Free WiFi for my customers

Have you asked yourself “should I provide free wifi for my customers?’ or perhaps, “my Customers love Free WiFi, but they complain its too difficult to connect to ours.” Customers love free WiFi, and they also expect free WiFi, and that is why, if you do not already, you should give your customers free internet access.

Free Internet access could be the difference between them visiting you or a competitor.

There are several ways to provide free WiFi for your customers; one is to use your current internet router and then hand out a piece of paper with the WiFi ID and passcode on, perhaps stick the details up on a chalkboard.

However, when you are in an industry that has lots of customers who come and go, you need something more, something that requires the customer to log in to your free internet WiFi, without having to ask, look at a chalkboard or decipher the letters and numbers on a piece of paper. This is not the most secure method of providing internet access to your customers.

The other method and one that you have most likely experienced and most people have used is the portal experience. Is where your customers, finds your free WiFi and on connection is redirected to a portal or captive portal as it is known.

From this point, the captive portal has your business logo on, some terms and conditions on usage and an option or two on how to gain access. Some might even give free access, but at slow speeds and then charge to gain faster access, Premier Inn is a good example of a two-tier operation.

With a captive portal, once your customer has signed up, you could direct them to your website, perhaps to the page with the specials on, if you are a café, pub or restaurant.

With the correct system, you the operator can gain access to enhanced features, like;

Many systems, like the one that we use in-house, also provide the ability for secure wifi. Great for your devices that need to run and be secure, away from your customers.