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How long should my Wi-Fi equipment last?
Hoteliers and other business owners with publicly accessible Wi-Fi networks typically spend money on infrastructure in the hopes that they’ll get a good return on their investment in the form of happier guests and customers, repeat visits/sales, and (based on recent research) potentially higher sales. When you spend time and money installing a network, you hope that you’ll be able to benefit from that investment for a number of years.
However, with a constantly developing technology such as Wi-Fi, it’s clear that in order to stay competitive, you’ll need to replace your equipment periodically. You probably don’t want to be chasing after the “latest and greatest” all the time– who can afford that, and how do you know it will last? But you also don’t want to wait until your network is unusable to start replacing your equipment.
So how can you predict when you’ll need to replace your equipment, and how do you know the time is right to replace what you have?
For a good guideline, let’s look at the lifecycle of consumer technology– specifically, devices such as cellphones. You’ve added a Wi-Fi network to satisfy your customers, so you’ll need to keep up with improvements in mobile consumer devices like cellphones– otherwise, your guests will complain and they won’t come back. Research indicates that consumers in the US typically replace their cell phones every 2 years, and every generation seems to improve wireless communication on those phones. Replacing your equipment that often can help you stay ahead of the competition– but while you don’t necessarily need to replace your devices every 2 years to keep up with your customers’ phone purchases, you’ll want to plan to replace equipment every 2-4 years to keep up with the developments in wireless technology.
A great example is the development of 802.11ac wireless– this is a new standard that increases the speed and capacity of wireless networks (up to 600% faster!). While 802.11ac devices started appearing a couple of years ago, the technology wasn’t yet fully developed. But by the end of 2015, 802.11ac consumer devices are expected to represent more than 40% of new Wi-Fi- enabled device sales, and guests will come to expect improved performance. If your network devices don’t support 802.11ac, you should consider starting to replace them before your guests become unhappy. (Remember, fast, reliable Wi-Fi is the #1 expectation of hotel guests!) And after that, you should anticipate replacing your equipment again in 2-4 years, when the next technology development replaces 802.11ac.
If your equipment is already more than 2-4 years old, there are some questions you can ask to help determine whether it’s time to replace it, including:
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Are guest satisfaction and online reviews low/getting lower? Guests have come to expect that they will have fast and easy Wi-Fi access wherever they stay, but with ever more devices on the network, providing an excellent guest experience can be a challenge. In recent surveys, at least 25% of hotel travelers reported that wireless service was inadequate during their last stay at a hotel, and at least half of guests say that Wi-Fi impacts their decision to return.
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Are your guests are complaining that their Internet is slow? In order to accommodate the increasing Wi-Fi traffic on their older networks, some hotels throttle their users' bandwidth, which tends to result in long load times and unhappy guests. Your network should be able to accommodate a minimum threshold of 2MB, and optimally a threshold of 5-10MB.
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Do smartphones, tablets, and other handheld devices have problems maintaining a connection? Guests are bringing more and more mobile devices with them when they travel; research shows that the average guest now arrives with 2 or more mobile devices. Mobile devices typically have low-powered radios designed to save battery life; the downside is that they often have a harder time maintaining a strong Wi-Fi connection, and older access points aren't designed for optimal performance with mobile devices.
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Are end rooms getting a good Wi-Fi signal? If your equipment can't provide a good, strong signal to all of your rooms, you may need to upgrade to newer equipment with a stronger signal.
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Does your equipment vendor still sell and support the equipment you’re using? If your vendor has discontinued your equipment, chances are you should too.
If your Wi-Fi network is aging and its performance is starting to lag, contact us to find out how you can easily and cost-effectively begin upgrading your equipment to keep your guests and customers happy.
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