Why Reliable Wi-Fi Coverage is Critical for Care Homes – Especially After the Digital Switchover

In today’s world, Wi-Fi coverage is no longer a luxury for care homes – it’s a necessity. From supporting the wellbeing of residents to enabling staff to work efficiently and safely, a reliable wireless network is essential to maintain daily operations. As the UK moves forward with the Digital Switchover, ensuring strong, seamless connectivity across all areas of your care facility has never been more important.

 

What Affects Wi-Fi Coverage in Care Homes?

Care homes often operate in buildings that weren’t originally designed with wireless connectivity in mind. A number of factors can compromise Wi-Fi strength and coverage.

Your buildings layout & structure can affect coverage. Thick walls, fire doors, and multiple floors can block or degrade wireless signals.

With more digital devices used by staff, residents, and visitors, networks can become congested. This results in a device overload across the system which is detrimental to your wi-fi signal and coverage.

Many care facilities do not realise that outdated infrastructure like old routers or a single access point may not meet demand. Numerous access points or a mesh unit may be required.

Areas such as corridors, lounges, or outdoor spaces often have weak or no signal due to limited access point reach. These are considered ‘dead zones’ and need to be assessed to identify if they need a strong signal esp. If these areas require digital phones or have high digital traffic.

 

Why Wi-Fi Matters in Care Homes

A strong Wi-Fi network enables:

1. Digital care planning and record-keeping to be done in real time.
2. Telehealth and remote consultations, reducing the need for hospital trips.
3. Resident wellbeing through access to video calls, streaming, and online activities.
4. Communication between teams via VoIP systems or mobile devices.

 

The Digital Switchover – What Does it Mean for Wi-Fi?

The upcoming Digital Switchover will see traditional phone lines phased out in favour of VoIP (Voice over IP) systems that rely entirely on internet connectivity. This shift has several implications. The first being that voice systems will now depend on your internet connection – if your Wi-Fi is patchy, call quality and reliability may suffer.

Emergency systems like nurse call alerts and fall sensors will also need stable internet access. Without strong, consistent coverage across your premises, your care home and residents could be significantly impacted.

One of the main issues will involve power outages or internet disruptions which could pose risks if no redundancy or backup is in place. We will go into back-up solutions in further detail later within this blog.

 

How to Improve Wi-Fi Coverage in Care Homes

Improving Wi-Fi coverage in a care home isn’t just about installing a better router, it involves a planned, tailored approach that accounts for building layout, usage demands, safety systems, and future scalability.

Here’s an in-depth look at how care homes can enhance their wireless connectivity:

Site Survey – Begin with a professional wireless site survey to identify coverage gaps and signal interference. Before making any upgrades, it’s important to understand where the coverage issues lie.

 

A wireless site survey maps your building to identify:

• Signal dead zones
• Interference from walls, equipment, or other wireless signals
• Areas of high usage or congestion

This analysis helps determine the ideal placement of access points (APs) and highlights any structural challenges that might affect performance.

 

Install Additional Access Points – These devices extend signal reach into corners, corridors, and outbuildings. In many care homes, a single Wi-Fi router isn’t enough, especially in older or larger buildings. Additional access points can be installed across the site to extend coverage into key areas like:

• Resident rooms and lounges
• Corridors and stairwells
• Gardens or courtyards
• Admin offices and clinical areas

 

Properly placed APs ensure staff can access care records on the go and residents can stay connected without signal dropouts.

 

Use a Mesh Wi-Fi System – For larger or more complex sites, a mesh network ensures full and fast coverage, allowing staff and devices to stay connected without signal drops. Where some standard access points aren’t enough, a mesh Wi-Fi system can offer reliable, building-wide connectivity. Mesh systems consist of multiple nodes that communicate with each other to form a single, strong network.

Benefits include:

• Smooth roaming without disconnects as devices move throughout the building.
• Easier expansion as needs grow (add more nodes without reconfiguring the whole network).
• Automatic rerouting of traffic if one node fails.

 

This is especially useful for care homes with multiple buildings, annexes, or complex layouts.

 

Implement Failover Solutions – A wireless backup (like 4G/5G) provides continuity during broadband outages. With essential services now relying on internet access like nurse call systems or VoIP – it’s vital to have a failover solution in place.

Options include:

• A secondary broadband connection (e.g., 4G/5G)
• Battery backup (UPS) to maintain systems during power outages
• Cloud-hosted services with offline fallback modes

 

These ensures that connectivity remains uninterrupted, even during outages or technical issues.

 

Upgrade Equipment – Modern routers and switches ensure better speeds, more device handling, and improved reliability. Old routers and switches can throttle performance, even with good coverage.

Consider:

• Upgrading to Wi-Fi 6 for better speeds, capacity, and device handling
• High-performance managed switches for better network control
• Firewall and security enhancements to protect sensitive data and comply with regulations like GDPR

 

Final Thoughts

As care homes continue to digitise and move away from legacy phone systems, investing in strong, future-proof Wi-Fi is essential. The right network not only ensures safety and operational efficiency but also enhances the quality of life for residents and peace of mind for families.

At Orbital Net, we support numerous care homes across the country with internet/phones and Wi-Fi infrastructure solutions. Whether you’re preparing for the digital switchover or simply want to improve your current setup, our team is here to help.

 

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Contact us today for more details or to request a free internet audit on 0330 324 4444 / solutions@orbital.net or visit our website www.orbital.net