End-of-life routers, a carrier change or a new security standard can force a refresh across hundreds of locations at once. The technology is rarely what derails these projects. Scheduling, site access, inconsistent installs and poor handoffs are.
1. Survey before you schedule
Every site is different: signal, mounting options, access rules, power and cable paths. Surveying each location before scheduling installs turns surprises into known tasks, and lets the design be right for each site instead of averaged across all of them.
2. Standardize the build
Define a standard kit, a standard configuration and a standard install method, with documented exceptions. Consistent builds make installs faster, make support simpler and make the next refresh easier.
3. Plan around how each site operates
Stores have trading hours, airports have access windows, schools have bell schedules and hospitals have clinical priorities. A schedule that ignores them will slip. Build the plan at both portfolio and site level, and confirm access before crews are booked.
4. Use one team end to end
Handoffs between a designer, a hardware vendor, an installer and a support desk are where projects lose time and accountability. One partner that owns survey, procurement, install and support removes those gaps and gives you a single answer when something changes.
5. Close out every site properly
- Photos of the install and cable paths.
- Device details and configuration recorded.
- Test results showing the site is live.
- Contacts and access notes for future visits.
A national airport travel retailer needed a full network refresh across 355 stores in 49 airports, inside tight terminal access windows. SimpleCom surveyed and installed dual-carrier 5G store by store in 37 days onsite. Read 355 airport stores refreshed in 37 days.
A shopping center operator started by replacing routers in 300 end-of-life kiosks and expanded to a fully managed 5G platform across more than 1,000. Read From 300 kiosks to every kiosk in the portfolio.
Common questions
How long does a multi-site refresh take?
It depends on site count, access windows and crew capacity. Surveys up front make the schedule accurate.
Can existing hardware be reused?
Sometimes. The survey and design phase identifies what can stay and what needs replacing.
Planning a refresh across many sites?
One team to survey, install and support every site, on your timeline.