Smart Utility Cart for Improving Wireless Communication in High-Noise Environments

It is common practice in data centers and other industrial environments to place wireless client devices such as laptops on rolling utility carts for transport through the facility. Such wireless client devices are often in close proximity to equipment that generates substantial radio frequency (RF) noise and interferes with wireless connectivity of the client devices. This disclosure describes a smart utility cart with a telescopic mast that hosts a wireless device bridge, e.g., antenna, situated at a height above RF noise sources to improve the received signal (by being in line of sight with access points) and to decrease the received RF noise (by increasing the distance from RF noise sources). The utility cart can also be provisioned with an RF shield to further decrease the received RF noise. The smart utility cart improves signal-to-noise ratio and wireless connectivity in industrial environments that have dense RF noise