With a multitude of hardware manufacturers and a number of differing WiFi standards it’s not surprising that so many of our customers are confused about what to buy in order to provide decent WiFi for their Guests

It’s often easy simply to say, just buy the latest, but that doesn’t really help

As I write the latest WiFi standard (as defined by the WiFi Alliance) is Wi-Fi 7 (otherwise known as 802.11be) the previous standard (Wi-Fi 6) which was then extended with WiFi 6e underlines the confusion around WiFi Standards – too many, too fast and no clear benefits,  a lot of downsides, needing to replace hardware, latest standards hardware being often very expensive especially for an environment like a hotel or a small coffee shop running on low margins

The other issue of course, one which is not often understood, is that while a brand-new WiFi standard may be available, and the major hardware manufacturers rush to provide their Router (or Access Point) hardware to the masses, in fact there are generally VERY few devices that will be able to connect to the new standard. Bearing in mind that mobile phone manufacturers generally launch new hardware annually it’s likely to take a while (years) before the new standards filter down to the mainstream.  Especially when you consider that the average phone replacement period is 30 months and it’s even longer for Laptop replacement.

So what should you do?

Admittedly, the very old 2.4Ghz band WiFi is not up to par any longer. The problems mostly are to do with an overcrowded spectrum, meaning that connections often drop or struggle to connect in the first place. The benefits are that it is a high-power signal meaning the signal can often penetrate walls, reducing the number of Access Points required to fill a venue.

WiFi 5 (running on the 5Ghz band) is lower power, but not only does it transmit data at higher speeds to consumer devices, it also is a less crowded spectrum and so users find it easier to connect and the connection remains more stable.

In an hotel or restaurant environment, the real-world effects of the latest, greatest WiFi standards are not even felt by the consumer. The biggest concern is sharing the available bandwidth equitably and ensuring a stable connection. At Wigglewifi, one of our biggest concerns is always the equitable sharing of bandwidth and ensuring the back-office always has a minimum bandwidth locked aside for their exclusive use. We use multiple methods to achieve these goals, but it is so important and so often overlooked. The super-fast speeds offered by the latest WiFi standards in these environments are generally way faster than the bandwidth available to the consumer, so why waste the money buying the latest hardware. In reality these standards are great for home and some offices, where there are fewer concurrent users and likely a bigger internet pipe available.

If you still feel the desire to offer the latest, greatest WiFi to your consumers and have the cash to splash, by all means go for it. But in reality, most devices won’t be able to use it, and to be realistic, the consumer won’t even notice a difference in real-time usage. My advice? Go for WiFi 5, stable, cheap and plenty fast enough – plus all your consumers will be able to make use of it.

WiggleWifi is a specialist Guest wifi provider across Africa. Contact us for more information on our services; we’ll have you up and running in no time.