Hello!

Excuse my question - but don't know where to start here.

I want to build a wireless hotspot in a hotel. Customers should pay for accessing the hotspot in advance (hotspot-ticket for an hour or so) or should be billed afterwards based on usage data. If it is possible, both variants should be possible.

As the Chillspot site is down i have less information on how to build such a scenario.

Could anyone give me a hint where to start and how this scenario works?
Do I need external hardware (for freeradius eg)?

I think this could be used by many OpenWRT users - maybe I could build a howto in the wiki with your help.

Thanks in advance,
Florian Lagg

Try to start reading this tutorial for gentoo:
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Chillispot … _and_MySQL

Maybe there are not all the informations you need, however that's better than nothing.
An hotspot scenario with OpenWrt is quite interesting. Maybe in the future I'll try to learn how to do it.

Thanks for your quick answer.
I reviewed the manual and it looks quite easy. Maybe I find some time to get started this weekend.

I have another question: is it possible to replace mysql and apache with something smaller? would be great if the system fits on a router box. freeradius can use password files, right? and how - for example - is the webif made?
---edit---
does webif use busybox httpd?
---edit---

Thx, nice day
Florian Lagg

(Last edited by laggflor on 22 Aug 2007, 10:48)

I found the answer myself:
http://wiki.x-wrt.org/index.php/Program … _the_Webif gives the hint.

Anyway: Do you think it is possible to make a complete solution in the box or is it a waste of time (why)?

Thx.
Florian Lagg

I'm going to understand it soon, because I'm also starting to interest to it.
I think it's possible, at today I just experienced some problems with WPA2 encryption. I will let you know, and obviously you have to do the same with me

If my free time allows i will set up a ubuntu box to understand how it works, then I will try to bring it on the Linksys router. As I have much to do this week This may take some time.

Bye
Florian

Perhaps this page can help you if you are using a Linksys router:
http://coova.org/wiki/index.php/CoovaAP

Thanks. Will look at it asap.
Currently I'm busy with some other projects.

Bye,
Florian Lagg (http://www.lagg.at)

I might just be spoiled, but because there are so many hotels which offer free wifi access, I usually skip hotels which charge for it. When I do end up in a hotel which charges for access, the charge is generally a flat fee for 24 hours, or until checkout. I've never seen one-hour access, and I've never seen fees based on usage. (I'm talking about USA hotels - please excuse my ignorance of other countries!)

It's possible that you have nothing to do with how the hotel wants to bill for their access.  Still, please feel free to share this with the people making those decisions!

Btw take a look at the how to section nice guide to do this with openwrt.

Hello!

In Europe there are many hotels billing for internet access.
I want to create a solution which enables both - a free hotspot in a hotel or a paying hotspot for an restaurant or public place. In any case it should be a desicion of the hotel owner. The first customer using the solution wants to bill his customers for providing this service - but maybe only the price for an hotel reservation gets a euro higher ;-)
Btw: if you do not pay for internet access explicitly be sure that you pay it anyway hidden in your hotel bill. Believe me.
How to pay for internet is not fully defined now. We are in a very early projecting stage. A flat rate is in discussion.

Thanks anyway.
May I ask you how much do you pay for hotspot access
* in a hotel (the not-free once)
* in a cafe/bar
* ...

Would be very interesting to know how much is billed overseas.

Another question:
Are you willing to pay if the service e.g. is secured with VPN?

Thanks in advance,
Florian Lagg

Oh, I'm very much aware of that! But it is the same free local telephone service and free television... or free water! It is a convenience which the hotel assumes many guests will use, perhaps most guests, and it persuades guests to pick one hotel over another.

It is very common in the US for low-price hotels to offer free Internet, while high-price hotels charge a fee for it. To me, that's the reverse of what I would expect - perhaps the expensive hotels assume that their guests are there on business, and will gladly have their employer pay the fee? I honestly do not understand.

In a hotel, anywhere from $8 to $20 for a 24-hour period.
In a cafe or bar... I don't know, but I would guess $4 or $5 for an hour or two.

No, because I'm already using SSH or some other secure form of networking! But it's an interesting concept, definitely an added value to the service offered.

Meanwhile, this isn't solving your technical problems... I hope that's going well for you!