Setting up WLAN/hot Spots

[mojo11]

I know someone earlier has already posted this question and I was unable to locate that info back..so I am posting it again..


First time>how does one setup WLAN hotspots? How do you define turnkey solution by setting this up?

how do you go about on settin up with small business without them being going to expensive well established companies.

how can i setup secured WLAN hotspot also if I may add with Bluetooth solution??

I know MacDonald is going to soon offer hotspot...how can one setup hotspot with regular small hang out places

how can one make money if they setup and buy their equipment with hotpost providers???

how much and how do they charge?

Any feedback is welcome.

(hopefully I get better replies then the one posted by me for WLAN /hotspots job lookup)

Thank you Kindly

[petes_fdez]

hi.. what ur looking for is a total solution ..provided to u ..
so what u can do is go to this site..


YDI (http://www.ydi.com)

and email them ..
u will get some one who would speak to u ..

these guyz have setup public hotspots all their lives... .

[JimGeier]

Great to hear lots of interest in building wireless LAN hotspots. That seems to be keeping the industry alive.

Here are some short answers to some of your questions...

How does one setup WLAN hotspots? You need to install a wireless LAN (http://www.80211-planet.com/tutorials/article.php/1718161) and establish access control (http://www.80211-planet.com/tutorials/article.php/1380911) and billing.

How much and how do they charge? Hotspots charge by the minute, hour, day, month, etc. For example, the Delta Crown Club at Miami Airport charges 25 cents per minute. Not many users are willing to charge for large blocks of time because of limited roaming (for billing purposes).

Also check out one my past tutorials that discusses considerations for deploying public wireless LANs (http://www.80211-planet.com/tutorials/article.php/1448941).

[wirelessboy]

hey petes_fdez

are u into this?, which company are u in, u can send a PM

regards

[Uptown_hr]

I myself have actually started a hotspot down in la. And the one store I have is making a lot of money. I can not give numbers out but I would say charging by the hour is the best way to go about. Also, the equipments needed is a server, well actually atleast 3 servers if you are planning on expanding quite big. Also there are many differrent types of wireless routers out there that you can buy. Many with different featuers but your main focus should be on authentication and accounting features. These routers(ras clients) needs to be redirecting to a RADIUS server. Which then the radius server will interact with the database with any authentication or accounting necessary. That is yourr firrst objective, now your second is building a nice website. This website will need to have a friendly and professional look so custumers will not be scared to use, and give any private information out. The webserver it self will need to have coding capabilities such as cgi, php, etc... Also for credit card transaction you'll need to have an SSL certificate to verify your site as secure for credit card transactions. There are many other small miscelaneous aspects but these mentioned above will get you started. Hope i was clear and if i wasn't please ask more questions, I'll be happy to help.

[oshea85]

I understand and can build the WLAN and RADIUS portion of the network, but how do I set up the accounting/billing side of this?

Also, what's the cheapest way to do bandwidth management?

[Corbay1]

Uptown,
Care to share a few more details?

What type of location is this? Restaurant, bar, retail?

What software to you use for billing, bandwidth, and other back office services?

Thanks,
Corbay