Wireless Network: With the internet becoming such a core part of our lives, you wouldn’t want your customers to feel disconnected when they visit your local retail store, café, or coffee shop.
This makes it imperative for you to have a reliable internet connection at your business so that your customers can stay connected. It can also help with marketing when customers take pictures and post them on social media, or leave an online review.
Now for the part where you can set up a reliable wireless network for your business, here are some essential steps to follow:
Choosing an Internet Service
The first step to follow is to choose an internet connection for your small business. There are a few options you can choose between, with each having its own perks and setbacks.
Although fiber internet is the fastest internet connection with symmetrical speeds, it may be a bit pricey for small businesses. Affordable alternatives include cable internet which, although doesn’t provide symmetrical speeds, is still more reliable.
Most internet services like Xfinity Internet includes dedicated internet plans for small businesses to cater to their budgetary as well as connectivity needs. since it comes with sheer reliability, making it the perfect choice for your customers.
Choose an internet service that caters to your small business in terms of budget, availability, internet speed, contract duration, etc.
Getting High-End Equipment
Getting a fast internet connection isn’t going to cut it; you’ll need equipment that helps your devices make the most out of your internet speed. For instance, if you get a 1Gbps internet connection but pair it up with an outdated router, you will get relatively less internet speed.
However, if you get a router or modem with the latest technology, such as the Wi-Fi7, then you can enjoy faster internet speed! Even if you can’t afford to get a Wi-Fi7 router right now, you can get a Wi-Fi6 router since it isn’t very behind in terms of technology and performance. All in all, your customers deserve to enjoy smooth connection!
Having the latest router can also help you make your network secure; you can tweak the security settings to make your internet connection even more secure. I’ll explain in the next section how.
Securing Your Network
Your customers’ security should be your top concern when they are using your internet connection. This helps to establish trust with them, and may also lead to an increased footfall.
If you don’t secure your network, you leave it open to cyberattacks such as data breaches, ransomware, phishing, unauthorized access, and a lot more.
Following are some steps that you can take to secure your network.
- Change the Default Router Settings: You should change the default name of your router to something that relates to your business. For instance, you can write your business name and add “WiFi” next to it. If the name of your café is Coffee House, you can name the WiFi as “Coffee House WiFI”, making it easier for your customers to locate. You should also add a password to prevent unauthorized access.
- Add a Firewall to Your Router: The latest routers come with the option to add a Firewall to your router. This further helps prevent cyberattacks on anyone connected to the network. A Firewall also helps prevent malicious traffic on your network and stops malicious software from accessing your network.
- Enable WPA3 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 3) Encryption on Your Router: In computer terminology, encryption means scrambling data into a secret code that can only be unlocked with an encryption key. Enabling the latest WPA3 on your router ensures that even if someone with malicious intent accesses your network to intercept people’s data, they would not be able to read it without the encryption key you hold.
- Update Your Router or Modem’s Firmware Regularly: Updating your router or modem’s firmware implements security patches that fix glitches. Therefore, you must regularly update the firmware to fix vulnerabilities and improve performance.
Finding Perfect Location for Your Router/Modem
A router or modem can only give you peak performance when you place it in a central location where all devices are within range. Placing them in corners wouldn’t balance out the signals, which means that people in other corners would have a decreased internet speed and poor performance.
To make the most out of your internet connection, make sure that you place it in the center so that the signals travel uniformly all over the area. Also, try making sure that there aren’t any other devices near the router so that you can prevent interference in the signals. Large furniture can also disrupt signals, so try keeping the area clear.
Cement walls can also cause disruptions in the internet signals, so place the router on the same level where you want your customers to sit. This way, your customers will have maximum internet signals for the best performance.
An Added Bonus Tip
To ensure peak performance, you can set up scheduled restarts for your router once every week. This will run the router through a power cycle, removing all glitches that may be hindering your internet performance and connectivity issues!
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