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The promise of wireless networkingWirelessly enabling your home or business offers great advantages over traditionally wired networking in that it facilitates portability, shared access to data storage, shared broadband Internet connectivity and convenience. However there are some inherent risks if implementing wifi systems without the experience and skills to protect your information and systems.
Probably the biggest threat to the security of your wireless systems and data is the incorrect configuration of your equipment and operating system. Out of the box MSWindows and wireless routers and network cards are not always setup in the most secure fashion. ITEX audits of hundreds of wireless networks and drive-by scans using our scanning tools have shown almost 50% of home and business wireless networks to be open to misuse and attack. In addition, if you are sharing your broadband Internet connection in yourbusiness or home, your staff or family could be exposed to inappropriate material such as porn or online chat sites that are inherently risky. If your wifi network is not secured, users can freelyconnect to your network without your knowledge, access information on your computers and freeload off your own Internet connection to access the web and download anything they want. The other major threat to your data, whether it be personal data or business information, is your system's users - who either through malicious intent, intense curiosity or lack of guidelines and configuration, to put your information and systems at severe risk.
The ITEX SolutionIn addition to the multitude of tools, found and tested over many years experience, to clean up, tweak and protect your IT investments we draw upon our ITEX staff's 10+ years experiences in the private, state sector and military IT industries to solve some issues that software alone cannot assist. We can help to draw up security plans of action, configure hardware, audit user permissions, security policies and training.
At ITEX we can identify shortcomings in your organisation's security and technology architecture and for business customers compare this with the requirements of any existingService Level Agreements you may have with your companies current service provider, this information can then be used to ensure your service provider is meeting it's obligations - saving you money and reducing your IT risks.
A quick audit will identify if your own wireless network and equipment is open to abuse, and ITEX can lock it down, with no loss of functionality to your legitimate users and family.
NEW Hotspot Services
One of the easiest ways for your business to increase customer loyalty and generate additional sales is to offer convenient internet access. For example, cafe's and hotel lobbies that advertise Wireless Internet Access, increase their sales of snacks and coffee - your customers can relax in your premises to do a little work away from the office or just catch up on emails with their laptop. Anyone visiting many of the Starbucks outlets around town will have noticed two or three laptop users at any given time sitting in a comfortable seat sipping their Grande Lattes and nibbling cookies while being engrossed in front of their computer screens. Once a computer user realises that a premises offers internet access they come back time and time again as a place to work AND shop!
Normally the only barriers to a small business wanting to set up their own wireless hotspot service is the cost of equipment (which can cost well over a thousand dollars) or the lack of in-house expertise to setup and manage the system. ITEX have worked hard to find a low cost and easy to setup solution, which is ideal for smaller businesses and those in suburban areas - (only $179 for the equipment and installation - there are no monthly charges or term contract) - which is cheaper than any of our competitors and it pays for itself via a 50-50 profit share scheme with ongoing support from ITEX. See below.
ITEX Hotspot solutions
A lot of businesses have already got high speed internet access wired to their premises (or can get it for around $50 per month in NZ via Telecom or TelstraClear etc), we offer a pre-configured wireless router such as the one shown above, which we simply plug it in to piggy-back onto your existing (or new) connection. Immediately your customers can start paying to use the internet while relaxing with a coffee. Laptop customers can 'see' your wireless hotspot, connect to it and begin web browsing - after paying for access (for example 1 hour for $5) using their credit card or online Paypal payment option - Note: there is also an option to make your hotspot complementary for customers if you prefer, for example '15 minutes free with every coffee purchased'.
There is nothing else you or your staff need to do! No new skills to learn and no separate point of sale equipment required! At the end of the calendar month, a report is generated by ITEX which shows the revenue generated from your internet customers, and your 50 - 50 split is paid directly into the account of your choosing, typically this will be to your own Paypal account (for convenience) or can be a NZ bank account if required.
Using the example above it would only take about 25 x 1hour internet users in a month to have paid for your existing internet connection that you normally pay for anyway! Taking a look in Starbucks will show you that many more internet users than that can be expected, which generates an internet customer profit AND driving more sales of your existing products and services.
In addition to retail premises the same solution can also benefit individuals living in high density residential areas, for example where one resident can make a profit from sharing their internet access with other residents within the wireless network range - typically 30 - 50 metres depending on your building.
One more benefit - the wireless hotspot service can operate 24 hours a day, potentially generating an income well after the retail premises is closed for the day.
Contact ITEX today for further details with no obligation.
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