Don’t Let Your Event WiFi Go Down!
Months of planning are complete and your event is ready to launch!
There’s a lot riding on the success of your event…
• Product launch
• News-breaking company announcement
• Technology conference that demands great WiFi
• Five star experience for your attendees and partners
• Or all of the above
Needless to say, it’s mission critical that your WiFi connection be appropriately robust and fail-safe.
So what can you do to ensure that your Event WiFi network is up to par?
A lot!
• Ask the right questions up front (check out our recent whitepaper, 10 Tips for Successful Event WiFi here for what to ask).
• Be sure your provider is using the latest enterprise grade equipment – technology changes fast.
• Involve your Event WiFi provider early in the planning process.
• Make sure the network is managed by an Event WiFi engineer at all times during event hours.
• Be cost conscious – remember you get what you pay for, so make sure you understand what you’re getting.
Important elements to consider:
• Bandwidth: Contract a bandwidth provider who will provide an appropriate level of bandwidth for your event requirements and ensure your connection won’t drop. If your WiFi is mission critical, consider adding a backup circuit from another bandwidth provider. Not sure how much you need? Use our Bandwidth Calculator here!
• WiFi network configuration: Review your event flow with your network provider, allowing everyone to have an acute understanding of where the critical network needs are for your important audiences – attendees, press, production, VIPs, etc.
• Understand what can go wrong, why it could go wrong, and who is responsible for anticipating, identifying, and fixing any potential pitfalls before catastrophe arises. This is where having a great Event WiFi partner who will work proactively with you is important.
So what are typical pitfalls that can arise with your event WiFi connection?
• Bandwidth provider’s equipment fails.
• Equipment’s power becomes unplugged, whether deliberately or unintentionally – often times vendors, exhibitors, attendees, and even housekeeping inadvertently unplug a connection to gain access to power they need.
• People attending the event plug their own devices into equipment, thinking they’ll get their “own” network.
• A WiFi antenna becomes blocked or unplugged.
• Network router or switch fails.
• Switch becomes overloaded.
• A user is trying to connect with the wrong password.
• User device is old and can’t see the network.
What does Brown Pelican WiFi do to address pitfalls before they impact an event?
• Brown Pelican employs expert engineers with a keen understanding of event flow and are available on site to manage the network and deal with both overall network and user-specific issues.
• Back-up equipment is brought to each event and set up for redundancy to ensure network stays up even when there’s equipment failure in one area or another.
• We run a proprietary monitoring system that notifies us of network robustness and usage throughout an event. We know in advance if there’s an issue and are able to troubleshoot before it ever becomes known to users – we can see literally every access point and every user.
• Brown Pelican has dedicated and seasoned project managers available to work with your team as a single point of contact
• We use only enterprise grade equipment.
We can’t stress enough that it is well advised to bring in your network provider early in the planning process. This could help save you money and give you enough time to address any potential challenges that may arise. Ask the provider if they have event WiFi experience and if they have a dedicated on-site team during all event hours.
Interested in how Brown Pelican WiFi measures up in these areas?
Check out these testimonials from a few of our clients.
“The event went well and the clients were very happy. Mike was wonderful to work with, was so accommodating, and worked with our very hectic schedule. The way you all set the wifi was perfect and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. There were no issues that weren’t easily fixable and that’s the best thing I could have had. We so look forward to working with you all again on any project we have that a large scale wifi set up is required. Thank you so much!”
– Sara C., Account Manager, Hirschfeld Marketing Solutions
“Thank you so much for both Ken and Jonathan taking such good care of us during Frontiers last week.Especially appreciated Ken’s extra effort to research the two major problems we ran into on-site that could’ve been disastrous. Both were slightly mysterious, but as he worked to track them down, the solutions amounted to simple fixes. Because of their work, we didn’t experience any problems during registration, which was highly dependent on the internet connection. Please pass on my thanks and appreciation.”
– Ken. N – Trademark Events
Don’t let your Event WiFi take you down!
If you have questions about any of the information above, our experienced team at Brown Pelican WiFi is happy to help. Fill out the form below for a complimentary quote, call us (855) 235-WIFI or email us at info@brownpelicanwifi.com
Wonder How Much Bandwidth You Need For Your Event?
Use our Bandwidth Calculator Tool to help figure out your bandwidth needs.
CLICK HERE TO START CALCULATING