Managed Wifi is an outsourced managed wireless network that lets customers, residents, or visitors to connect to your site through multiple wireless access points around a property, ensuring efficient property-wide Internet connectivity. It is a managed cloud-based service, which means that Internet service providers manage and troubleshoot your business or property s WiFi using a data centre, eliminating the need for a dedicated in-house IT staff to handle such a mission. The entire process takes place in the background, taking up less time than traditional wired connections would, which can be especially useful during peak business hours.
In Managed Wifi, a managed wireless internet provider hosts the Managed Wifi access point equipment, while the customer maintains their own access point. The benefit to the customer is that they don’t have to install the hardware themselves, which means no professional technical support required. They can also take advantage of automatic management and reporting, as well as monitoring and controlling the connection, all from their own end. This way, businesses can have hands-free access to wireless internet wherever and whenever they need it.
The Managed Wifi concept originates with the use of multiple access points by several different locations.
For example, you may have a restaurant that provides Wi-Fi to its entire dining room and patio, which are all located within the same building. By setting up individual Managed Wifi accounts for each of the multiple access points, you can configure up to 100 individual wireless networks within a single building. With this much space, your Managed Wifi providers can offer a wide range of services, including content filtering, gaming, VoIP, advanced reporting, and more. Some of these providers even offer cloud computing and other on-demand services, so your employees never have to know where they’re going.
Managed Wifi offers many benefits to your business operations and employees, which make it one of the most popular forms of managed wireless internet for small to mid-size businesses in metropolitan areas. With the power of managed wifi to protect your business operations from disasters, such as a power outage or a data center crash, your employees can focus on their jobs, instead of your network performance. They can quickly access the internet, check e-mails, or use any other online function without being affected by a catastrophe. With this seamless connectivity, there is no need to take expensive precautions to secure private networks for your employees. All they have to do is make an account with your managed wifi provider, which will assign them a password and secure connection to your network.
To protect your home wifi network from snooping and tampering, you can install devices at various points around your property, such as at the front door, back door, or at the main entrance. For business owners who are concerned about their family’s internet usage, you can set up mesh networks with home wifi providers. These devices would be placed in strategic locations around the property, so that each device would be connected to the correct home wifi network, automatically.
There are two types of managed wifi providers: on-site and off-site.
With on-site providers, you choose the spot where your devices would be located. Each device would be powered and connected to your router via its own wired Ethernet port, which means that each device would get its own connection to the internet. This type of configuration is more secure than other options, since an unauthorized person would have to physically come into physical contact with any of your devices. With off-site providers, your devices could be placed at any point within your property, within range of your existing wired Ethernet connection.
The good thing about managed services is that the service provider will handle most of the maintenance and installation for you. You just need to pay for the monthly bill. If you’re not happy with certain features or connectivity, you can opt for extra services. The major advantage with on-demand Managed Services is that it’s a very convenient option for busy people who don’t have the time to spare for complicated setups.
There are many pros and cons to Managed Services for managed wifi network infrastructure. Some of the most important considerations when choosing an option include the expected number of users, security of data (such as security encryption), and cost.
- All managed services need to charge a monthly fee, because they provide a valuable service to the business.
- Businesses should also inquire about extended warranty and guarantees.
- Before choosing an option, businesses need to conduct a brief Needs Analysis, so that they can easily determine the best Managed Services for their needs.