Scott,

I like your idea. In fact, this whole WiFi deal stems from wanting to do breakfast meetings at a local restaurant and conducting Skype conferences. The restaurant in question has cable, but not WiFi. Their IT person is reluctant to go the WiFi route because it would require him to set up a secure monitoring system and he does not want the hassle. In my opinion, what he should do is allow an outside contractor to do it. There are companies that do nothing but set up WiFi hot spots and provide 24/7 monitoring service to make sure everything stays secure.

Searching on the Net, what I have discovered is that even unattractive splash pages can be effective. The attraction is not so much the ad as it is the free WiFi service. While Toronto may not have problems with cell phone service, out here in Northern California, the cell phone service is horrible. Being able to go into a restaurant that has good high-speed wireless service that is free is rare indeed. And, that is why I think the local folks would be attracted to it if it was made available to them.

Subway sandwiches uses free WiFi at their restaurants. And no, there aren't any near where I live. Anyway, I don't think you would be too impressed with Subway's splash page. But, it works. Why? I don't think the ad content is the issue. I think the FREE WiFi access is the attraction. Here's the link. Let me know what you think?

Lamar Morgan
CDMM
http://www.squidoo.com/CDMM
Attract more customers!

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