As 2018 comes to a close, forward-thinking IT professionals are tackling maintenance chores, assessments, and tune-up tasks to prepare for the year ahead. This ebook offers a collection of practical tips to help you handle the most critical end-of-year jobs—from updating firmware to replacing batteries to reviewing budget performance.

From the ebook: Update firmware < >
Check for firmware updates to hardware, especially:

• Routers
• Firewalls
• Switches
• Wi-Fi devices
• Printers
• Scanners

While most companies patch servers, desktops, and mobile devices regularly, the above devices are often overlooked.

Refresh Wi-Fi settings
You might also update Wi-Fi network settings for your access points for both employee devices and guests. Depending on your setup, push the updates automatically to employee devices, or ask employees and guests to update their settings. Also, change the administrative password for your access points or, at the very least, make sure the settings are something other than the manufacturer defaults. (It still amazes me how often I find Wi-Fi devices with the manufacturer’s default settings configured.)