How Safe Is a Public Wifi Connection and Should Yours Be Open to Customers

62% of businesses found that customers spend more time at their locations if Wi-Fi is offered.

Offering public Wi-Fi to customers is a great way to draw people in, but is it actually safe? After all, there is little benefit from doing it if there is a chance that your small business will be at risk.

Public Wi-Fi is a nice amenity to offer, but it is not for all businesses.

If you want to learn about small business tech support for public Wi-Fi, keep reading and see what you need to know to make an informed decision about whether it is the right option for your business.

Top Reasons to Offer Public Wi-Fi

1. People Need WiFi – In today’s modern world, people are constantly using Wi-Fi for their jobs, communication, and general entertainment. Not having access to Wi-Fi can be a huge deterrent for some people that are used to having it all the time.
2. More Network Users – You can easily advertise for your own social media networks using the public Wi-Fi that you offer customers. This option will help them engage with you online and may impact their loyalty to the business.
3. Business Growth – If you want to grow your business, you have to stay on top of the current trends. Many shops come and go because they are similar to others. You need to find ways, such as offering public Wi-Fi, to stand out against your competition.
4. Increased Customer Time – Customers will spend more time hanging out at your business if you offer Wi-Fi. You can see this is as positive because others will notice the number of people and want to come in! This reality can translate into those customers spending more money as well.
5. Provide Incentives – Customers like it when businesses want to cater to them. For some, this is what public Wi-Fi may make them think that you are catering to their specific needs. You can provide further incentives for your customers once they actually connect, such as discounts, sales, or even information about events your business is throwing.

Is Offering Public Wi-Fi Wise?

One of the great things about offering Wi-Fi to customers is that it will not cost a lot of money. You probably already need to have Wi-Fi for your business, so allowing your customers to have access to it is not a big undertaking.

All you have to do is take the internet connection and make a Wi-Fi hotspot for customers.

If you want to spend more money to have a bigger connection, that works too! There are actually several ways to do it, but most small businesses want the chance to save money where they can.

When you are already using Wi-Fi, adding in the option for customers to log on is not as difficult as you might be thinking.

There are a lot of reasons to make this an option, such as a chance to market easier to customers or getting access to data about who shops at your store, but is it worth it?

A cautious small business owner might think that offering Wi-Fi to customers comes with too much security risk. People could do things they are not supposed to on your Wi-Fi, such as download illegal materials or go onto the dark web.

This stuff does happen, but there are actually a lot of security measures that you could put in place to make sure this does not happen.

For instance, only share the password to your Wi-Fi with paying customers or even buy software to limit which sites your customers visit.

If you provide your Wi-Fi users with information to protect themselves online, public Wi-Fi can be a great (and safe) option for your business!

Small Business Tech Support for Public Wi-Fi

With any technology you are introducing in your business, you need to have tech support. A small business owner likely does not have the expertise to know how to handle issues that come up with their tech.

If you decide to incorporate public Wi-Fi, you will need to have internet connectivity support on your side to help.

Problems may occur and you can know that the specialists will be there to help fix it.

Your Wi-Fi may not seem strong enough to support a larger number of users at a time. If this happens, you can always upgrade your network and find the best solution for your business.

Concerns about cybersecurity are very smart and should be expected. Businesses want to protect their own data and the data of those that use their public access.

We offer 24/7 support for any type of cybersecurity issues you are experiencing. Whenever you have problems, we have answers that will help you get your Wi-Fi back on track.

Your small business may grow and even as you gain more employees and more technology, we will be there to help. We offer support for all business sizes and can handle your technological issues.

Is This Right For Your Business?

As long as your business has access to some type of small business tech support, you will be able to offer public Wi-Fi if you want.

Public Wi-Fi was not an option in the past and now that so many businesses are embracing it, you have to keep up with the competition! With the right support in place, this option will be a great addition to your small business.

Technology is constantly advancing and with it, your business must advance as well.

If you would like to get some more information on technology your business may use, please check out the services we offer to see if we can help.

Sagacent Technologies offers technology management and support, including proactive/preventative maintenance, onsite and offsite data back-ups, network and security audits, mobility solutions, disaster planning and emergency business resumption services. The company serves clients of 10 to 150 employees within the Silicon Valley region.