Small businesses are using older WiFi that doesn’t fit their needs on several fronts. A new Linksys sponsored survey says half of the small businesses polled are using WiFi technology that’s over eight years old. Beyond not being able to keep up with mobile expansion, business owners are concerned over the lags in security and speed.
Problems with Small Businesses Using Old WiFi Tech
These findings are important to small businesses still using older WiFi technology. Smaller enterprises that work online need to be both flexible and fast to respond to changing client needs. Your download and upload speeds are the flux to beat the competition to sales. Beyond that, they make for quicker networking with everyone from visitors to mobile employees.
Other Technologies
Mobile is quickly making landline and other technologies a thing of the past. The Wave 2 MU-MIMO Wi-Fi Opportunity for Channel Partners, an IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Linksys, reports most ( 75 percent) of suppliers expect a 25 percent increase in the number of WiFi connected small business customers this year. It’s critical to stay on top of these trends to attract both clients and talent.
Finally there are big security concerns. Almost half (48 percent) of the small businesses responding called security one of the “pain points.” A small business can be ruined if employee and client data gets hacked.
Strain of Laboring Under Old WiFi
Ray Boggs, vice president of Small and Medium Business Research at IDC said in a recent press release small businesses feel the strain of laboring under old WiFi platforms.
“And they feel the connectivity strain of supporting more and more mobile devices even as they benefit from a more productive workforce,” he said.
Latest WiFi Platforms
The report also points to the latest WiFi platforms as a solution. Wave 2 and MU-MIMO are the latest in cutting edge technology aimed at the small business market. The report even suggested small businesses look to hubs, switches, routers and the necessary cloud services that work with Wave 2 and MU-MIMO.
MU-MIMO technology has several big advantages to the small business. For example, using this technology, an entire office can join one video conference in a secure environment. Large files can be sent from the cloud and a large email downloaded without buffering, to name just a few of the benefits.
Faster Router
The technology makes a small business router faster. That way, it takes less time to get the information needed to make business decisions. The technology is developing and needs a USB Adapter or enabled router. Most WiFi routers operating on older technologies won’t work here.
Linksys was the first company to market this technology in 2016. They currently have a variety of MU-MIMO technology designed for small business like the Linksys USB MU-MIMO Adapter.
WiFi on Latte Photo via Shutterstock
This article, “Half of All Small Businesses Use WiFi Technology Almost a Decade Old” was first published on Small Business Trends