smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Choosing to install Wi-Fi is an excellent way to draw customers into your premises. Our recent research revealed that 61 per cent of our site partners felt that their customers spend more time at their business when using wireless.

When it comes to choosing which Wi-Fi model to choose however - whether free to the consumer or paid for - it really depends on the size of your business and the type of customers. Business users in particular are happy to pay for quality Wi-Fi, if it means minimum fuss in terms of connection and a secure and reliable service.

If you do opt for some of the free services available, you need to be aware of potential pitfalls. For example, on occasions where there may be heavy downloading of content, this will reduce the speed of the service from the shop as users share the broadband line.  Ways of tackling this include offering the free service to loyal or special customers only, whilst others pay for access or alternatively investing in more bandwidth to handle peaks in usage. So remember that there must always be a commercial mechanism to meet the costs, and you should weigh up whether a potential increase in sales / revenue can cover the costs of setting up a 'free to consumer' model."