It’s interesting to see the new fleet of buses in Southampton that quite rightly offer Free Wi-Fi on each of their vehicles.

Whilst this may quite useful for the people sat in the city’s frustratingly busy corridors of travel, what intrigued our Geekabit team the most was the branding surrounding this.

Each of the vehicles is clearly labelled as free ‘4G Wi-Fi’. This got us thinking as we sat wondering how long it would take to get anywhere – “does anyone care if the Wi-Fi is powered by 4G?”. Additionally, do half the people even know what that means? 4G internet may be the source of the internet on that particular bus, but what does it mean to the average consumer?

We see “Free Wi-Fi” posters and signs across Europe now as standard, and although it can be a big draw, there does need to be some consideration over exactly what they mean.

Sat writing this in a coffee shop offering such a facility (I’m glad you’ve now got Wi-Fi Coffee #1), can we please consider a few things?

1) Terrible experiences lead to loss of customers – I am connected to my 4G iPhone, as I know it will work. I can’t trust the Wi-Fi here. For people with significantly less data allowances, I can see them changing to a venue where we know it will work properly.

2) If you promise free Wi-Fi, then make sure it’s easily accessible – confusing and broken captive portals that need your waist measurement are frustrating for everyone.

3) Free Wi-Fi in a venue means that – everywhere. Make sure it works in every nook and cranny, not just one end of your coffee shop, bar or restaurant. You can’t do this by hiding an access point in a back room or under the counter.

One of the biggest frustrations, and let downs with the technology, is the over-marketing and over-promise of free internet wherever you go. If you’re intending to offer this service, be clear what you mean, and make sure that it is as faultless as possible.

If we continue to let people down with Wi-Fi, then they will slowly learn to not trust the technology, and migrate to the 4G and 5G platforms as quickly as they can.