Whether you run a financial office, a retail store or a marketing company, Wi-Fi Internet access is something that is expected by customers. You need however to make sure your guest WiFi is completely secured to protect yourself as well as your visitors. Providing business visitors to your office and customers with access to the Internet brings many benefits.
Remember the better the quality of Wi-Fi, the better the results. For the staff, it translates to increased productivity which eliminates the risk of them becoming irritable and with a low sustainable output; and for the guests, it means easy access to the internet which is essential in today’s world.
When creating a network with internet access for your guests you must think about their and your security. Secure WiFi in any situation is a must! When setting up your WiFi network, consider these things:
When segmenting your network you are thinking about protecting your business. If both your guests and your company’s employee’s share the same networks, guests will have access to sensitive files that your employees save on the network and vice/versa. Your employees who use the regular network will have access to foreign files which could bring in a lot of trouble such as viruses etc.
Segmentation of your network will also assure the maintenance of the speed of your WiFi- if unexpectedly you have many users on the guest network it could considerably slow down your business network and cause frustration and lack of productivity with your employees.
There are a couple bandwidth options when it comes to business-grade Wi-Fi connections: The regular being the 2.4GHz and the higher set at 5GHz. A larger bandwidth means an efficient and stable network for all systems connected to the grid. Choosing a larger bandwidth for your office W-Fi not only facilitates access to the internet but also allows the hosting of a network for staff to share information in a fast, secure and efficient manner. It will also be easier for you to split the network in order to allow access to both employees and guests simultaneously.
An efficient Wi-Fi security system should have both network level scanning and access point scanning in order to increase protection and limit unauthorized access. Making sure that you have an SSO (Single Sign-On) setting will establish a secure platform as it will allow the staff to access a wide range of services and applications with a single sign-in.
Setting up multiple SSIDs is important as it will give staff access to both the network and internet platforms via the same route which makes it easier to structure oversight. With multiple SSIDs, you can also block specific pathways of the network to streamline network access and control.
Determining the access points is a fundamental process which is why finding the right IT management company is crucial as it becomes easier to identify the appropriate locations and orientations of the spots. Access points are determined depending on the number of users and the design of the office which is where plot placement comes in. Plot placement of the access points dictates the signal strength and is, therefore, a process that is approached with careful consideration of the type of walls, expected signal distance, and obstructions to the relay pathways.
Having a secure guest WiFi network for businesses means adding controls to limit the content that can be accessed on your WiFi network.
You should block access to adult content – which includes pornography, gambling sites, and dating sites, and also web content that is ethically or morally questionable or illegal.
A web filtering solution will also protect your customers from accidental malware and ransomware downloads and is an important anti-phishing control.
Consider using a cloud-based web filter as these require no additional hardware to be purchased. They can also be configured and maintained remotely and will not require software or firmware upgrades. In contrast to appliance-based web filters, cloud-based filters are more scalable and are more adaptable to the changing needs of your business.
If you want to learn more about how to set up a secured Business Guest Wi-Fi in your office, contact an MBC specialist who can point you at the right direction and help you get started.
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