Optimizing industrial networks is something of an endless pursuit. New technologies are available every year, and each upgrade can lead to superior communication, more powerful tools, and opportunities to optimize the facets of any operation. Within the realm of network optimization is designing for electrical usage and distribution. Much of the operating cost of your network will come from raw electricity consumption.

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WiFi 6 is officially here. While the technology has been in play for the better part of two years, the standard has only recently been finalized. The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) conducted trial deployments and came to final conclusions on their standards for WiFi 6. You can expect manufacturers to follow this standard moving forward. The new designation is IEEE 802.11ax, and it will identify technology that is adherent to the standard. Here’s what you will need to know.

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The Pew Research Center conducted a study in February 2019 to determine who in the U.S. uses a cell phone. Not surprisingly, they discovered that 96 percent of Americans use some kind of cell phone. With cell phones in the purse or pocket of nearly everyone, people today take cellular communication for granted. Until that is, they cannot get reliable service — a problem that people using landline phones rarely experience. Low signal strength in the service area is the most common reason for poor reception. Fortunately, signal boosters solve that problem and restore solid, reliable communication. Let’s look at how they work and how you can tell if a booster will help.

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Video surveillance is vital for businesses and public spaces. Building a remote outdoor surveillance system presents significant challenges, especially one that is off-grid and requires wireless communication. How will your video be recorded and accessed? How will you power the cameras? Which cameras should be used? There are plenty of options to consider when installing cameras on a cellular or wireless local area network (WLAN). Three of the most significant issues to resolve are bandwidth, power, and security.

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Power over Ethernet (PoE) is a vital technology for many network engineers and administrators. In decentralized network nodes and components, getting power and data can prove unbelievably challenging. PoE has offered a direct, efficient solution for years, and it’s massively popular for a reason.

PoE, in general, has grown dramatically in use over the past five years. Since 2016, it has been maintaining a 13-percent annualized growth rate in total sales, and PoE alone expects to be a billion-dollar market by 2022. It’s easy to see why. The convenience and efficiency of running power and communication through a single line make networking design easier, cheaper, and more flexible. With ports each supplying from 15 to 100 watts (W) on various iterations of PoE, there are plenty of options to precisely build a network the way you want. 

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