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Technology and different web and mobile applications are flooding the market at an alarming rate every single day. It is really difficult to keep up with what VPNs are doing to continually mask their identities or what new service the current VOIP is providing to add more functionality.

However the cause and effect is easy to interpret. All the new functionalities and applications end up creating a huge bottle neck and suck out the performance of a network like a mutating virus.

Streaming Services

Youtube stats from Google now have reported that nearly one out of every two users on the internet are visiting youtube every month for its service. That is nearly one billion visits a month to simply watch videos or listen to music. Simply put, the internet has exploded but the speed and networks have simply not kept up.

It can be quite hard to dial down, but a Youtube movie at 480(p) will most likely use 240 MB of data/hr. Now with a bigger company and understanding current usage trends, we will then multiply this data times 50% of employees in any certain company. It does not take a seasoned IT professional to understand with this scenario the overall network performance is going to sink like the Titanic.

There are different ways to approach understanding usage stats for users but with massive stats like this, it would probably be best to allocate certain departments for access to huge streaming platforms. For example, marketing would have the ability to use the platform but other employees having their access blocked.

This solves the problem for larger platforms but how do you understand the many many other ways to stream music, video, or other data consuming applications like games. Most, if not all companies have moved towards network monitoring software which can easily understand usage stats and prevent bottlenecks while also documenting trends or anomalies in real time.

Personal Devices and BYOD

It is quite the norm nowadays to be connected with your smartphone or tablet. In 2017 alone, it was noted that smartphones and tablets accounted for 70% of time spent on the internet. While going up 5% from 65% usage in 2016.

As well as, companies are beginning to understand how productivity can skyrocket when an employee is able to answer emails or do that meeting when they are sipping on their morning joe or eating their breakfast.

Additionally the cost of providing all the employees with their own personal laptops and devices can bring a hefty price tag. So, the answer to most small to medium businesses is Bring Your Own Device ( BYOD ).

All these devices come at a cost to the network performance and it is also a security nightmare with unknown devices or personal devices on your network. Policies need to be set in place that are ingrained in stone to understand the many factors that are involved with secure data, access to data, and employees rights to security monitoring software.

The pros from BYOD are quite substantial and easily can increase production, save money, increase morale, and create a flexible environment for employees to better retain your workforce.

It is up to the network team to understand what data can be accessed and the liability that comes with personal devices gaining access to the network and the negative secondary effects of the many devices on performance.

Balancing Technology, Morale and Network Performance

In 2019, employees thrive more and more off flexibility and independence in the workplace. Millenials have been brought up on technology and they are a part of this revolution.

The evidence is there on remote working and we are using more VOIP for meetings and personal devices than ever before in the workplace. Globalization is here to stay and your networks have to be healthy to keep up with the continued upward trend in technology and communication.
Angry IP scanner is free and open-source (IP and port scanner) tool released under GPLv2 license. It scans the network and detect attached details of those devices that are connected to the router. It displays details like IP address, Port address, MAC address, NetBIOS information and so on. The amount of gathered data about each host can be extended with plugins. It can scan IP addresses in any range as well as any their ports. It is cross-platform and lightweight, it can be freely copied and used anywhere. It also has additional features, like NetBIOS information (computer name, workgroup name, and currently logged in Windows user), favorite IP address ranges, web server detection, customizable openers, etc.