There are four major components to a WiFi network, and, as we describe below their functionality is inter-related:
- A properly-sized Internet connection.
- A commercial-grade router with firewall, web filtering, quality-of-service features.
- Enough WiFi Access Points to provide good coverage. Technically, a WiFi Access point will “beam” its signal between 150 ft and 300ft. But that’s a best case figure, and doesn’t take into account antennae attenuation, electrical noise, walls and other WiFi sources.
- A properly sized IP network plan. If they are to be allowed onto your WiFi network, each user will require something called an IP address.
If your store location is small and you don’t use any of the IP addresses for your own equipment, you may be able to survive with 255 IP addresses.But, what if you have a good-sized seafood restaurant or a small concert venue, and want to have more than 250 customers at a time? You clearly need more IP addresses
If you have a consumer-grade router and cannot manage the type of services that your visitors can use, a few people streaming their favorite shows or making telephone calls or downloading large files, could bring your network to a halt. And, prevent the other customers from getting “good internet” service.
And, when it comes to “bandwidth” from the cable or telephone company, you can’t properly “size your Internet circuit” until you know what types of traffic will be allowed and the estimated number of simultaneous users. Otherwise you may be “over-buying” or “under-buying”.
We take it for granted that our clients are business-minded people. And, that, in the other parts of their business they use metrics to determine how big a store should be, how many hours it should remain open each week, and how much inventory to carry. We will work with you to help make similarly well-reasoned decisions about the Internet.