces, it is absolutely recommended that your business has Multiple Access Points to cope with the space that is required to be covered and the quantity of users and devices that will be accessing the Wireless Network.

Whilst this example may represent the extreme case of a high density office space, especially when you consider that most large offices will have multiple floors, rooms and dividing walls. It is absolutely necessary that Multiple Access Points are required to be able to service all users in all areas of the space required. And in a warehouse, even the material of dividing walls can be deciding factor in the quantity and position of wireless access points to ensure accurate coverage.

In instances such as these it would be a requirement that our expert network engineers would require floor plans for the building to be able to build an accurate Access Point Distribution Plan to ensure accurate distribution of wireless coverage across all floors across the space required. It may even be required that one of our engineers visit the site to run wireless signal tests to ensure that the signal is accurately distributed over the area required. And for some businesses, this may even include the installation of externally rated access points for wireless coverage outside of their business where required.