This document provides information on why it is important to have well-qualified network engineering professionals design, install, configure, and help you manage a wireless network at your hospitality center or your QSR location.

Having someone slap together a few wifi hotspots using consumer-grade devices from your corner consumer electronic store may save you some money to start with; but doing so is more than likely to not only prove very expensive in terms of your ongoing costs alone, but also in terms of the liabilities that you may incur because of potentially exposing your guests (and your staff) to harmful RF/Microwave radiations -and from possibly running afoul of FCC regulations.

Regardless of whether your hospitality center primarily caters to high-end markets (big-spender captive audiences with lots of money: e.g. cruise ships, conference centers, high-value tourism and business travel segments) or budget-conscious hotel/motel clientele; your clients expect you to provide them access to reliable (and secure) wireless data services.

Preventing Rogue APs from joining (having an unauthorized access to) your personal or corporate networks is not easy, and there is no single solution that guarantees 100% success.

However, you would have a reasonable degree of success in keeping those uninvited pests off your network if you follow some the suggestions outlined below.

Please be advised that the following list is not an all-inclusive one-size-fits-all cure for all your Rogue AP Blues. A lot is going to depend on how your network is designed, setup, and managed; the quality (or lack thereof) of various networking devices used on your network, and how proactive you (or your network administrators) are in monitoring your network usage and in enforcing your network security policies.

Having said that, here is a list of things you can do to improve your chances of keeping rogue APs off your network: