If you’re planning an event, then WiFi is a vital asset. Often connectivity is an afterthought, but is essential to the smooth running of an event.
Connectivity for contactless card machines, staff networks and even open public networks provide an improved experience, and offer vendors an additional amenity for exhibiting at your event.
We know how important event budgeting is—getting everything organised and delivered on time and on budget is challenging. Hopefully, this article provides you with information to help find out how much WiFi will cost at your event.
How Much Does Event WiFi Cost?
The quick answer is: it depends. There are lots of different factors that impact the cost of an event WiFi solution. Our plug and play event WiFi solutions start from around £200, and scale up as your event gets larger. To give you an idea, here are some of the factors that affect the cost:
- How large is your event?
The size of your event matters—if you need to cover a small 20m area with WiFi, then the cost will be less than a full network across a 1000m event.
- What do you need?
Although is sounds like a strange question, thinking about what kind of solution you need at your event is a great start. Do you need a complete mesh WiFi network across your entire event, covering a large area with users being able to seamlessly roam around?
Or do you just need a simple solution that you can plug in and connect a handful of devices to. These two different options can change the cost of your event WiFi—with the smaller solutions costing less than larger options.
- What are you using the WiFi for?
There are so many uses for event WiFi, and by deciding what you need, you’ll be able whittle down to a solution that meets your requirements. For example, if you ONLY need WiFi for card machines and contactless payments, then it’s more straightforward than solution with an open guest network.
Other possible WiFi uses include video streaming, which is often prominent in larger festivals or events with a green room/media centre.
- How many people will be connected?
A big factor that affects the cost of your event WiFi is the number of concurrent devices connected. Having thousands of people connected requires a more substantial solution than just having your staff connected.
We recently provided an event WiFi solution for an event with 16,000+ University Students in attendance.
As you might imagine, the more people you want to connect to your event WiFi network, the higher the cost.
- Do you have specific requirements?
And finally, do you have any special requests? Every event is different, and as such we understand that you likely have a few things that you’d like to implement. For example, a card machine network, or a place for wired devices to connect in a media centre etc.
Obviously, the larger the event, the more demanding the requirements and the more users that need to connect means that the cost of your WiFi will be higher. The table above should give you a guide as to what solutions you might require. Costs do vary, but we would recommend setting a WiFi budget as a percentage of your overall event budget. This means that as your event increases in size and complexity and revenue, so does the budget for connectivity.
How Much Does WiFi Installation Cost For An Event?
While you have a large event, then you’ll likely require an installation by our engineers. As well as installation and decommissioning, Bytes Digital offer on-site engineering support, with a dedicated engineer on site for the duration of your event, even camping on site if necessary.
As you might expect, having an engineer on site adds additional cost, but we found that the larger events often require the additional support, and particularly the peace of mind that comes with having an engineer on site in case something happens.
We would say normally budgeting a minimum of £300 for an engineer installation and decommissioning, but this varies depending on location, time on site and requirements etc.
Every event is different, and a such there is no one size fits all WiFi solution. We’re here to help recommend the best solution for your requirements—whether it’s a small plug-n-play solution, or a complete mesh network across your entire event.
For an accurate cost to provide WiFi at your event, click ‘Online Quote’ or get in touch on 0331 301 021 or sales@bytesdigital.co.uk
