During a recent trip through the US via a generous client borrowed RV, I was finally able to experience the open road, and unfortunately open WiFi options offered at each RV park we visited. I came home with a new-found drive to secure and protect not only RV park owners but RV park patrons at the same time. Why should our small business clients be the only people secured. Just because you don’t have walls doesn’t mean you still can’t be secure.
Can your patrons access your company data? I could, with very little effort, find my way all the way to a property managers desktop where their QuickBooks data file resided. This was because like this property, many sites have purchased retail grade wireless routers and left the default settings in place. Just because it is a Best Buy does not mean it is the Best Fit for your property. And just because you have ‘a friend who is good with computers’, doesn’t mean they are continually educating themselves on threats regarding CyberSecurity. These devices are constantly being compromised due to out of date firmware or End of Life terms. And just because it worked when you plugged it in doesn’t mean its setup correctly or securely. If you’re one of these property owners, you owe it to yourself to keep them out of your business finances and credit card transactions. If you can see them, they can see you.
Having an open WiFi that all your patrons log into is a huge convenience. But in our interviews of some RV owners, this is one of the biggest concerns and places they avoid. Many are looking at their finances or retirement funds while they are on the road and are less likely to use your WiFi due to a common understanding that WiFi is just not safe at your park.
Finally in regards wireless security these devices limited in the total number of connected devices they can serve, they are likely the bottleneck that your patrons are bothering you about during your heavy seasons.
Many hotels are taking advantage of ‘Pay For’ Internet access. They offer minimal bandwidth for everyone allowing for simple tasks like searching the web or accessing their email, while offering at a premium higher bandwidth for those interested in Streaming movies. RV Park Owners can now do the same offering a specific amount of bandwidth based on the level of service paid for. At the same time these users are capped to not take all the available bandwidth for themselves regardless of additional equipment they may have on their vehicle or trailer. This allows for the best utilization of your sometimes-limited bandwidth based on your park’s location. Get the most bang for your buck and never again have the management office fight with a streaming hog for Internet access.
Recent articles have noted that RV Park WiFi is used for criminal activity. Child Pornography has been known to be uploaded to the cloud on these unmanaged networks. In every case where illegal activity such as Child Pornography or Pirated Media is involved, it is the owner of the Internet connection (RV Park Owners) that legal action is taken. Internet Filtering can help reduce or control what types of sites you allow your patrons to go to.
Your data is everything and how you access it is critical. Even more so are how others can or cannot access it. With our proprietary program, IT-in-a-Box, we offer along with the above preventative measures a secure firewall that prevents ALL traffic from outside the office. It’s not just enough to protect you from your park patrons, but also to protect you from those not on your property. Many Internet Service Providers mis-advertise that their Modems have a built-in firewall. This firewall is A.) Not at all customizable to your specific needs, and B.) Is never updated by your ISP so it is likely running on an old version of software that has already been compromised by the dark web. Our firewall is included in part of our managed services (see below) and is updated within weeks of the release of the latest updates by the manufacturer.
Many sites are seasonal and do not have the finances or manpower to keep guard or even protect their property. Theft, Safety, Security, and Liability are all concerns for these unmanned locations. We have installed many surveillance systems that record and can be monitored from off premise via the Internet. With up to 30-90 days of historical footage (depending on the number of camera and quality of recordings), property owners can feel safe that they have adequate video coverage of their important assets should any legal issues arise. We’re not suggesting your entire park needs to be under surveillance, but critical zones where property is stored, criminal activities could occur, or public safety is an issue (e.g. playgrounds) where injuries lead to law suits.
By having these services monitored 24/7 your network can be remediated from hacking and overuse. A huge marketing opportunity to bring in more business would be the confidence in advertising a safe WiFi. By combining the Bandwidth Control and Managed WiFi. Users now can come to your park We can do this by using something many retail wireless solutions don’t offer; Isolated WiFi Access. Not only can users NOT see your private data, but they also cannot see each other.
