As an Apple-focused Admin, one of the tools that most belongs in your toolbox is an understanding of how Wi-Fi works on a fundamentals level. You need to know how devices interact with this network layer as much or more than you do how they interact with TCP/IP and other Layer 3 technologies. In our day-long workshop, Chris Dawe and I are going to be talking about how Wi-Fi works, from a history of the technology (now in its 3rd decade!), to how your Apple devices interact with Wi-Fi, to how to troubleshoot networks and design better ones.

We’ll be doing this workshop at X World in Sydney in late June, and then again at Mac Admins in July. We’re thrilled to be working with two of the Apple Admin world’s best conferences.

We’ll be starting with a thorough history of Wi-Fi, moving to the nuts and bolts of how Wi-Fi works between a client and access point, and introductory sections on network design, network troubleshooting, and network security, and then an overview of the survey and analysis tools. We’ll wrap it all up with how Apple devices interact with all of the above, and all the specialized knowledge you’ll need to make sure that your networks are tuned properly for your fleets.

Physics Always Wins is the name of the workshop, and a stern reminder that there are good rules of the road to follow for good Wi-Fi. Discerning what the best settings are for your environment feels like an artisan’s job these days, given the layers of marketing speak and incomplete understandings of the radio frequency world. We’re hoping to give more Apple Admins a firmer understanding of how it all works, so you can make the right engineering choices.