CLIENT CASE STUDY — WIRELESS & NETWORK PERFORMANCE
AO IT Consulting | Portland, Oregon | aoitconsulting.com
How a Portland taphouse owner got blazing fast WiFi — and happy customers — by replacing the one piece of equipment nobody thought to check.
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Client Local Taphouse |
Internet Speed 500 Mbps Ziply Fiber |
WiFi Speed (Before) 30 Mbps |
WiFi Speed (After) 500 Mbps |
The New Owner, The Slow Connection, and The Upgrade
A new owner had taken over a Portland taphouse and inherited the previous setup along with everything else. The internet — a sluggish Comcast connection — was one of the first things he wanted to fix. He called AO IT Consulting to help him make the switch to Ziply Fiber, a significantly faster option.
AO IT installed a new router, migrated everything from the old connection to the new Ziply Fiber line, and got everything running. The new 500 Mbps connection was live. The owner was happy.
For about a week.
The Callback: “The WiFi Is Still Slow”
A week or so later, the owner called back. Despite the fast new fiber connection, his WiFi speeds were terrible. Customers were complaining. The taphouse experience — where guests expected to be able to connect, stream, and share — was falling short.
The finger-pointing had already begun. He’d called Ziply. Ziply checked their equipment and confirmed it was performing perfectly — full 500 Mbps to the router. AO IT checked the router. The router showed 500 Mbps. Everything upstream of the WiFi was working exactly as it should.
So AO IT looked downstream.
The Diagnosis: The Equipment Nobody Checked
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📶 WiFi Speed 30 Mbps What customers were getting |
📶 Internet Speed 500 Mbps What was coming in from Ziply |
The taphouse had two wireless access points that had been in place long before the new owner arrived. AO IT checked them. They were nearly 10 years old — consumer-grade units running on hardware that predated modern WiFi standards by a generation.
The problem wasn’t the internet. It wasn’t the router. It was the last 10 feet of the connection — the access points that were taking a 500 Mbps signal and delivering 30 Mbps to customers because they simply weren’t capable of anything more.
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🔍 Root Cause • Two access points, both approximately 10 years old • Hardware incapable of handling modern WiFi speeds • Bottlenecking a 500 Mbps signal down to 30 Mbps • Ziply, the router, and the fiber connection were all performing perfectly — the access points were the sole constraint |
The Fix: One Access Point. Full Speed. Better Coverage.
AO IT replaced both aging access points with a single new high-powered enterprise access point. The results were immediate.
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❌ Before • 2 old access points, 10 years old • 30 Mbps WiFi speeds • Uneven coverage across the taphouse • Frustrated customers |
✅ After • 1 new high-powered access point • 500 Mbps WiFi speeds — instantly • Improved coverage throughout the entire space • Customers raving about the speed |
One access point replaced two. Coverage improved. Speed jumped from 30 Mbps to the full 500 Mbps the owner was already paying for. Customers noticed immediately and the owner heard about it — in the best possible way.
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“Ziply said it was fine. The router was fine. AO IT figured out it was the access points — 10 year old ones nobody thought to check. One new unit and suddenly my customers are telling me the WiFi is amazing.” — Owner, Portland Taphouse |
By the Numbers
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30→50 Mbps WiFi jumped instantly from 30 to 500 with one new access point |
2 → 1 Two aging access points replaced by a single modern high-powered unit |
~10 yrs Age of the access points that were bottlenecking a 500 Mbps connection |
0 Changes needed to the internet connection, router, or Ziply equipment |
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💡 The Lesson: Fast Internet Means Nothing Without the Right WiFi Hardware Upgrading your internet connection is only half the equation. If your wireless access points are outdated, they become the bottleneck — and no amount of speed from your ISP will make it through to your devices. AO IT diagnoses the whole system, not just the parts that are easiest to check. That’s the difference between a fix and a guess. |
Slow WiFi Is One of the Most Common Ways Businesses Lose Customers
For restaurants, taphouses, retail shops, hotels, and any business where customers spend time — WiFi is part of the experience. Slow or unreliable WiFi gets noticed, gets mentioned, and gets reviewed. Fast, reliable WiFi does the same thing, but in the other direction.
AO IT Consulting has resolved slow WiFi for clients ranging from small taphouses to 13-acre summer camps and estate properties. The diagnosis is always methodical: we check the internet, the router, and the wireless hardware — because the problem is rarely where everyone else already looked.
Is Your WiFi as Fast as Your Internet Connection?
If you’re paying for fast internet but your WiFi doesn’t reflect it, the answer is probably aging wireless hardware. AO IT Consulting can assess your full network — from the ISP connection to the access points — and identify exactly where your speed is being lost. Ask us for a free wireless assessment.
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🌐 aoitconsulting.com |
📞 (503) 257-3332 |
✉️ aoit@aoitconsulting.com |
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