What’s the biggest drawback or limitation to this business idea?

The system becomes susceptible to network related problems, such as delays in case of heavy traffic and network equipment failures.

Access controllers and workstations may become accessible to hackers if the network of the organization is not well protected. This threat may be eliminated by physically separating the access control network from the network of the organization. Also it should be noted that most IP controllers utilize either Linux platform or proprietary operating systems, which makes them more difficult to hack. Industry standard data encryption is also used.

Maximum distance from a hub or a switch to the controller (if using a copper cable) is 100 meters (330 ft).

• Operation of the system is dependent on the host PC. In case the host PC fails, events from controllers are not retrieved and functions that require interaction between controllers (i.e. anti-passback) stop working. Some controllers, however, have a peer-to-peer communication option in order to reduce dependency on the host PC.