Productivity Tools

The Top 7 Guest Wi-Fi Solutions

Discover the Top Guest Wi-Fi Solutions. Explore key features such as Wi-Fi encryption, bandwidth management, and content filtering.

Last updated on Nov 15, 2024

Written by Mirren McDade

Technical review by Laura Iannini

The Top 7 Guest Wi-Fi Solutions include:

1. Aislelabs
2. Cisco Meraki Go
3. Juniper Mist Wi-Fi Assurance
4. Orion Wi-Fi by Google
5. Purple
6. Tanaza
7. UniFi by Ubiquiti

Guest Wi-Fi Solutions are the perfect way to offer secure, easy to access internet to your visitors. These systems are ideal for businesses of all kinds as they facilitate the connection of personal devices such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets to a protected network, without compromising the security of the company’s data and proprietary information.

Guest Wi-Fi solutions provide controlled and secure internet access, including security features such as Wi-Fi encryption, captive portals, and the use of Virtual LANs (VLANs) to segregate network traffic. Additional features such as bandwidth management, content filtering, real-time analytics and customizable login pages enhance user experience and provide insights.

In our shortlist of the Top Guest Wi-Fi Solutions, each vendor has been selected based on their user-friendliness, security, control features, and compatibility, all verified by our in-house technical assessment.

Aislelabs

Aislelabs offers comprehensive guest Wi-Fi services designed to enable businesses to collect and analyze visitor data, while providing customers with complimentary internet connectivity.

Who it’s for: Ideal for organizations in industries like shopping malls, airports, and retail that aim to enhance customer engagement and gain insights through Wi-Fi analytics.

Benefits: Aislelabs integrates efficiently with existing Wi-Fi systems without requiring additional hardware, streamlining the deployment process.

The platform supports multiple authentication methods, including password, social media, and email verification, allowing flexible access for guests.
Businesses can send targeted real-time messages to guests, enhancing engagement through customer loyalty rewards.
The platform incentivizes customer participation via loyalty programs by offering faster internet speeds or extended access.
Aislelabs provides comprehensive data tracking, helping businesses understand traffic flow and visitor duration to inform strategic decisions.

The bottom line: Aislelabs stands out for its ability to integrate easily into existing Wi-Fi infrastructure, while offering robust guest engagement tools and data analytics capabilities. It’s an effective solution for businesses seeking to leverage Wi-Fi for enhanced customer interaction and actionable insights.

Founded in 2013, Aislelabs serves hundreds of companies worldwide with solutions tailored for high-traffic industries.

Cisco Meraki Go

Meraki Go is an easy-to-install, secure Wi-Fi solution for small businesses. A Meraki Go network can be set up in 10 minutes or less using access points, router firewalls, and switches.

Who it’s for: This product is best suited for small to medium-sized businesses looking for a straightforward, efficient network setup.

Benefits: Meraki Go provides streamlined network management for smaller businesses. Its user-friendly setup allows for rapid deployment, ensuring that business owners can focus on their core operations without IT interruptions.

Compatible with your existing internet service provider, minimizing disruption during installation.
A mobile app facilitates seamless control and management of the entire network from anywhere.
Devices connected to guest networks have internet access only, protecting private network resources.
With one tap, you can create a guest network and easily manage its status and visibility.
Customize your guest network access with a landing page, either self-hosted or externally hosted.

The bottom line: Meraki Go is an excellent choice for small to medium-sized businesses seeking an easy-to-use, efficient network solution. Its rapid setup and intuitive management features make it a competitive addition to any secure networking infrastructure.

Cisco, founded in 1984 and headquartered in San Jose, California, launched Meraki Go in 2018 to cater specifically to the networking needs of smaller enterprises.

Juniper Mist Wi-Fi Assurance

Juniper Mist Wi-Fi Assurance is a cloud service designed to ensure a predictable and reliable Wi-Fi experience while simplifying network operations.

Who it’s for: Best suited for enterprise organizations requiring scalable wireless solutions, including guest Wi-Fi networks.

Benefits: Juniper Mist Wi-Fi Assurance leverages advanced automation and AI capabilities for efficient Wi-Fi management. Its programmability, scalability, and integration options make it a strong choice for enterprises.

The platform is fully programmable, supporting automation and integrations through open APIs.
It offers scalable guest Wi-Fi access, supporting multiple languages for a broader user base.
Mist AI introduces risk profiling capabilities that eliminate the need for manual troubleshooting.
Users can create custom guest portals with terms of service, and login options like email, text, or social media, enhancing user engagement.
A self-service portal allows for the creation of personal wireless networks to secure guest traffic efficiently.
The solution supports either a custom-branded portal for guest access or integration with existing external captive portals.

The bottom line: Juniper Mist Wi-Fi Assurance is a powerful solution for enterprises seeking a reliable, automated, and scalable Wi-Fi management system. Its use of AI and open APIs makes it a versatile and forward-thinking choice.

Juniper Networks, founded in 1996 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, serves numerous clients worldwide with cutting-edge networking solutions.

Orion Wi-Fi by Google

Orion Wi-Fi enables businesses to offer seamless guest Wi-Fi connectivity, while earning revenue through passive income by selling network capacity to cellular carriers.

Who it’s for: Orion Wi-Fi is best suited for U.S.-based businesses with substantial foot traffic that want to provide reliable Wi-Fi services to their guests and potentially earn additional income.

Benefits: Orion Wi-Fi ensures strong connectivity and performance for guest users and offers potential income generation opportunities for businesses.

Operates using existing Wi-Fi infrastructure, without requiring extra hardware or software, simplifying deployment.
Can be set up independently in under an hour, providing a quick rollout solution.
Automatically and securely connects devices from participating carriers to Orion Wi-Fi networks for seamless guest access.
Continuously assesses network quality, presenting performance analytics via an admin dashboard for informed decision-making.
Guarantees optimal connection performance by allowing users to connect only when the network is running efficiently.

The bottom line: Orion Wi-Fi is notable for its easy integration with existing systems and potential income generation from cellular providers. Its ability to enhance guest connectivity and deliver insightful performance analytics makes it an attractive option for businesses with high visitor volumes.

Orion Wi-Fi is a Google service, which leverages the company’s technological leadership to optimize Wi-Fi network monetization and connectivity.

Purple

Purple is a cloud-based platform that enhances your existing Wi-Fi setup to offer an effortless guest Wi-Fi experience, while gathering real-time visitor insights. It operates with your existing Wi-Fi hardware, eliminating the need for additional installations.

Who it’s for: Ideal for airports, retail stores, restaurants, tourist attractions, and suitable for SMBs requiring guest Wi-Fi solutions.

Benefits: Purple can transform traditional Wi-Fi settings into insightful guest experiences, offering seamless integration and valuable data collection.

It supports various third-party integrations, including CRM software, to streamline data management.
The service offers insights into visitor demographics and remains compliant with data protection laws.
Users can create fully branded splash pages for guest Wi-Fi access.
It supports multiple login methods, such as social media, SSO, and custom forms.
Surveys can be conducted to gather visitor feedback while connected or after their departure.

The bottom line: Purple stands out for its ability to simplify the guest Wi-Fi experience, while offering businesses valuable visitor insights and seamless integration with existing systems.

Purple was founded in 2012 and specializes in enhancing Wi-Fi experiences across various industries.

Tanaza

Tanaza is a cloud platform for deploying and managing Wi-Fi services for businesses. Tanaza delivers an enterprise, cloud-managed Wi-Fi platform that is powerful, intuitive and flexible.

Who it’s for: Tanaza is best suited for B2B customers, particularly MSPs and ISPs.

Benefits: Tanaza provides a robust, easy-to-use platform for enterprise-level, cloud-managed Wi-Fi. Its compatibility across various access point hardware and the ability to integrate third-party applications via its marketplace stand out.

The cloud management feature allows seamless remote monitoring and management of networks in different locations.
It supports zero-touch deployment, facilitating easy remote deployment, configuration, and management of Wi-Fi access.
Users can create custom splash pages or connect to external splash pages, adding flexibility for guest access.
It enhances security by enforcing a secure password policy for guest accounts and storing guest Wi-Fi configuration data on secure AWS servers. Guest Wi-Fi traffic is encrypted via SSL.

The bottom line: Tanaza is able to deliver stable, feature-rich, and flexible cloud-managed Wi-Fi solutions. Its enterprise-level platform is designed for easy management and robust security, making it a popular choice for service providers.

Founded in 2010, Tanaza operates as a cloud platform headquartered in Milan, Italy, offering dynamic Wi-Fi solutions for various businesses.

UniFi by Ubiquiti

UniFi by Ubiquiti is an integrated networking solution featuring a diverse range of equipment, including Wi-Fi access points and cloud gateways, all managed from a unified platform. It simplifies Wi-Fi configuration and management, even in large-scale deployments, and can scale from a single access point to hundreds.

Who it’s for: UniFi is designed to meet the needs of organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises, seeking scalable and easily manageable networking solutions.

Benefits: UniFi excels at providing scalable networking capabilities with simplified management.

A wide selection of access points offers flexibility to suit different physical environments.
Users can offer secure guest Wi-Fi access via a customizable, branded landing page.
Offers multiple authentication methods for guest Wi-Fi, including passwords and social media login.
It supports the setup of paid guest hotspots using Stripe payment processing.
Ensures network security by isolating guests from other networks by default.

The bottom line: UniFi stands out for its scalable, user-friendly Wi-Fi solutions and comprehensive management platform. It’s on this list for its ability to support dynamic networking needs across various business sizes.

Founded in 2005, Ubiquiti offers global professional support and networking solutions, with availability in regions such as the US, UK, Canada, and Europe.

Everything You Need to Know About Guest Wi-Fi Solutions (FAQs)

What Is A Guest Wi-Fi Solution?

In the digital era, providing guest Wi-Fi access has become a standard across a range of different sectors, from hospitality to education to retail, and even corporate environments. But the convenience of offering guest Wi-Fi onboarding comes with its own unique challenges, particularly when it comes to security, user experience, and network management.

A guest Wi-Fi solution is a secure, separate wireless network that businesses, organizations, or even homes can provide for visitors specifically to use. These separate networks allow guests to access the internet, without being able to access the main network that contains sensitive or private data, resources, and devices.

How Do Guest Wi-Fi Solutions Work?

Guest Wi-Fi Solutions work by creating a separate network for visitors to use, distinct from the primary business network. This division ensures that your corporate network and confidential data remain secure, while your visitors enjoy convenient internet access. Visitors connect to the Guest Wi-Fi using a predefined password, or through a captive portal, where they can authenticate using a social media account or via SMS/email verification.

Using a guest Wi-Fi solution brings several benefits for businesses and organizations, especially in terms of security, user experience, and brand engagement. A guest Wi-Fi solution improves security, convenience, and user experience while providing potential business benefits, making it an essential tool for many modern organizations.

What Features Should You Look For In Guest Wi-Fi Solutions?

When choosing a Guest Wi-Fi Solution, look for the following key features:

Wi-Fi Encryption – By encoding data transmitted over the network (i.e. making it unreadable to unauthorized accounts) users’ data is better protected against theft of passwords or personal information, and from being intercepted by malicious actors. By using encryption protocols like WPA3, a guest Wi-Fi solution ensures a safer browsing experience, enhances overall network security, and helps businesses meet data protection standards.
Captive Portals – These are login pages that appear before the user can access the guest Wi-Fi network. Captive portals are a good way to authenticate users, clearly display terms of service, and collect information on things like consent for marketing materials.
Virtual Lans (VLANs) – VLANs are useful for keeping guest traffic separate from the main network, thereby enhancing security by preventing guests from accessing internal resources. This segmentation protects sensitive data, improves network performance, and helps maintain compliance with data protection standards.
Bandwidth Management – Controlling the amount of internet speed and data each guest can use is essential for making sure that guest activity does not overwhelm the network. This ensures that sufficient bandwidth is preserved for business operations, helping to maintain a stable and reliable network experience for both guests and internal users.
Content Filtering – This helps to blocks access to inappropriate or harmful websites, thereby creating a safer browsing environment for guests. Blocking access to risky sites helps to mitigate the risk of malware, keeps the business in line with regulatory guidelines, and helps the business uphold a professional appearance and safe atmosphere.
Customizable Login Pages – This lets businesses design their own login screen with branding elements such as messages, logos, and colors, for a more personalized and distinctive appearance. This leads to greater brand recognition, appears more professional, and provides marketing and promotional opportunities.
Real-Time Analytics – In a guest Wi-Fi solution, real-time analytics provide live insights into network usage. These insights include things like the number of connected users, session lengths, and user demographics. Knowing this information helps businesses to better understand visitor behavior, optimize network performance, and make data-driven decisions for marketing or operational improvements, ultimately enhancing customer experience and engagement.
Integration – This means seamless integration with existing IT environment and support for upcoming technologies and standards. By integrating Wi-Fi data with other systems, businesses can enhance customer insights, improve engagement, and streamline operations.

Mirren McDade

Senior Journalist & Content Writer

Mirren McDade is a senior writer and journalist at Expert Insights, spending each day researching, writing, editing and publishing content, covering a variety of topics and solutions, and interviewing industry experts. She is an experienced copywriter with a background in a range of industries, including cloud business technologies, cloud security, information security and cyber security, and has conducted interviews with several industry experts. Mirren holds a First Class Honors degree in English from Edinburgh Napier University.

Laura Iannini

Cybersecurity Analyst

Laura Iannini is an Information Security Engineer. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity from the University of West Florida. Laura has experience with a variety of cybersecurity platforms and leads technical reviews of leading solutions. She conducts thorough product tests to ensure that Expert Insights’ reviews are definitive and insightful.