Starting cyber cafe for coffee shop.

[Wallabing]

I have relatives who own and operate a coffee shop in san jose. They want to offer web access to sitting customers to get more people around.

They only want 3 computers in their area, and they are looking for inexpensive, but decently fast systems. They turned to me as I am the only person they trust who is familiar with computer hardware

I am brainstorming ideas at the moments, but does anyone have any ideas what to get?

[Yugo]

Fast and inexpensive should not be in the Same sentence. That being said build 3 cheap computers put in a wireless router and your done. (giving the distance is short) you can hard wire them to one router and it will be faster then wireless and more secure. Peer to peer network. Do you need the 3 computers to share any accessories like a printer? Or just 3 computers with internet access? Need more specific info in regards to what you want these computers to do. And what is the exact budget cause inexpensive to me is not the same thing to the next guy figure out a $ Mount that you have to work with

[Wallabing]

They probally need systems which are very easy to operate. I was thinking of simply hooking them up with bulk cat5e cables, so they simply turn the pc's on and get on the net without fiddling with wireless connections.

I have an old linksys wired router they can use. I can probally flash the DDWRT firmware on it so the router can do QOS, so one person doesnt hog up the bandwidth. I am guessing at least $400 per computer, including monitor + peripherals.

[incredablehefey]

i think you would be wasting your money if you spent more than $400 per pc. You will most likely only need bare bones low buck systems for the users. The hardest part will be getting the computers OS bulletproof. I have seen some Linux based OS's that are made for cyber cafe's, but i dont know enough to make any recommendations. As far as the stationary computers go just hard wire the network cable. Have a wireless N router set up with b/g turned on(dont forget to throttle each connection) and change the password every day and make people pay a buck or two for all day usage.

well i see i have been beaten

[Yugo]

They probally need systems which are very easy to operate. I was thinking of simply hooking them up with bulk cat5e cables, so they simply turn the pc's on and get on the net without fiddling with wireless connections.

I have an old linksys wired router they can use. I can probally flash the DDWRT firmware on it so the router can do QOS, so one person doesnt hog up the bandwidth. I am guessing at least $400 per computer, including monitor + peripherals.

Sounds like you already know what to do......$400 is a bit high but your guessing about right. Barebone like the above said........you can even do 1 main frame and just have monitor keyboard for the user easier to upgrade to more computers (if needed) also easier to secure but you need an administrator. Any one of these will do the job and like above just change password daily (i think there is a program that does this and gives you a random password everyday or how ever you set it)

[Akers]

My idea (with 13 years of professional I.T. epxerience), go to fry's and get their 199 deals on systems and put them in and do it WIRED. Wireless leaves your pc's open to attack and encrypting slows your speed down for WEP negotiation. Don't spend a lot on computers because I gaurantee you they will get beat to $h!t. I owened a internet chat company and I can tell you my computers were tore up after 12 months.

[Lancear15]

+1 on WIRED!


Are you guys going to be charging for use of the computers? I think this idea is a waste of time and money honestly. Just offer free wifi and you're gtg, most people will not pay to use wifi unless they absolutely need it. I'd be shocked if you actually had all 3 computers being used at once, unless it was free to use.

[wash]

Check out a Vietnamese Coffee shop, then hire the right kind of baristas.

You could put in a wifi hot spot and maybe a couple computers.

[Nose Nuggets]

1. get low end systems from Dell with warranties
2. install Microsoft SteadyState
3. ????
4. Profit

you can wire the systems you provide if you want, but you should get a wireless access point, set it up for WPA2-TKIP and just post the SSID and password in the business, don't leave it open. Change the password once a month.

[the_natterjack]

Just do free wireless, much cheaper investment and you'll attract customers who feel obligated to buy something from you.

Brian

[Wallabing]

Atom Motherboard ( CPU + intergrated video, intergrated audio) - $75

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186208

2GB DDR2 800mhtz - $24

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134636

250GB 7200RPM sata 2 hard drive - $40

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136770

Case - $20

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233061

PSU - $38

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151085

Monitor - $80

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254061

Keyboard + mouse at frys - $12

Windows 7 3 pack oem ($290)

That's a complete system! with monitor and peripherals!

With windows 7 oem installed, each system is roughly $385.

As a side note, this system build is very energy efficient, and quiet aswell, as the atom cpu doesnt draw much out of the +12 rail, and psu is 80+ rated.

[unusedusername]

Make sure you reimage them often, or they will quickly become virus-laden bots.

Maybe have a nightly reimaging script? (Or just boot linux from a cd)

[Nose Nuggets]

Make sure you reimage them often, or they will quickly become virus-laden bots.

Maybe have a nightly reimaging script? (Or just boot linux from a cd)

steady state is SO much easier.

[pbsmind]

I'd say offer Wifi and setup a pfsense box with a captive portal (http://www.pfsense.org/index.php?opt...d=40&Itemid=43)

If you want to setup boxes go wired and check out the boxes at geeks.com and then install linux on them. Even could go without hard drives and run just linux live CDs, they're offering the Internet not gaming.

+1 for installing dd-wrt on your linksys router. Gargoyle Router is based on that and a little more friendly (http://www.gargoyle-router.com/)

[Rouge Recon]

For the internet cafe to be successful you need to have a few things down:

1) Internet must be very fast. Especially if your charging. That means you should expect to pay $100+ a month for a business connection via Comcast, etc. Will you make your money back?

2) Do NOT build a wireless network. Maximum performance and security can only be earned with a wired network. It's also less complicated overall in setup and maintenance of the network.

3) Computers must be acceptible to the price charged and the cafes standard. Nothing older than 3-4 years or rundown should be on display honestly.

In other words, don't make a half effort with this. You could spend a few hundred on one system to see how things go and judge expanding from there.