About Hotspot Gateways

A hotspot gateway is a device that provides authentication, authorisation and accounting for a wired or wireless network. Typically they are used to control access to the Internet on a public wireless network; usually this would be in order to charge for the service or restrict access to certain users e.g. via a wireless hotspot on a holiday park. A hotspot gateway can also be used for guest (free of charge) user connectivity by offering instant Internet access without the need for configuration changes to the network setup of the client computer or any resident client-side software.

Typical Hotspot Scenario

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• In practise the hotpsot controller is a supplementary router that sits between your local network and your broadband connection controlling all user traffic to the internet.
• Most of the smaller controllers also include on-board wireless interface which can be used for local users; these users are also managed by the controller.
• The smaller controllers have the option to interface to a POS ticket printer which can be used to print tickets for on-demand users.
• They can automatically generate user accounts both for fee-based or free broadband access.
• They also typically include powerful, supplementary firewalls for increased network security.

Once your controller is configured then it can automatically provide access authentication using a simple username and password control. These users can either be by a built-in, prepaired user-base or they can be created on demand. Most of the hotspots even support instant payment type services using, for example PayPal. With instant payment the hotspot will automatically interface with PayPal user charging - ideal if you want to run an unattended charging service.

From the end users point of view, all they see is a simple logon popup box when they first attempt to connect to the internet. At this stage they can enter the username and password you've created for them or, if using instant payment, they can simply goto the charge site (e.g. PayPal) and pay for their connection.