IT ISSUE · NETWORKS AND CONNECTIVITY
Wi-Fi weak or dropping out
Wi-Fi trouble and internet trouble feel identical from a desk and are often not the same thing.Wi-Fi trouble and internet trouble feel identical from a desk, and they are often not the same thing. Distance, walls, interference, where the access points ended up, what the device itself can do, congestion at busy times and the age of the wireless gear all produce the same symptom.
What you may notice
- Some rooms have weak coverage.
- Calls or meetings drop out.
- Wi-Fi is slow at busy times.
- Only certain devices disconnect.
- Staff switch between networks to stay connected.
- The internet works by cable but not reliably over Wi-Fi.
Separate Wi-Fi coverage from the internet service
We review the affected area, the devices and the network equipment to work out whether it's local Wi-Fi coverage, the internet connection or both at once.
This is one of the jobs that often needs someone onsite. Where the walls are and what else is transmitting nearby aren't things we can see from a remote session.
The dropping Teams calls that were not a Teams problem
- What was reported
- Microsoft Teams calls kept dropping for one staff member, several times a day.
- What it turned out to be
- A newly installed wireless mesh node had been placed right beside the desk, and its 5 GHz channel was clashing with the laptop's Wi-Fi during peak call hours.
- Why nobody connected them
- The pattern looked like a Teams or internet fault because it was consistent and repeatable, but it only happened at one desk and around the same time each day, which pointed to local interference rather than the service itself.
Professional services, 6 to 10 people