Five tips for configuring the guest wi-fi

From an IT perspective, Jeff Collins is a good host.

He’s not leaving out hand towels at the Airbnb, but the chairman of observability platform WanAware knows how to configure an office wi-fi network for guests.

Almost every wireless access point on the planet, Collins said, has an “enable guest wi-fi” option. That accessibility, however, poses its own set of challenges.

“The act of configuring it is rather simple, but the reality is that the implications that can happen from that, as well as some downstream effects, can greatly affect your organization,” Collins said.

We spoke with several industry pros about how to send a strong signal with your company’s guest wi-fi implementation.

(Seg)ment to be. For Collins, the guest wi-fi should be on its own wireless access point, and a switch should send network traffic on its own virtual local area network (VLAN). A firewall should also block access to corporate network resources, and keep one’s IP address from communicating with another coworker’s IP address, even though both are on the same guest wi-fi network. Hacking groups, perhaps most notably in 2014, sent malicious pop-ups to hotel-goers logging on to guest wi-fi.

It is “very common,” according to Collins, for practitioners to skip this guest -network segmentation. (Nathan Hunstable, CISO at Chuck E. Cheese, spoke to us in January 2025 about his experience securing company networks.)

Collins suggested using unified “network fabric” technologies that perform segmentation tasks supporting automatic configuration upon log-on.

A guest’s guest. Collins noted that IT pros must consider different guest types. A partner, for example, may need a VPN or certain corporate resources, compared to an interviewee who might only require internet access. Such specialized requirements may call for another guest network or additional authentication.

Just get ’em in the door. Benjamin Brillat, distinguished engineer and VP responsible for global network organization for Kyndryl, has led guest-network design at several premier sports stadiums throughout his career, including wireless access for Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He encourages orgs to develop a persona for guest users, and to provide controls accordingly.

A stadium, for instance, might want fans to easily be able to share their experiences on social media: that means few hurdles to get connected. A hotel, however, may require the same needs as an office wi-fi environment.

Brillat recommends orgs should generally avoid setting an artificially high barrier of entry. “Understand that the user is going to have internet access in some way, and it’s better for you to be able to control and engineer that connectivity to be a great experience while visiting your facility,” he said.

You’re out of the band(width). In addition to segmentation and an authentication method that balances security and ease of use, Frank Costa, senior I&O manager at consultancy firm West Monroe, recommends setting per-client bandwidth restrictions, using tools like firewalls and wireless LAN controllers—centralized platforms that help network admins monitor connected devices. (New hardware, like routers and firewalls, according to Costa, may be needed if a surprise number of guests arrive regularly, with lots of network, bandwidth-bursting needs.)

Watch out! Costa suggested monitoring network traffic using Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools like Microsoft Sentinel to spot problems like traffic anomalies and bandwidth usage. He also recommended conducting ping tests or pen tests to see if policies are working as intended and remote servers, routers, or devices can be reached from a guest network.

Regarding wi-fi network setups, it’s not necessarily as easy as pressing a button.

“I think it’s easy to do poorly, and much more difficult to do well,” Costa said.