Silly question... starting a public wifi company?

[Technical Ben]

I know this sounds a bit wild, but I'm considering two options but don't know where to start.

1) Hiring an event public wifi service. A BIG one.

2) Buying and registering the equipment.

Would be used once a quarter for 2 days over a weekend, serving around 500-5000 people.

Wouldn't have to be the most powerful service, only really needs to serve PDfs/text websites, so could throttle each user. I can dig into the research, but anyone knowing where to start would be a *god* send.

[Technical Ben]

Found a couple of local firms offering "festival wifi" so will enquire with them.

[Clive]

It sounds an exciting project Ben!

[zappaDPJ]

That is a little out of my area but I have had a fair bit of experience using radio mics and wireless in-ear monitors. I'd always go with hiring regardless of the event size. If there's a technical problem on the day the hire company should have the expertise to fix it, if something breaks they should be able to replace it and if there are frequency licenses involved they can advise on your legal requirements.

[nowster]

WiFi runs in the ISM frequency bands. There are no licences needed. You do have to be careful with some 5GHz channels when used outdoors, though.

However, a large WiFi network needs careful setup with multiple Access Points. Then you have the upstream internet link to organise...

If you're serving content for local consumption, that should be on a server on site, so that traffic never hits the external internet.

[Technical Ben]

That is a little out of my area but I have had a fair bit of experience using radio mics and wireless in-ear monitors. I'd always go with hiring regardless of the event size. If there's a technical problem on the day the hire company should have the expertise to fix it, if something breaks they should be able to replace it and if there are frequency licenses involved they can advise on your legal requirements.

Yep. That was my main plan. Setup a charity for providing wifi in areas where there may be vulnerable/isolated people who can reach out, if given the slightest opportunity, and this would offer that opportunity non-confrontationally. I'd not be 100% up to doing it as a solo venture just yet, and those who contacted me, for now, are going for their plan A... I'll not repeat their idea... as it's MacGyvering a hodgepodge in a dad style diy project and I do not approve.

Where as, as you say, doing it through a professional company covers all bases.

Thanks, and I may be asking again next year when their attempts fail spectacularly.