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The WiFi Advantage

by Ray Osborne
Brevard Technical Journal

Many businesses are obtaining a marketing advantage by using WiFi technology, and restaurateurs are no different. They are attracting new customers by offering them wireless connectivity with their laptop computers.

Once a customer with a wireless laptop finds a hotspot, they patronize that business. Jason Miles, general manager of Charlie and Jake's on Wickham Road, says, "we see seven to ten people a day using their laptops. They pop in, buy some lunch, check their e-mail, do their business online, leave and come back again. They are repeat customers because we have a WiFi hotspot!"

At the local WiFi User group, discussions are held on the latest advances using wireless communications for computers. The popular IEEE standard 802.11 is evolving into better and more secure wireless connectivity. WiFi means Wide Fidelity, and offers users a wireless medium to access computer networks. This user group welcomes vendor presentations.

The January meeting of the WiFi Users Group was held at Valora's Restaurant at 500 North A1A in Indialantic Beach. The subject of the meeting was "Get a WiFi Byte," a look at WiFi eateries. The owner, Valora Gurganious, said, "I get about one to three customers a day coming in with laptops, and all compute while waiting for and during their meal. They learned about it from our labels on the doors or from the WiFi Zone registration."

When asked about the cost in setting up a WiFi network and a home page, Gurganious offered, "it cost less than $500 to become a hot spot. Presently, I do not use a home page porthole, but am in the process of redesigning a Web site for the new restaurant, and will soon have one."

Asked about how she promotes her wireless hotspot, Gurganious revealed, "I promote my WiFi access in my printed ads, on business cards and on take out menus."

The December meeting of the WiFi Users Group was held at hotspot Abitino's Italian Restaurant on Wickham Road. Andy Germano of XTrove Corporation gave a presentation entitled "Security at the Gateway." He addressed how hackers could attack a WiFi network and the precautions that a network administrator can take to keep that from happening.

Having a WiFi hotspot can offer an eatery free advertising. Recently, an e-mail was distributed from the user group to local restaurant owners showing them online directories where they can list their establishments for free.

Members of the WiFi Users' Group mail list were asked a series of questions on how people find hotspots. Timothy J. Cash of Severna Park, Maryland said, "I use Net Stumbler on my WiFi laptop Toshiba Satellite enabled with WiFi to find the potential access points at any location."

E-mail list member Ronan of Café.com, a company that sets up hotspots for eateries, said, "all of our restaurant hotspot clients, including Denny's, IHOP, Bennigan's and Jack in the Box, use Handlink WSG-4000 wireless access points connected to generic DSL. On a personal level, I have used hotspots in restaurants. The tool I use to find them is to ask the restaurant if they have WiFi or to look for a sign. If not, I use my PCS Vision cell phone. Sometimes I know from a news article that a chain has WiFi, for example, Panera Bread."

There are many factors that can affect a RF signal. These include the shape of the building, the type of construction and the building materials used. All of these can have an adverse effect on signal quality and speed. The WiFi Users Group will discuss these and other issues relating to buildings and wireless networking at its next meeting, designed to help the building industry get the WiFi advantage.

The meeting, titled "Building and Architectural Considerations of WiFi," will be held on February 24th, at hotspot Charlie and Jake's on Wickham Road.

All interested parties are invited to this event and to join the e-mail list for this user group. Send e-mail to for reservations and to learn about the WiFi advantage.