Why Old Wifi Hot Spots Are A Thing In The Past And The Benefits Of Adopting A Social Wifi Network.

By Victor James


If you have already decided on the type of hardware your going to purchase and know that its already compatible with the software your next step is to pick the best software to restrict content filtering, restrict bandwidth and easily manage your splash pages.

What type of hardware requirements do we need to run a social WiFi network? The most popular hardware vendor of choice is the Meraki MR series access point. Many technology vendors in the greater Toronto area select this type of access point because of the feature rich web interface it has that allows them to manage everything from the cloud. The Meraki access point is hosted with a 99.999% SLA so you can count on the cloud WiFi always being up. Although the msrp of this type of access point ranges from $700-800 it has the best features as it allows technology companies to manage splash pages, bandwidth restrictions, vlans and content filtering.

Connectsim has been deploying managed wireless services for the retail and restaurant market for years. They have a proven solution that has worked for many years. Hardware providers would offer you only the hardware to start a splash page design that connects you to a splash page wireless offering but it lacks the social content. The most effective way to capture and engage your loyal customers is to offer the social media log in to a free wireless network zone.

Connectsim's software solution enables a restaurant or retail company to utilize their social WiFi software that works with their compatible wireless hardware. Their solution offers the retail or restaurant owner to have a fully managed campaign that takes care of content filtering, bandwidth restrictions so users don't burn through your internet rates.

We approached Connectsim at a local restaurant trade show to ask them the typical costs to start a campaign with them and how long a typical contract runs. From our quick 10 minute conversation with Connectsim their mid Social WiFi package starts at around $500/month with a 1 year commitment. For what they offer in this package is a steal (signage, branding, coasters, large signs, facebook management and twitter design pages and more)

So to summarize the hardware needed for a social WiFi zone depends if you'll be hosting it with a VAR (least start up costs and set up is fast), if you'll purchase the hardware yourself (needs a expensive controller, expensive router and extensive knowledge to set up). The last alternative route you can deploy is a cheap WiFi router but it will still cost you roughly $200-$400 to purchase plus licenses, as well you will need to purchase additional equipment to filter out content and bandwidth and to manage campaigns. The smart choice to deploy a social WiFi campaign is to select a managed service provider.




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