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Can Your Venue Support Mobile Bidding?

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Kris Anderson
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The quality and capacity of the network at your venue plays a critical role in the success of your event, especially if you plan to use mobile bidding or run live voting contests.    

Do not wait until the last minute to verify that your venue meets your network requirements!  

Use the following guidelines to assess your event’s connectivity needs and your venue’s actual (not advertised) network capacity.  After your assessment, if you have any doubts that your event will have adequate connectivity, work with your venue to increase Wi-Fi capacity/reliability and/or adjust your event plans accordingly.

What you need to know:

The software does not require a significant amount of bandwidth, so “speed” is rarely the deal breaker.   The critical element is having sufficient access points to support large numbers of simultaneous users.

Enterprise (commercial) class Wi-Fi access points can typically support 16-32 users. So a mobile bidding event, attended by 200 guests, needs at least 8-10 well-positioned access points to support simultaneous connections.  

Cellular networks, on the other hand,  are designed to accommodate hundreds of simultaneous users from each cell tower.   If your venue has strong cellular reception, Cellular networks are usually a more reliable option.

Best Practice: If Cellular Signals are consistently strong, prioritize Wi-Fi usage for your staff/volunteers, and have your guests use cellular networks. This prevents guest usage from potentially overloading the Wi-Fi network and interfering with your Auction management.  

Determine your Network Needs

Cellular Reception

Min. 3+ bars in ALL bidding areas, by all major carriers

 

Per 100 Guests

  
 Access Points

4-6 well-positioned, enterprise class

*Speed Requirements:

Minimum Download Speed

Minimum Upload Speed

Max Ping

Gala Auction only

 16Mbps or 2 MB/S

8Mbps or 1 MB/S

100ms

Gala + Self Check In/Out

24Mbps or 3 MB/S

8Mbps or 1 MB/S

100ms

Mobile Items < 50

24Mbps or 3 MB/S

8Mbps or 1 MB/S

100ms

Mobile Items > 100

32Mbps or 4 MB/S

8Mbps or 1 MB/S

100ms

Mobile Items > 200

40Mbps or 5 MB/S

8Mbps or 1 MB/S

100ms

Voting Event < 100 Guests

24Mbps or 3 MB/S

8Mbps or 1 MB/S

100ms

Voting Event < 300 Guests

32Mbps or 4 MB/S

8Mbps or 1 MB/S

100ms

Voting Event > 500 Guests

32Mbps or 5 MB/S

8Mbps or 1 MB/S

100ms

* These elements are not cumulative.  Use the highest value element in your event to determine your network needs.

Assess Network Access and Plan Accordingly

  • Is Wi-Fi access open (no password needed)?  If not, is the password easy to remember and type?
  • Can guests and volunteers remain logged in for 6-8 hours?
  • Is a wired connection available for your front desk stations?
  • Once you have tested and recorded the results of your venue’s network connectivity, make a plan for how will you instruct your guests to connect.

After your assessment, if you have any doubts that your event will have adequate connectivity, work with your venue to increase the network capacity/reliability and/or adjust your event plans accordingly.   If connectivity cannot be improved (enough), there are two strategies for lowering your connectivity requirements:

  • Using max bidding instead of quick bids can significantly reduce the number of bids placed.
  • Moving some mobile items to paper bidding and/or paper signup (for parties and other fixed price items.

Print Test Recording Sheet.pdf

 

Test Cellular Reception

  • Test all major carriers in your area  
  • Turn off WiFi on each phone to ensure you’re measuring cellular network reception
  • Test signal in all areas guests will be bidding in, as well as front desk area.  
  • Consider any areas with less than 3 bars a dead zone.

Carrier:

# Bars

Dead zones?

Carrier:

# Bars

Dead zones?
           
           

Test Wi-Fi Speeds

  • Conduct several speed tests in various areas within the venue using a service such as http://compari.tech/speed or http://speedtest.net.   
  • Be sure to test all areas where guests will be bidding and/or computer stations will be used.
  • Whenever possible, conduct tests during conditions similar to your event (day of week, time of day, # of users).
Test Date/Time/Conditions
 Download Speed
 Upload Speed
 Max Pings
       
       
       

Assess Wi-Fi Capacity and Reliability                                               

    Y/N*

# of Access Points:                                                   

 Are there enough access points?

  

Are the access points placed high on a wall or on a ceiling?

(If access points are located in closets or atop bars or desks, objects and bodies may block/weaken the signal.)

  

Will the Network Administrator be onsite during your event?  If not, will they be reachable by phone?


Name: _______________________________________________
Cell Phone:_________________________

  

Have you verified that the network is NOT running a proxy?

  

Have you confirmed that the network does NOT filter access?

  

Does your venue provide “enterprise class” network equipment?Typical Enterprise Class equipment manufacturers: Cisco, Ruckus, Aruba, HP, Meru, Meraki. (Typical Consumer Class equipment manufacturers: Linksys, Netgear, D-Link.  Consumer grade equipment is typically unreliable for more than 16-32 users.)

  

Was the network at your venue set up by network professionals?

  

Has this network supported a similar number of users in the past?

  

Will your guests and volunteers have exclusive use of the Wi-Fi connection during the event?

(If not, find out how many other users will have access to the connection and adjust your network needs accordingly.)

  

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