Monday, June 16, 2008

Usage Report: New Feature in the Operator Area


There is another new feature for Operators and Secondary Operators, which is called: Usage Report.

Now you can see the traffic on your routers within a period which you can define.
You can break down by days or months, or by users.

It'll be interesting to see which user generated the most traffic, what were the busiest days or months, or - if you're using multiple locations - you can see what location generated the most traffic.

Please note that usage statistics are just approximate, the real usage can be different.
What the script does is to count sessions (every time a user logs in, a new session will be generated), which were started between the dates you select. For example if you select 2008-06-01 as a start date, it will count all users who logged in after 2008-06-01 00:00:00. It won't count those sessions that were started before this date, even if the user actually logged out after the start date. The same is true for the end date.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Extend Coverage of Your Wi-Fi Hotspot (WDS)

The most frequently asked question by Hotspot Operators is: How can i extend my Hotspot's coverage?

There are several methods for that.

The best way is to set up another internet source if you can, away from the first source (order one more ADSL line for example) and connect another router to that source. This is good for busy venues.

But you can extend your existing coverage by setting up repeaters. You can connect 2 routers by cable, but you can also connect 2 or more routers via WDS (Wireless Distribution System).
You can find a well written tutorial here about setting up WDS.

There are 2 methods to get WDS routers working with Hotspot System:

1) You can set the first router's LAN port to get through the Hotspot login page as well. The second router will receive paid internet so the same start page will be displayed to anyone who connect to the second router. With this method you can use any repeaters. The disadvantage is that the Router Alert function will not work so you will not know when the WDS router is down.

2) You give free internet to the second router (by leaving the LAN ports to have FREE internet access), and run the same setup command on the second router. For busy venues, this is the suggested method because it will reduce the system load on the first router (there will be 2 routers who will handle Hotspot accesses).

Alternatively you can add a new location to your account and run the command for this location to track which routers were used by your customers.

If you're using the same location's command on both routers, don't forget to add '_wds' to the Radius NAS ID to get Router Alerts from the WDS router too (on the Chillispot page of the router's admin panel). If you're using more WDS routers, you can add '_wds_2', '_wds_3', etc, AND turn off SPI Firewalls on the routers (Security tab).


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Router Alert Support for WDS Routers

If you're using WDS to extend your Hotspot coverage, you can now get life signals from your WDS Router. This method is working only if you run Chillispot on both routers and if you've ran the same location's command on both routers (if you're using a different location on the WDS Router, the Router Alert function will work automatically).

To get the Router Alert function working for your WDS Router, you have to do the following:

1. Add '_wds' to the Radius NAS ID. So if the Radius NAS ID was 'operator', then modify it to 'operator_wds'. If it was 'operator_2', then modify it to 'operator_2_wds'. If you are using multiple WDS routers, you can add a number to it, so it will be 'operator_wds_2' or 'operator_2_wds_2'. (Administration/Hotspot or Services/Hotspot > Chillispot tab on the router's admin panel)

2. You have to turn off the SPI Firewall on the routers (Security tab on the router's admin panel)

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Windows Vista Wireless Incompatibility Issues

We have just learned that there can be incompatibility issues with Windows Vista users, when they are trying to connect to your Hotspot. The most important thing that EVERY OPERATOR MUST CHECK is the Wireless Channel which the Hotspot uses.

You must set the Wireless Channel to 11 OR BELOW, otherwise some Windows Vista users will have problems connecting to the Hotspot.

Go to Wireless > Basic Settings and change the Wireless Channel to a number between 1-11. Don't forget to test the hotspot after doing this, because there can be interferences on that channel. Try Channel 1, 6 and 11 first, these are the most compatible ones.

There can be other incompatibility issues with Vista computers, for more information please visit our troubleshooting article.

Monday, June 2, 2008

How to Make Money with Wi-Fi Hotspots

We have found a great article on Squidoo which describes money making opportunities with Hotspot Services. The article is featuring HotSpotSystem.com of course...

How to Make Money with Wi-Fi Hotspots