The world over the past five years has become mostly digital. In this digital world, the role of the internet is very significant. The Covid-19 lockdown last year has made the people of developing countries, like India, adopt online methods for transactions in almost every way. Regarding this, the most important part for a country to go digital is the internet, and the most comfortable connection is the wireless connection, which enables the user to connect their mobile devices and laptops to the internet. Such wireless connections are also known as Wi-Fi.

What is Wi-Fi?

As mentioned above, a wireless connection, which enables the user to connect their mobile devices and laptops to the internet, is known as Wi-Fi. Wireless data networks have several advantages, such as mobility, which therefore increases its demand among the people.

Why Give Free Wi-Fi?

Offering free Wi-Fi to the customers had become the most critical part of the customer’s experience. When a business place offers free Wi-Fi to the customers, that particular business place gives the pocket salesperson to each customer because the customer can browse through the internet to get the information regarding the products available in that particular business place or store. 

The customers who are on the fence and are unable to decide whether to buy the product or not, in such a situation, can get access to the Wi-Fi available in the business place and browse regarding the product. They can learn about the cons and pros of the product and decide accordingly.

Offering free Wi-Fi to the customers had become a most important part of the business because around 40 % of the customers run price checks between the online price and the in-store price of that particular product available in the store, 35% of customers lookup for online review, 36% customers go for their friends’ opinion.

Setting Up A Free Wi-Fi

The set up of free Wi-Fi for customers is the most important element in this regard. If a person has set up a Wi-Fi hotspot at a business place, then the Wi-Fi will be available to the company’s customers too, which will be free for them. Here, hotspot means a physical location with an accessible wireless network. An individual or company, or organization can set up free Wi-Fi for their customer. Another important part of Wi-Fi setup is the router login and the IP, which can be understood with the help of this guide by routerlogin.app, and in doing so, you can truly set-up the Wi-Fi for your customers. The process through which a person can set up free Wi-Fi for the customers are-

• Select a reliable ISP (Internet Service Provider)- 

ISP provides internet connections to organizations, to the workplace, or individuals. The ISP also provides email- accounts, software packages (browser), and also a personal website or home page. To set up free Wi-Fi for customers, the first step is to choose an affordable and reliable ISP that will provide internet access. Comcast Xfinity, Time Warner Cable are some of the popular Internet Service Providers.

• High- bandwidth, high-speed service plan- 

The next step to get free Wi-Fi for the customers is to get an ISP’s offer which provides the highest speed and bandwidth at the lowest possible cost. Here, bandwidth means the rate at which the data is transferred in the network. This step is considered the most important because the network speed or bandwidth speed affects the customer’s speed in browsing. If the network speed or bandwidth is low, the customer will also face slow browsing and vice versa.

• Set up the appropriate equipment- 

In order to tap into the Internet Service Provider’s connection, a modem and a router are required. After choosing the modem and router, it must be set up as directed by the ISP. However, the modem or the router needs to be compatible with the Internet Service Provider.

• Set up the guest network- 

In order to maintain security in the business, instead of letting the customers connect to the private business wireless network, a separate public wireless network for customers is required to be set up. Also, a secured password needs to be set up by the owner in this regard too. The owner can also turn off the SSID (a technical term that is usually given to the Wi-Fi network) of the private business network to secure the private network.

• Set up a captive portal- 

A capital portal contains the terms of use that he must agree to. It is, basically, a web page that a customer sees before the network grants him access to the Internet. Setting a captive portal is the key to limiting the liability where the owner would not be responsible for any illicit actions of customers online.

• Prevent bandwidth-hogging- Setting up a captive portal enables the owner to prevent, if necessary, the visits to certain sites that may hog bandwidth. Suppose that to ensure a fast and high connection for everyone who uses the network, visits to sites like YouTube or Netflix can be blocked.

• Communicate the Wi-Fi password to the customers- 

As the owner sets the password for the network, the same password then needs to be communicated to the customer, who will be, visiting the business premises. The communication can be orally or can also be in a written form. For instance, in most of the hotels, the hotel Wi-Fi user id and password are written near the reception counter or in the hotel rooms, which thereby restricts the Wi-Fi access to the customers of the hotel only. However, the owner must make it easy for the visitors to access the network name and password of the Wi-Fi.

The steps mentioned above need to be followed by the person who wants to set up free Wi-Fi for its customers.