5 Best Practices for Guest WiFi Deployment | WiFi SPARK
To keep up with the ever-increasing competition and growing consumer demand, large public venues need to make sure they offer fast and free guest WiFi....
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4 minute read | 29/04/2019
Any event inside your venue can quickly become a disaster if smooth WiFi isn’t on offer. There’ll be frustrated guests who expect the best WiFi possible, key messages from events that’ll be missed but most of all, your venue will probably become famous for its poor WiFi offering. The end goal is obviously to have smooth venue WiFi - so here are the hurdles you need to overcome before reaching that goal.
When it comes to eventually offering smooth venue WiFi, one of the first things to think about is whether or not your solution can handle large volumes of devices being connected at any given time.
By implementing the wrong solution, or one that’s not suitable for your venue, there’s always the risk that visitors will suffer from inconsistent connections which can drop if it’s not geared up for large amounts of users. That’s what contributes towards their frustration as they now expect 100% uptime.
So, while you think about the number of people accessing WiFi in your venue, it’s just as important to think about how many devices each person could use at the same time as well. For example, somebody might be using a laptop, smartphone and a tablet - expecting a perfect, seamless connection on each device.
The solution you have in place needs to be able to cope with this demand, offering smooth WiFi to everyone in your venue and on every device they connect with.
Technology has massively evolved and continues to do so. The current WiFi solution you have in place in your venue may not be able to provide the speed people today have become accustomed to and expect wherever they are.
That’s a common issue with outdated solutions compared to the standards people have today. There’s also the chance that the WiFi in your venue perhaps didn’t have a better option at the time and since then, you haven’t scaled up for a more suitable and reliable solution.
When trying to implement smooth venue WiFi, make sure you put a lot of emphasis on the number of users that’ll be connecting to the WiFi. The weaker the venue WiFi solution and the more people that are using it at once, the slower the connection will be.
You also need to think about the coverage area and whether or not all of your visitors can access it wherever they are.
Think about where people move, where they congregate and the most popular spots within. When looking for a solution, think about where people will use their devices the most and spend most of their time.
By doing this, you’ll avoid paying for coverage in areas where people never use your WiFi.
The answer is simple. You need the right WiFi provider that’ll implement the perfect solution for your business to overcome the challenges mentioned above.
If you choose a poor option or a cheaper alternative, there’s always the risk of your venue WiFi leaving guests frustrated and unwilling to return. So, you need to consider a lot when it comes to picking a provider that can offer a reliable network that can cope with the busiest and most demanding of periods.
The right provider will offer you insight into how visitors are behaving inside of your venue. You’ll be able to get access to plenty of useful metrics, where visitors go when they arrive, how many devices are connected to the network and much more. When looking for the right supplier, question them on what this data can tell you about your venue.
You’ll also have access points and other hardware which are robust and well-tested, this will help maintain the service over the years, giving you a long lasting solution. They’d also include a failover option to make sure your venue offers a continuous service if the main network happens to fail.
If any issues do happen to arise, the provider you choose should offer fast and effective technical support no matter how small the issue. This will minimise downtime and if you’ve picked the right supplier, it’s unlikely your venue will suffer from WiFi problems to begin with. Instead, your venue guests can continuously enjoy smooth WiFi.
Make sure the WiFi provider you select can guarantee fast speeds in your venue. It doesn’t matter where visitors are or how many devices are connected at once. The network should be able to cope with high usage periods and offer guests connected to your WiFi consistent speed and connectivity.
All of these can keep your venue WiFi up and running while also helping to avoid disappointing guests. So, make sure to thoroughly research the WiFi provider you narrow your choices down to.
As well as addressing the three C’s, it’s important to consider the added value that you can get from the right WiFi solution, including increasing your brand awareness, engaging with users and encouraging loyalty.
You might have thousands of people in your venue, so you need to be confident that you have a robust infrastructure in place to offer a smooth WiFi experience. Rather than running the risk of frustrating your guests, think about ways in which you can enhance the visitor experience.
That means to think beyond WiFi. A quick and reliable network and excellent coverage are just some of the aspects you should think about.
For more tips on finding the right venue WiFi suppliers, download our free eBook below. It’ll make your decision on choosing the right provider much easier.
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Rebecca is the Marketing Director. She's worked for SPARK TSL since 2012. She is responsible for high level marketing strategy focusing on lead generation and aiding the vision of the business; to ensure that no patient has to pay for entertainment.
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