In this article, we cover options for connecting digital signage to the internet, and we discuss the trade-offs between each choice. Digital signs can use wired ethernet, WiFi, or a wireless cellular internet connection. Read more below to see which option fits best with your digital signage plans.
Why do digital signs need an internet connection?
Modern digital signs use digital signage software and digital signage players to show content. Digital signage players are small, physical devices that render content to digital signage screens. These devices communicate with digital signage software to know what content to show and when.
In most cases, digital signage players communicate with digital signage software over the internet. This setup allows users to control their digital signs from anywhere with an internet connection, which is a massive improvement from the digital signage management methods of the past. Before internet-connected digital signs, users would have to visit each sign in person and manually update content with a USB drive and keyboard.
Are digital signage players compatible with wireless or wired internet connections?
Most modern digital signage players can work with both wireless and wired internet connections. WiFi digital signage players can connect to your WiFi network during initial setup and programming. Alternatively, operators can typically use an ethernet cable for a wired connection.
The main advantage of wireless digital signage is convenience. Teams do not have to deal with cable management or making new wired ethernet ports near the sign. However, wireless digital signage often comes with the disadvantage of being less reliable. Often, teams expect WiFi to work in difficult environments where the connection is less than stable.
Wired ethernet digital signage has flipped positives and negatives when compared to wireless options. The positive is that a wired internet connection is often more stable than a wireless digital signage solution. However, the negative is that a wired connection is often more difficult to set up.
What about cellular wireless digital signage solutions?
Some digital signs use a cellular wireless connection. This solution is mostly used for outdoor solutions where the digital sign provider does not want to deal with a third-party internet source. Cellular connections for digital signage players sometimes come from an add-on to the device or as a hotspot peripheral tool. Using a cellular wireless connection requires a separate cell data plan, and this option, while feasible, is not common for digital signage deployments.
What happens to a digital sign when an internet connection drops?
Digital signs are meant to be seen, so when a digital sign stops displaying content, this issue is highly visible to customers and employees. In the past, many digital signage solutions required an ongoing internet connection to display content. When the internet connection died, the sign stopped displaying content.
To combat that issue, modern digital signage solutions started caching content locally. This solution means that content is stored on the digital signage player device after downloading it from an internet connection. With local caching, the digital sign can still display content even when the internet connection cuts out. The digital signage player can then reestablish an internet connection in the background while content plays on the screen. As far as customers, employees, and foot traffic passing by the sign can tell, nothing goes wrong when the device’s internet conneciton drops.
Managing digital signage internet connections at scale
Modern digital signage often has fleet management features that allow users to monitor the internet connection status of their digital signs at scale. Often, this feature takes the form of a dashboard or map where users can see how many screens are offline and which screens need troubleshooting. This functionality can also alert users as to which screens are out of sync, meaning which screens have content changes that have yet to register on the screen and are waiting for a reestablished internet connection.
Get started with Screenly
Screenly provides both digital signage player hardware and digital signage software. Screenly digital signage solutions can be either wireless or wired, depending on the user’s needs. While we recommend wired digital signage for increased screen reliability, we have many customers who use a wireless connection successfully.
To get started with Screenly, register for our free tria. You do not need a credit card to sign up.
