- Purchase Internet connection from any service provider.
- Connect a Wi-Fi router or some access points to your LAN.
- Get free Wi-Fi on your premises!!!
Initially this seems to be a logical and financially very feasible solution, let's now evaluate this scenario…
- Any person can connect to your network – This includes customers and anybody with a Wi-Fi enabled device within your wireless range.
- Everyone is local – Customers, anybody in the wireless range and your company computers are all on same network, effectively placing everybody on a 'local network'. In an local network users can access files from other's computers, use shared resources etc… This is a very potential security risk for your company as well as for the customers.
- No bandwidth control – Users can download huge files (Movies, songs etc…) and most of these people use "download accelerators" to get most out of the Internet connection. This bogs down, slows and may freeze your network to a halt as you do not have a method of controlling the bandwidth consumed by a user.
- Reluctance to use – Customers are aware of potential security risk of 'open' Wi-Fi and may not use the facility at all and further more may move on to a location where protected Internet is available. This type of behavior fails your objective of providing wireless Internet to the customers and may also be a minus point to your location.
- Low reliability – Unlike our professional grade equipment, mostly Wi-Fi is provided by using SOHO (small office/home office) class equipment which is practically designed for the use of 5-10 people with light browsing and may experience lot of slowdowns and freezing of network connection.
- Cost to benefit ratio – The cost of providing free wireless Internet and problems which may come out of it easily outweighs the benefits.