What are the main types of access control credentials?

The common commercial credentials are key fobs and access cards (familiar and easy to revoke), keypad PIN codes (cheap but shareable), mobile credentials that turn a smartphone into the key (issued and revoked remotely in seconds), and biometrics like fingerprint or facial recognition for high-security areas. Many businesses combine several.

What is the difference between cloud and on-premise access control?

On-premise (networked) systems manage multiple doors from a central controller and software located in your building, giving full local control. Cloud-managed systems handle doors through a web portal from anywhere, which suits multi-location businesses and remote administration. Standalone single-door units are a third, non-scaling option for one sensitive room.

Are mobile credentials better than key cards?

Mobile credentials have real advantages: people rarely lose or forget their phone, credentials are issued and revoked remotely in seconds, and there are no cards to purchase. Key cards remain a solid, familiar choice, especially with modern high-security formats. The best fit depends on your workforce, door count, and how you prefer to manage access.

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Starlink for Business: Internet and Security for Michigan’s Remote Sites

By Michigan Security Systems · July 2026 · 6 min read

Some of the best commercial locations in Michigan have a frustrating problem: no reliable internet. If you run a business on a rural parcel, manage a construction site, or operate a yard or remote facility, you've probably heard "service isn't available at your address." Starlink has changed that — and for security systems in particular, it solves a problem that used to make remote-site protection nearly impossible.

Why Remote Sites Struggle to Get Online

Cable and fiber providers build where it's profitable — dense areas with lots of customers. That leaves farms, rural offices, construction trailers, equipment yards, storage lots, and outlying commercial buildings underserved or with no wired option at all. For years the workaround was slow, expensive cellular hotspots that couldn't handle real business use. Starlink's satellite internet reaches these sites directly, delivering the kind of connection a business can actually run on.

Why Internet Matters for Security — Not Just Email

Here's the connection people miss: modern security systems need internet to do their job. A commercial camera system with no connection can still record locally, but you lose the features that matter most at a remote, unstaffed site — remote live viewing, motion alerts to your phone, and cloud backup so footage survives even if a recorder is stolen or damaged. The same goes for cloud-managed access control: without internet, you can't manage doors remotely, get entry alerts, or check who came and went from anywhere. At exactly the sites that are most vulnerable because nobody's there, connectivity is what makes security actually work.

Starlink as the Foundation for Remote-Site Security

Once a site has a reliable Starlink connection, everything else becomes possible: cameras you can check from your phone at 2 a.m., access control you manage from the office across the state, real-time alerts when something trips, and cloud backup that protects your footage off-site. For construction sites, that means watching the trailer and equipment from day one. For yards and lots, it means eyes on the property around the clock. For rural businesses, it means the same modern security a downtown office takes for granted.

Why Have One Company Do Both

When the same team installs your internet and your security, the whole system is designed to work together. There's no finger-pointing between an internet vendor and a separate camera company when something isn't working — and the network is sized and configured for reliable security performance from the start. Michigan Security Systems is an authorized Starlink business internet installer serving Michigan, and a commercial security integrator, so we handle the connection and the cameras and access control that run on it, all with our own licensed technicians.

Getting Started

If you have a site that's been hard to connect — or you've been putting off security there because there's no internet — it's worth a conversation. We assess the location, confirm coverage, and design internet and security together across Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. Call 586-466-4490 or request a free assessment.