How Maven improved Greendot HQ WiFi
THE PROBLEM
Greendot is a vegetarian chain with an intention to make healthy meat-free meals convenient, accessible and affordable. With 11 outlets spread across islandwide, communications between Greendot HQ and each respective outlets through digital means are especially important. Similar to any modern offices, the staffs at Greendot HQ rely on WiFi to facilitate their day to day operation effectively. However, the performance of the WiFi infrastructure at Greendot HQ is particularly problematic where it has caused inconvenience towards operations.
WiFi links have been unreliable despite located relatively near the router.
There are several dead zones where WiFi coverage is especially weak, resulting in unusable WiFi.
The WiFi speed is not consistent, averaging at
32.84 Mbps download (min 7.88 Mbps, max 90.03 Mbps)
24.11 Mbps upload (min 5.63 Mbps, max 50.20 Mbps)
Greendot HQ Office - Credit Wee Studio Pte Ltd
THE ENVIRONMENT
In this case study, we will be focusing on the main office at Greendot HQ. The main office models a conventional square with a dimension of 12.0m (length) by 9.5m (width).
Greendot Office Floor Plan
THE MEASUREMENT
The team at Maven then conducted a coverage measurement to get a better understanding of the WiFi distribution around the premise. Currently, the office relies on a single router, as shown below for its WiFi connectivity.
WiFi Coverage of Existing Router
For the interested readers, the table below would represent the range of WiFi signal strength with its respective colour mapping.
Colour Legend of the WiFi Coverage Map
THE SOLUTION
A separate WiFi system was then installed around the premise as the initial coverage measurement indicated that the existing router could not support the WiFi needs of the staff at Greendot HQ adequately. The new WiFi system comprises of a primary routing unit and a secondary extender to provide optimal WiFi coverage for the teams to utilize reliably. Pictures below show the WiFi coverage for the individual routers and the overall coverage as a system.
WiFi Coverage for the New Primary Unit
WiFi Coverage for the Secondary Extender Unit
WiFi Coverage of the New WiFi System (Primary + Secondary)
THE OUTCOME
The staffs have now utilized the new WiFi network at Greendot HQ with great success. This case study has also illustrated the importance of WiFi coverage and its real-world impact it could influence on both reliability and usability of a WiFi network. The proposed approach to help rectify the WiFi issues at Greendot HQ has deemed effective as it showed real-world improvement.
The team has done several follow-ups after the installation and there are zero reported cases of WiFi dropout. WiFi speed has also improved, averaging at
110.17 Mbps download (min 83.50 Mbps, max 142.11 Mbps) - improvement of 235.48%
98.56 Mbps upload (min 68.92 Mbps, max 124.19 Mbps) - improvement of 308.79%
In the context of WiFi Coverage, an improvement of 22% was measured when comparing the existing and newly installed WiFi system. The comparison was benchmarked at the threshold level of -60 dBm and below (after Yellow Region – Poor WiFi Signal Strength).
Comparison between Existing and New WiFi System