Creating a cafe WiFi HotSpot

[dyrshin]

Hi Everyone,

I'm beginning some research in creating a WiFi Hotspot for a cafe I consult for. The cafe currently has one DSL line the the POS (Point of Sale) machine connects to. This started as a mom and pops, so the security and budget isn't there, please keep this in mind.

My initial thoughts are to get an additional line specifically for the hotspot. I'm not comfortable splitting DSL speeds with the public and having them on our system network. My other thought is that DSL won't be very great for a public Hotspot, even if the users will not be doing any heavy downloading. Currently, we have a 3mb download, but we can bump it to 11mb (that is, the second line for the hotspot).

What I thought was ideal, was to skip the DSL and go for cable. While DSL will claim 11mb at our site, I don't really trust it. However, I know the business class cable provider will give me steady 5mb up/down. Price isn't much of a factor, as cable is like $10 more a month.

My other thought is to place a software based gateway (which is the norm, I suppose) for the guests.

Has anyone here gone through a similar project? I can Google all day along for Hotspot software (like Antamedia), but I want to know from first hand experience what people like and don't from here. And also if my thoughts are correct in the second line.

And really any help and guidance would be cool :) I will post back, if we go through with the project, what was used and my experience with it.

Thanks

[skilly]

how's it coming along?

[dyrshin]

The decision hasn't been made to go ahead with the project. We're getting closer to convincing the owner, but not yet.

I will post back when I get started. Was hoping someone here had some experience, but it looks like not. I'll post on other sites and see what I get. Thanks for asking tho :-)

[shbk]

the cheapest option is to buy wifi adapter and create hotspot. it will cost near 10$)

if you have more money you may buy router which has embedded wifi (and possibility to setup it). in this case you may even don't be need in computer.this 'll cost near 40$, but it's more comfy. second variant is my choice.

[maninaction]

Ya . Good Idea for going wifi hotspot. But take care of security reasons . where the username should not be visible to others. Because now a days wifi can be easily hacked.

[dyrshin]

the cheapest option is to buy wifi adapter and create hotspot. it will cost near 10$)

if you have more money you may buy router which has embedded wifi (and possibility to setup it). in this case you may even don't be need in computer.this 'll cost near 40$, but it's more comfy. second variant is my choice.

Thanks for the suggestion. But I'm looking for something a little more than just a simple hotspot. The visitors will need some gateway to land on, put in some code that has a time limit, and be booted after that time limit.

I may consult with some local cafes in the area that use this already and see what they implement. I'll update when I have more information. I consider myself a pretty good Googler, but I haven't found a good "how-to" for a business to setup a visitor hotspot with a payment or code based gateway.

[dyrshin]

Update on this:

I may go with something like this, which is similar to one of the suggestions above:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833181129

The above product seems like it will do it all for what I need, which is to create a gateway for the visitors and comes with a printer to print code access. It's pricey (at $550), but looking at a pretty good online service that will do something similar, they want to charge $30/month with a $300 setup fee. I like the idea of owning the device.

I'm running it past the owner and if he chooses to go with this, I'll update this thread with my experience, in case someone else is curious. I'm still welcoming suggestions.

[Coolyfett]

the cheapest option is to buy wifi adapter and create hotspot. it will cost near 10$)

if you have more money you may buy router which has embedded wifi (and possibility to setup it). in this case you may even don't be need in computer.this 'll cost near 40$, but it's more comfy. second variant is my choice.

You can buy a private router from any discount department store or electronic department store. I would suggest the owner lease the passwords to paying customers to keep outsiders from using the signal. Cable broadband is also a better option than the DSL hardline.

[Coolyfett]

Update on this:

I may go with something like this, which is similar to one of the suggestions above:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833181129

The above product seems like it will do it all for what I need, which is to create a gateway for the visitors and comes with a printer to print code access. It's pricey (at $550), but looking at a pretty good online service that will do something similar, they want to charge $30/month with a $300 setup fee. I like the idea of owning the device.

I'm running it past the owner and if he chooses to go with this, I'll update this thread with my experience, in case someone else is curious. I'm still welcoming suggestions.

Thats not a bad investment in my book, but thats subjective. Hopefully the business is not selling the signal, but offering the signal as complimentary thing for supporting the main business.