Why coffee shops deserve better Wi-Fi

Walk into most independent coffee shops and the Wi-Fi is one of two things: the password taped to the register, or a flat open network anyone can join. Both are a missed opportunity, and both are a small risk you probably haven't thought about.

The enterprise world solved this years ago. Branded sign-in pages, guest networks kept separate from the business systems, customer data captured at the door, automated marketing that runs in the background. The catch was always the price and the complexity. You needed an IT team and a four-figure monthly bill.

There's no good reason a coffee shop can't have the same thing. The technology got cheap. What didn't change was the willingness of big platforms to serve a one-location shop like it matters.

That's the gap we're trying to close. More on the specifics in the posts ahead.