Choosing the right router for your hotspot

The router is the heart of a hotspot deployment. Pick one with too little headroom and you'll be swapping it out within months; over-buy and you've tied up cash you needed elsewhere.

Match the router to the load

Estimate your peak concurrent users and the plans you'll sell, then leave room to grow. A gigabit router with a capable CPU handles far more sessions than the spec sheet's port count suggests.

• Count concurrent users at peak, not total subscribers
• Prefer gigabit ports and a dual-core CPU for headroom
• Plan for one uplink you can upgrade without re-cabling

Not sure where to start? Our shop stocks routers, switches and CPE sized for real WISP loads — and we're happy to help you spec a build.