Restaurant WiFi solutions come in many shapes and sizes, and – unless you are familiar with the technology – researching the options available to you can create more questions than answers. Many of your questions are likely due to the different terms used to describe how different restaurant WiFi solutions work.
The Competitive Advantages of Restaurant WiFi Solutions
There is no doubt that providing a free WiFi service can have competitive advantages. Research has shown restaurant WiFi solutions can bring restaurants to the attention of individuals who may not notice them otherwise. Remember the network search to check out the strength of competing WLANs? That is free advertising on mobile devices when diners are looking for somewhere with to eat with a WiFi service. 53% of people say they are happy to sit alone in restaurants if WiFi is available.
Further surveys have shown a third of workers chose their lunchtime eating venues on the basis of whether a free WiFi service is available, four-in-ten consider access to a WiFi service when selecting their evening eating venues, and two-thirds “absolutely expect” a WiFi connection in fast-food restaurants. Significantly, one-in-ten respondents to one of the above surveys said they would leave a restaurant without ordering if they discovered there was no WiFi service provided.
However, simply providing a WiFi service is not always enough. Restaurant WiFi solutions attract customers, but they also attract security risks from web-borne threats. Restaurant WiFi solutions may be used by customers to access inappropriate online material they would not want to be seen accessing on their home computers, and they can also be used for illegal activity such as P2P file sharing. For these reasons – and several more – it is advisable to enhance your WiFi service with a web content filter.
