Spring: Time for Hotspots

By Ray Savich   March 9, 2022

Now that spring is coming, it’s time for people to think about being outside more. While they are getting away from it all, people still want to be connected. Many town councils want to attract people, and free Wi-Fi is a great way to build community while helping local businesses. Whether it is the town square, a park or a community sports field, providing outdoor Wi-Fi connectivity needs to be easy and efficient.

Most important, it needs to be easy to manage guest access so people visiting have good experience.

There are 3 key considerations in designing and deploying outdoor public Wi-Fi:

  1. What applications do you need to support? Along with public access as the main application, consider also security cameras, weather monitoring and door locks. Leveraging the network for multiple use cases is always a good idea. This also plays into the number of APs required to provide the coverage and capacity. An outdoor AP with longer range enables you to cover more ground with fewer APs. This can save money on not only the equipment itself but also the associated cabling and installation labor. Check out this video of our Wi-Fi 6 outdoor AP connecting at 1 kilometer range.
  2. How will you backhaul to the Wi-Fi AP? Chances are good that fiber isn’t already right there in your park. And Wi-Fi mesh simply won’t deliver the performance you need. Our 60 GHz cnWave™ solution delivers gigabit speed fixed wireless backhaul that is more reliable and efficient than trenching cable or fiber to each AP. Also, if you ever plan to deploy video surveillance, our solutions and connect to cameras easily.
  3. How will you manage the network? Everyone wants free Wi-Fi, even residents who live next to the park. Usage policy must focus on easily onboarding the intended park visitors while restraining others. Centralized management with the cnMaestro™ cloud management system makes it easy to ensure that guests are experiencing great connectivity in all of your outdoor Wi-Fi locations. On one screen, a system admin has full control of multiple networks at their fingertips. Examples include shutting down the Wi-Fi when the park is closed, managing the duration or rate limit per user, or limiting the session renewal frequency.  

Cambium Networks has provided reliable solutions for Wi-Fi hotspots in community parks and town centers around the world. As a part of the European WiFi4EU connectivity initiative, Cambium Networks solutions have been deployed in more than 1,000 municipal projects.

Providing community hotspots should be as easy as – a walk in the park.

Contact Us to connect your community.

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