Wireless Wealth
4 Ways to Begin
There are a number of ways to kick-start your involvement with
Wi-Fi, depending on your current business situation, your level of
technical proficiency and your ultimate goals for your
business: 1. Leverage your planned or existing
location. If you currently own (or plan to own) a
business that provides a high-traffic, high-loitering location
(such as a coffee shop, a barbershop or a laundromat) you can add
Wi-Fi services to enhance your core business, generate incremental
sales and increase traffic to your location. With today's many
pre-configured access points (including Boingo's Hot Spot in a
Box), going wireless is as easy as getting a DSL or cable Internet
connection and plugging it in to the Hot Spot device. 2. Extend your current line of
business. If you already work in computer networking,
selling Wi-Fi is an easy way to increase revenue opportunities and
expand your customer base. If you're in the start-up phase,
consider including this option in your plan. The easiest way to
start is to partner with a turnkey systems provider, but you can
also devise your own system using off-the-shelf components or
building from scratch. Any company that needs a network is a
potential wireless network customer. Content Continues Below
3. Deploy hot spots as a hot-spot
operator. If you don't have your own locations or
network installation business, but your strengths are in
negotiating with business owners and maintaining those
relationships, you can explore the turnkey hot-spot solutions
available today. These operate much like Wi-Fi franchises for the
hot-spot operator and allow the entrepreneur to establish a branded
local service that can be sold into local business and target
venues. 4. Become a wireless Internet service
provider (WISP). If you are more technically proficient
and want to get into the business on a deeper level, consider
developing your own turnkey solution that can be re-sold to
hot-spot operators looking for quick and easy ways to deploy public
Wi-Fi locations. This involves developing a hardware device that
combines a Wi-Fi access point, a network access controller, a DHCP
(dynamic host configuration protocol) server and a small Web
server. You'll also have to integrate that equipment with
back-end authentication, authorization and accounting
software/services for the hot-spot operator. That requires
knowledge of RADIUS (remote authentication dial-in user service)
authentication protocols and network management systems, and the
willingness to establish a full-fledged service offering with
support and network operating center oversight. | Got
Wi-Fi? | If you've decided to install a
broadband connection in your place of business, you can add a
public hot spot to help offset the cost, but you may need to
upgrade your service and add some hardware. Here's
how: 1. Request three usable IP addresses from your
broadband provider. Sometimes called a /29 (slash-29)
space, it includes eight IP addresses (three for systems and five
usable addresses). The three you'll use are for the DSL or
cable modem/router, the router/firewall and the hot-spot
device.
2. Add an
Ethernet switch. This allows you to split the DSL or
cable broadband service for multiple uses. Something like the
NetGear FS-105 will run $30 to $40. 3. Add a router
with integrated firewall. This separates and protects
your private network from the public hot spot and provides an
additional DHCP (dynamic host configuration protocol) station for
assigning private IP addresses, so you can expand your private LAN
at will. It's about $50 to $60 for an SMC Barricade. 4. Choose a
hot-spot device. Like the router/firewall, this contains
a DHCP server as well as other functions--an access control device
to keep unauthorized users off the Internet and a Web server to
provide local login pages for your service. These can run from $300
to $700. -S.D. |
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