Protective DNS for gym access control, connected kit and member WiFi
A gym runs entry gates, member check-in, class booking, reception tills, CCTV and connected cardio kit, and many sites stay open around the clock with no one on the desk. Shield checks each DNS lookup before a connection starts, blocking phishing, malware and C2 callbacks. Member WiFi comes second: fast for streaming workouts, and family-safe for junior swim lessons.
What is at stake
Where a gym network is exposed
Unstaffed sites at night
Entry gates and CCTV run overnight with no one on site. An infected device can call home for hours before anyone looks.Connected cardio kit
Treadmills and bikes with screens browse, stream and update over your network, often on the same segment as the tills.Members' payment data
Reception and the booking system hold card details and direct debit records. A phished login exposes them.
How Shield fits
Separate rules for gates, kit, staff and members
- Entry, CCTV and IoTGates, cameras and building systems on their own VLAN, limited to known domains and visible through the relay.
- Connected kitCardio screens on threat defence and ad blocking, kept apart from tills and staff devices.
- Reception and staffThreat-first policy on reception ePOS, card terminals and staff laptops, with new domains blocked.
- Member WiFiThreat defence, ad blocking and family-safe categories during junior sessions, set by time of day.
Guest WiFi policy
- Adult contentBlocked
- GamblingBlocked
- Safe Search on Google, Bing and YouTubeEnforced
- Streaming at busy timesLimited
Allow list
bookings.examplemenu.exampleBlock list
rival-venue.exampleProof
What Shield gives a gym or leisure centre
- 500%
- faster page loads on member WiFi with ads and trackers stripped, in Purple's own tests
- 44%
- less data used on member WiFi, in Purple's own tests
- 10 days
- earlier warning of new malicious domains than standard blocklists
- IWFfiltering meets the Internet Watch Foundation bar on member WiFi
FAQ
Questions we hear from teams like yours
Will filtering slow down members streaming workouts?
No. Shield checks each lookup before the connection starts, then gets out of the way. Stripping ads and trackers made pages load up to 500% faster and used up to 44% less data in Purple's own tests.
Can we apply rules by time of day?
Yes. Policy runs by time of day and day of week, per site, SSID or VLAN. You can tighten member WiFi for junior swim sessions on Saturday morning, and run a stricter overnight policy at unstaffed sites.
Do we need hardware at each club?
No. Point each club's router, firewall or DHCP at Shield. A relay covers segmented VLANs for gates and cameras, and nothing needs installing on members' phones or connected kit.
Does it help with PCI DSS?
It helps you meet PCI DSS by blocking malware and phishing domains on the networks that carry reception tills and card terminals, with reports and log streaming as evidence. It is a layer behind your firewall, not a replacement for it.
What happens if Shield goes down overnight?
Shield runs on a dual anycast DNS network and fails closed, so an outage never leaves a club unfiltered. Unstaffed sites keep their policy without anyone on site to switch anything back on.
Other industries
Cinemas
Threat defence for ticketing, kiosks and concession tills, with family-safe WiFi in the foyer.Theatres
Threat defence for box office, show control and bar tills, with family-safe audience WiFi.Music venues
Threat defence for door scanners, cashless bars and production kit, with lighter fan WiFi.
Decide what your network reaches, free for 30 days
Tell us which networks and sites you run and who is on them. We map a policy to each one: staff, guests, students, residents and IoT. Then point one network at Shield and see what it stops for 30 days, before you pay anything. Running change control? We plan a pilot on one site with your team instead. No hardware to install.
- We map your networksA Purple expert maps your networks, your venues and the people on each, and answers your questions on bypass, outages, data handling and integrations.
- You get a policy for each oneStaff, guests, students, residents, IoT and paid tiers, each with the policy it needs.
- You prove it, then get your tailored quote30 days free on one network, or a pilot on one site planned with your team, then Shield priced standalone or as an add-on to your Access plan.
Your policy map
Tell us your networks. We map a policy to each one.
A Purple expert comes back with a policy for every network and group you run, from the team that has run content filtering since 2012 and runs WiFi for 80,000+ venues in 90 countries.