Need a CHEAP internet cafe type program

[acheron800]

Family owned hotel, we are having a new "router" computer setup, sick of netgears failing parts.

I need a program which can easily change internet passcodes (wifi) every month or so, and handle up to 50 users.

Thanks for any input.

And I mean cheap as in free or very close to it! LOL

[ocabj]

Easiest to do is get a WAP that supports DD-WRT and run chillispot captive portal.

One access point to handle 50 simultaneous users? While in theory it should handle it, in practice, a consumer grade (store bought) WAP probably won't handle that many simultaneous connections.

[bigmike82]

Just spend the $500 for a Cisco 1242, and never worry about it again.

Changing the key is easy...any WAP will allow you to easily change the key.

If you want to spend more money, you can start looking into some NAC solutions, but that's going to be a lot more complicated for you to manage.

[acheron800]

Easiest to do is get a WAP that supports DD-WRT and run chillispot captive portal.

One access point to handle 50 simultaneous users? While in theory it should handle it, in practice, a consumer grade (store bought) WAP probably won't handle that many simultaneous connections.

Maybe I shouldnt have said 50, we have 50 rooms, so I would say around 10-15 max simutaneously.

My IT guy was telling me I should buy antamedia hotspot. Any thing good or bad? Its $300

[bigmike82]

Acheron, how important is it to you to give each guest their own login?

A place I slept at once had a regulare, WEP-secured AP for all the guests to use. You'd receive the WEP key on request. If you rotate the key on a monthly/bi-monthly basis, it should work just fine.

Under these circumstances, I would just buy a few *good* APs, secure 'em with WEP, and call it a day. Doing it that way will reduce your support costs greatly for this system.

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=1816490

I love these things. Yeah, you can use DD-WRT/Open-WRT on a Linksys, and have it work as well, but the stability of Cisco APs is unmatched by anything else that I've seen.

[acheron800]

Acheron, how important is it to you to give each guest their own login?

A place I slept at once had a regulare, WEP-secured AP for all the guests to use. You'd receive the WEP key on request. If you rotate the key on a monthly/bi-monthly basis, it should work just fine.

Under these circumstances, I would just buy a few *good* APs, secure 'em with WEP, and call it a day. Doing it that way will reduce your support costs greatly for this system.

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=1816490

I love these things. Yeah, you can use DD-WRT/Open-WRT on a Linksys, and have it work as well, but the stability of Cisco APs is unmatched by anything else that I've seen.

They dont need to have their own login, just one broad login that could be changed easily, or reset by one of the less techie front desk people.

We had a netgear thing (sorry dont know what it was) but it was $400 and it was the 3rd one I bought in 3 years, so my IT guy said to build a cheap router computer (i think i paid him $300) and put a program on it and it would be more reliable and not fail (as often).

I think he was going to go the route of the open source program one of you posted earlier, but said it was a bit too complicated for us lay-men.

So he suggested the software. The antamedia is $300 up to $450 just for the software so I was looking for something cheaper.

Right now it is a free for all and since we have an old folks home behind us and residential in front of us, it is taxing our bandwidth hard, i cant put a password on the router because we those antennas around the premises and they each have their own little router, so I would have to go around and program each one.

The cisco unit looks interesting, it seems as though it does the same thing as our netgear unit did, but if you say its reliable, I will ask my IT if maybe we should go that route. But then again that would set me back my initial cost of the server-router computer.


Thanks for the input

ETA: Is the cisco unit just an antenna? Or does it route the wi fi to other antennas as well?

The netgear unit we had, had a personal webpage popup when you entered our network, and there we would give them a personal user/pass. Does that do the same thing?

Sorry im a noob.

[bigmike82]

No worries.

That Cisco I posted is just the Access Point. No antenna, no special software, just the AP and the IOS (Cisco's operating system). You can find them for much cheaper on ebay. Combined with a few high-gain antennas, you'll be all set.

I used to manage the wireless in a three story apartment complex, and the biggest lesson I learned was that you absolutely need reliable APs. Anything else will kill you in the long run.

How many access points do you have, in total? Do you have a property layout?

[acheron800]

No worries.

That Cisco I posted is just the Access Point. No antenna, no special software, just the AP and the IOS (Cisco's operating system). You can find them for much cheaper on ebay. Combined with a few high-gain antennas, you'll be all set.

I used to manage the wireless in a three story apartment complex, and the biggest lesson I learned was that you absolutely need reliable APs. Anything else will kill you in the long run.

How many access points do you have, in total? Do you have a property layout?

I have 6 access points (antennas im assuming) 2 stories, one city block, but spread out. 3 of those are in one building because the whole building is brick, and its tough to get good signal in the rooms. No layout.

[bigmike82]

Hmm....that'd get pricey, replacing all 6. That's what I'd do, just based on past experience.

How are they tied together? Do all 6 APs have a hard-wired connection, or are they bridged wirelessly?

[JDay]

Under these circumstances, I would just buy a few *good* APs, secure 'em with WEP, and call it a day. Doing it that way will reduce your support costs greatly for this system.

If you use WEP you might as well not use anything at all, you can crack it in 30 seconds to a few minutes. WPA-PSK is the minimum you want if you expect any kind of security. Do not use WPA-TKIP since it can be cracked too. DD-WRT running Chilispot would be a good idea.

[JDay]

I think he was going to go the route of the open source program one of you posted earlier, but said it was a bit too complicated for us lay-men.

DD-WRT uses a simple web interface and is documented quite well on its website. Here's the Chillispot documentation, I'd get a Linksys WRT54GL to install this firmware on and then you can always setup a repeater if you need to extend the range.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Chillispot

[socalblue]

If the access points work OK then a cheap PC with pfSense (Open source & very good) is all you need.

I do this for a living, with sites all over the world. You can use a commercial gateway like AntLabs or Nomadix but why waste the $$ in your environment?

[bigmike82]

"If you use WEP you might as well not use anything at all, you can crack it in 30 seconds to a few minutes."
*Yawn*

No, it doesn't provide security, but it keeps out grandma, grandpa, and the kids/adults who don't know how to use Backtrack well enough to crap WEP. Which is still much better than how it is now.

[Steve G]

Cisco systems

[acheron800]

"If you use WEP you might as well not use anything at all, you can crack it in 30 seconds to a few minutes."
*Yawn*

No, it doesn't provide security, but it keeps out grandma, grandpa, and the kids/adults who don't know how to use Backtrack well enough to crap WEP. Which is still much better than how it is now.

Yes this is just to prevent basic users from taxing our bandwidth.

The APs are all hardwired together.