[ogWiFi] Hotspot Organizations in Ottawa

[Ian Gough]

>
> Great idea to continue on the mailing list - thanks for the suggestion!
>
> So if I have a catering-type business in Ottawa-Gatineau, and would
> like to offer wifi to my patrons, there are basically 3 choices:
>
> a) do it myself
> b) pay a "for-profit"
> c) sign up with OG-wifi
>
> Have I missed anything?
>
> Re: the "for-profit", what is their value-add compared to the
> community-based approach?   E.g. do they take car of ordering the
> service from an ISP?  Promise a SLA? ...
>

My understanding is that the for-profit companies charge the users of the
hotspot an hourly fee and typically kick back some of this to the owner of
the business that hosts the hotspot. I do not know about whether they handle
the ISP ordering or promise a Service Level Agreement. Normally, most
existing companies already have an internet connection to handle credit card
transactions and that ISP already has an SLA for the connection.


> In what instances might a catering-type business prefer option b) to
> option c) above?
>
>
>From a wifi users perspective, the difference is she either pays for
internet connectivity while at your business or it is free. As for the
preferences, it depends upon your reason for wanting to have a wireless
internet connection. Which option will attract more customers? Which option
will cause your existing customers to talk to their friends favorably about
your business?

With the ofWifi solution, remember that you do own the router. If things do
not work out to your satisfaction, you can easily reuse the router in a do
it yourself solution.

ian
ogWifi
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