Need a CHEAP internet cafe type program

[bigmike82]

"The APs are all hardwired together."
Outstanding.

Yeah, in that case I would just buy 6 1242s, a high-gain antenna for each, and call it a day. Resetting the WEP password can be done either via a web interface, or via the command line. Your IT guy can do it in ten minutes via remote access. And if he can't, find a new one.

[Bug Splat]

Get a few Meraki's! By far the easiest and cheapest solution, trust me. I have set up hundreds of not over 1000 hotspots over the years. I have done large concerts and week long festivals and Meraki is the easiest to use. Just drop them anywhere and they auto connect together forming a mash network. Everything is controlled/monitored online via a website and changes can be made form anywhere. Check it out.

http://meraki.com

[bigmike82]

Ooooh, those look cool.

What's the pricing for them?

[JDay]

"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.

There are point and click windows WEP cracking tools too. Its also much easier to tell users a WPA password than to give them a long 64 or 128 bit WEP key to type in. Not to mention you won't have to deal with people who select the wrong slot to put the key in (there's 4 options).

[bigmike82]

"Its also much easier to tell users a WPA password than to give them a long 64 or 128 bit WEP key to type in."
Not if you use an easy to remember ASCII version. I've never given out the actual hex value...I've always generated the hex with an ASCII value. Never had a problem with clients remembering WEP keys.

On an additional note, WEP is still more widely supported and easier for the client to use. There are Wireless NICS that crap bricks when you try to put any sort of sustained traffic through them using WPA. WEP they don't have a problem with.

Again, the point is simply to keep out a base denominator of rif-raf. It's not designed to actually implement security.

[Bug Splat]

Ooooh, those look cool.

What's the pricing for them?

I think its around $150 per device. Price has gone up. I used to buy them for $75. Either way its a hell of a deal. Very smart devices and the map feature is great. You can view who is on what device and how much traffic they are using. Turn on the splash page and you can advertise special events or just welcome your customer and thank them for staying. No special software to run or dedicated machine since its all done from Meraki's site. You log onto their site and make your changes there. The meraki devices find their way to the internet on their own and download any changes you made from the site. It is a simplest plug and play Wifi setup I have ever seen. Make a change on the site and it auto updates every device you have. Have a dead spot at your place? just throw another Meraki there and it will auto mesh with your other devices via WIFI in seconds