Guest WiFi Solutions for Large Venues: What’s Needed for Setup?

To make sure you can smoothly set up guest WiFi inside a large venue, you need to remove all of the guesswork and factor in some vital considerations. It’s more than simply installing a router and allowing guests to access it as that alone can surprise you with more issues than solutions.

To make sure the entire guest WiFi solution experience is seamless from setup to sign-in, take these five things into consideration.

1. The Venue Size
2. The Capacity
3. Paying for Coverage
4. Friendly Filters
5. The Right WiFi Provider

1. The Venue Size

When setting up a guest WiFi solution, one of the first things you need to factor in is the size of the venue. Having this information will allow you to gauge the type of network coverage you need.

For example, you don’t want to overlook the size of your venue and realise you’ve committed to a service that doesn’t cover all of the important areas inside the venue, leaving guests without any access.

Although, it’s important not to flood areas with access points for the sake of making sure that people can get connected. This could lead to users experiencing cross channel interference which could render the entire network useless. This is why bringing in experts can help, as they can guide you to take the best course of action.

2. The Capacity

During setup, you also need to factor in the capacity in terms of how many devices will be connected to the guest WiFi solution at any given time. This is vital when setting up a large venue network as you need to be able to cater to any number of devices.

It’s not just guests or attendees you need to factor in either. There may also be vendors or VIPs who will be accessing the guest network that expect the same speed and reliability.

Think about how many people will be in the venue at any one time, then think about how many devices each individual is connecting to the guest WiFi. It can be a phone, tablet, laptop and more - so your solution needs to be able to handle all of this without disruption.

Just like the size of the venue, anticipating the capacity is also another aspect to consider during the setup of your guest WiFi solution. You’ll need to ensure the system will be able to provide an excellent service consistently for both small and large events you may host.

3. Paying for Coverage

Linking the venue size with the capacity, you need to think about how visitors will move and where they’re most likely to congregate and use their connected devices.

By factoring this into your planning stages, you’ll be able to limit costs and avoid overspending. You also don’t want to realise afterwards that you made the incorrect decision when choosing a supplier if vendors and guests are putting the pressure on you over poor guest WiFi.

Make sure you prioritise important areas in your venue first when budgeting for your commercial WiFi solution.

4. Friendly Filters

The next aspect to consider during the guest WiFi solution setup stage is to think about content filtering and consider the Friendly WiFi accreditation. This tells the guests that your service is family friendly, so that they can access the network safely and securely.

This is vital when it comes to showing that your network is secure and that anyone connected to the guest WiFi will be safe. Without this, they might be hesitant to connect and not have an enjoyable experience.

Look for a provider that offers a content filtering solution that is tailored to your organisation and audience. It’ll put the guests at ease and also show that you take online safety seriously by blocking access to potentially harmful content for younger audiences, for example.

5. The Right WiFi Provider

Arguably one of the most important aspects to consider during the setup of your guest WiFi solution is the provider that’s going to roll this out for you. So, it’s important you look for a provider that can help make this deployment seamless and with minimal challenges.

Some things to look out for include:

• Provide branded splash pages to boost brand awareness.
• Carry out full on-site wireless surveys to save you money by ensuring each part of the large venue has suitable wireless coverage.
• The ability to ensure your guest WiFi filtering is accredited before anything goes live.
• Lets you own the WiFi data so you can continue improving your guest WiFi solution.
• Is flexible enough to grow with your guest WiFi requirements.
• Can offer integration with services such as loyalty, feedback or wayfinding to enhance the user experience.
• Revenue generation opportunities, such as advertising and premium guest access.

These are all great additions to have, all of which the SPARK® Platform offers. With SPARK®, you’ll be able to give visitors a reliable network that can cope with the demands of busy periods as well as offer that added-value to your solution for both you and your guests

Now that you know what to factor in when setting up a guest WiFi solution, it’s time to find out more about what the right WiFi provider can help you with.

Find Out How You Can Get the Most From Your WiFi

You might already have a guest WiFi solution in place, but it might not be reliable, fast or secure enough for your visitors. To help enhance their experience and to start you off on the right foot during the setup phase, we’ve created a helpful guide on finding the right WiFi supplier to make the entire process seamless.

It’s full of useful tips to help you find a partner for your specific needs, allowing you to provide the best guest WiFi solution possible. To get your free copy, click on the link below.