How Connect WiFi Can Turn the Internet You Already Have Into Better Cellular Coverage, Valuable Guest Data, and a New Revenue Opportunity
Most businesses think of WiFi as an expense.
You pay for an internet connection. You buy access points. You maintain the network. Then you provide WiFi to customers, guests, residents or visitors.
But what if that same infrastructure could do much more?
Connect WiFi helps businesses, property managers, municipalities and high-traffic venues transform their existing WiFi infrastructure into a platform that can improve connectivity, build valuable customer relationships and potentially create a new source of revenue.
And this isn’t just an idea for the future. It’s already happening.
A Real-World Example: Celina, Texas
Celina, Texas is currently one of the fastest-growing cities in America. That growth creates a problem that many growing communities and busy destinations understand: traditional cellular infrastructure can’t always keep up.
Building additional cell towers can take years. Even where cellular coverage is available outdoors, modern construction materials can make indoor cellular coverage unreliable.
Instead of waiting for additional towers, Celina began using WiFi infrastructure already operating throughout public buildings and participating downtown businesses to help carry cellular traffic.
Compatible phones can connect automatically when they’re within coverage.
No app. No WiFi password. No captive portal. No action required by the user.
The result is essentially another layer of cellular coverage created using infrastructure that’s already there.
For businesses, cities and property managers, that’s where things get interesting.
Connect WiFi Brings This Technology to Your Property
You don’t need to become a wireless carrier, understand the technology behind carrier offload, or figure out how to build and manage the system yourself.
That’s what Connect WiFi does.
We design, install and manage WiFi systems that can combine several valuable services into one network.
1. Improve Cellular Connectivity
Properly designed WiFi can help fill cellular coverage gaps, particularly inside buildings and in high-traffic areas where traditional cellular networks can struggle.
Compatible carrier customers can automatically connect through participating networks without searching for WiFi or entering a password.
To them, their phone simply works.
For hotels, vacation rentals, restaurants, shopping areas, entertainment venues and communities, that’s a significant improvement to the guest experience.
2. Turn Guest WiFi Into a Marketing Tool
Carrier connectivity is only part of what Connect WiFi can provide.
We can also create a branded guest WiFi network that allows visitors to voluntarily provide information such as their:
Name • Email Address • Phone Number
Guests agree to the appropriate terms and marketing permissions before connecting.
Instead of anonymous visitors coming and going, businesses and property managers can begin building a first-party audience they can communicate with in the future.
For a vacation rental company, for example, that can mean building a relationship with the actual people staying inside the homes — not just the person who originally made the reservation.
That creates opportunities for future direct-booking campaigns, promotions, return-guest offers and other marketing.
3. Make the WiFi Infrastructure Work for You
One of the most exciting changes happening in wireless technology is that businesses can potentially monetize infrastructure they already own.
Major wireless carriers need additional capacity, especially in locations where large numbers of their customers congregate.
Instead of every bit of mobile traffic traveling through a traditional cell tower, some of that traffic can be securely carried through participating WiFi infrastructure.
That means the same access points providing connectivity throughout your property can potentially become part of a much larger cellular network.
Instead of WiFi simply being another monthly expense, the network has the potential to become an asset.
One Network. Multiple Benefits.
This is where Connect WiFi is different from simply installing a few access points and giving guests a password.
We’re building networks designed to accomplish multiple goals at the same time:
Better WiFi coverage.
Better cellular connectivity.
A better guest experience.
First-party guest data for marketing.
Potential revenue from carrier traffic.
Depending on the property and application, we can also work with existing network infrastructure rather than requiring everything to be replaced.
Why This Matters for Vacation Rentals
The opportunity is particularly interesting for vacation rental companies.
Imagine managing hundreds of properties across a beach community.
Thousands of guests stay in those homes every year, but the property management company may only have contact information for the person who booked each reservation.
With Connect WiFi, the network becomes another point of connection between the management company and its guests.
At the same time, participating properties can help create a larger connectivity footprint throughout the destination.
A guest could encounter Connect WiFi coverage at their rental property and potentially at participating restaurants, shopping areas, attractions and other locations throughout their trip.
The network stops being something contained inside a single house.
It becomes part of the infrastructure of the destination itself.
The Same Idea Works Far Beyond Vacation Rentals
This model can be especially valuable anywhere people gather:
Hotels and resorts, restaurants, shopping centers, apartment communities, entertainment venues, college campuses, downtown districts, municipalities, event spaces and other high-traffic locations can all potentially benefit.
The larger the footprint becomes, the more useful the network becomes.
This Is Already Happening
Celina, Texas provides an excellent example of where connectivity is headed.
Rather than waiting years for additional traditional cellular infrastructure, the city is using WiFi infrastructure already deployed throughout the community to help expand connectivity.
Connect WiFi brings that same concept to businesses, property managers and communities — while adding the guest WiFi, marketing and network-management capabilities that can make the infrastructure even more valuable.
You Already Pay for Internet. Let’s Make It Work Harder.
If your business, properties or community already have internet service, there’s a good chance that infrastructure could be doing considerably more than it is today.
Connect WiFi can evaluate your existing network, identify opportunities for guest WiFi and carrier connectivity, and design a solution specifically for your properties or community.
You don’t have to figure out the technology.
We handle that part.
If you’d like to find out what Connect WiFi could do with the infrastructure you already have, contact us to schedule a network evaluation. Info@connectwi-fi.com
