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Managing WiFi expectations

DALL·E 2024-12-22 13.51.22 

by Michail Bletsas

Dec. 22, 2024

The WiFi infrastructure at the Media Lab is provided by IS&T. It comprises of 145 Juniper Mist AP43 dual band (2.4/5GHz) Access Points that are centrally coordinated by a Cloud-based controller.

On a regular day, this infrastructure supports between 500 and 1000 devices, a number that increases  significantly during events happening at the lab with no problems.

Occasionally, the IS&T WiFi  system exhibits erratic behavior,  with the most common symptom being devices failing to connect (caused by underlying transport network failures and/or problematic access point firmware). In cases like that, we usually contact IS&T before we get the user complaints.  

Within the Lab we often see issues because people stand up "rogue" APs in order to do experiments. These APs often interfere with the main WLAN infrastructure. In order to fit 145 Access Points in the building and properly "cellularize" their coverage (i.e. coordinate their frequencies so that they don't step onto each other), the IS&T APs utilize 20 MHz channels that the cloud controller dynamically assigns to the APs. Throwing in an AP that uses 80 or 160 MHz channels (that's how home routers come configured these days) that doesn't coordinate with the rest of the APs, usually brings havoc. Please try to avoid using your own APs. Most usage scenarios can be covered by the lab's infrastructure (and yes we can bridge wired and wireless devices). Adding your own AP always deteriorate the experience of all the other users around it!

Most people experience issues with WiFi while on conference calls (zoom etc.) because of the real time nature of conference traffic.  We have always advised people to use wired ethernet connections when possible, especially when Zooming. As much as we would like it to, WiFi will never be as reliable as plain old ethernet. If your office ethernet jacks are not active, let us know and will patch and activate them.

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