6 Reasons Why Wireless Mesh Networks are Best for Distributors

If you haven’t yet heard of them, wireless mesh networks are a new way of connecting the computers in the office for distributors. This compares to the conventional way of running cables around your loading bays, warehouse, and administrative departments.

In fact, being wireless is a significant advantage, as anyone who has dealt with the chore of physically wiring up workplaces will soon tell you.

In a wireless mesh network (WMN), communications between computers and the network and within the network itself are cable-free. The network nodes or switching points in the WMN are organized in a grid or mesh, as the name indicates.

Traffic, whether for emails, websites, or applications on your server, is routed dynamically through the wireless network, according to the best path available at any given moment.

1. USES STANDARD WIRELESS NETWORK PROTOCOLS

Wi-Fi already exists in many places, using common protocols like 802.11b or 802.11g. A wireless mesh network offers users Wi-Fi connectivity they already know and understand. The nodes then communicate with each other using wireless transmissions as well, instead of having to be physically linked.

2. SIMPLE TO INSTALL

Nodes for wireless mesh networks need electrical power to operate, like other IT equipment. However, once plugged into an available power socket, the physical installation is complete. Depending on the solution chosen, the nodes will then configure themselves to make the wireless network operational.

3. NETWORK EVERYWHERE

Warehouses are not always equipped with conventional Ethernet/Local Area Network physical sockets. However, they and the users working in them can be brought online by simply adding wireless nodes in the warehouse. The mesh network allows you to eliminate line-of-sight problems too. Users working behind storage racks can have the same connectivity as those in the reception area.

4. EASY TO GROW

To get more connectivity and more capacity to handle traffic, you add more nodes in the same way as above. The packets that make up the traffic continue to be dynamically routed over the different nodes, which optimize themselves for faster, more efficient transmissions. 

5. SELF-HEALING

If a node fails or is blocked, the network automatically looks for the next fastest and most reliable route for transmitting data. A wireless mesh network is like a mini-Internet, ensuring communications always get through even if part of the network is down.

6. LOWER COST

Physical cabling can be a considerable expense, both at the time of installation and in terms of the time and effort needed to manage it. It is also an investment that's hard to adjust afterward and that’s tied to one physical location. By comparison, wireless mesh networks not only save on these costs, but is something you can pack up and take with you if your enterprise moves to new premises.

This new-generation technology has other tricks up its sleeve as well. In addition to strong network security and support for users that “roam” or move between locations, lower power consumption could mean future wireless networks that use renewable energy sources like solar cells. Then you would not need cables of any kind, not even for power.

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