Roland

We improved the error handling when someone doesn't fill out all the required form elements during signup. Not the error message is displayed on the right side of the input field.

In mobile versions we scroll to the part of the splash page so users dont have to find the form again.

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We are happy to announce that the latest Cradlepoint firmware has a built-in HotspotSystem.com profile which adds support for Router Alert. Cradelpoint routers will now send life signals to our servers hourly.

We have updated our Cradlepoint installation guide.

We like that you gave us ideas so we know what is important for our operators. As we are developing our very own, unique solution (unlike others who resell a global product usually) we can continuously add new features to our system.

Free Trial was a long awaited and requested feature.


What's the purpose?

• You can offer an unlimited free access in a Pay-Per-Use location with low bandwidth limits. Other users can pay for faster packages.
  
• You can offer a limited free package (for example 10 minutes test drive, or 100 MB free access). After the access expires, users have to pay.

For more information please read our knowledgebase article.

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an Internet-standard protocol for managing and monitoring devices on IP networks.  SNMP is supported by lots of routers, switches, servers.

Currently we support bandwidth monitoring of devices that are directly connected to the internet.

Why is it useful?

In a hotspot environment bandwidth has a very important role. It defines the speed which your hotspot users can use the internet thus it defines their satisfaction of the service that hotspot operator provides.

If you could monitor the global bandwidth of your internet line, you would know when it reaches the maximum capacity so you can expand or limit the access of the hotspot.



An example of a 24 hour period based on 5-minute average bandwidth

What devices can you monitor?

Currently you can monitor a device or router which is directly connected to the internet and have SNMP support. It doesn't needs to be a hotspot router, however you need to have a working hotspot router at the location which is sending life signals properly. This is required so we know the actual WAN IP address of the router which you want to monitor.

TIP: If your router is not sending life signals, it means that something is blocking the call from the router to our servers. Be sure to turn off firewalls on your network, especially any SPI firewalls you may have.

How does it work?

Once set up properly, our system is querying your device in every minute to check how much traffic went through in the past minute. From this data, 4 chart is created, a daily chart calculated from 1 minute average date, a weekly from 30 min averages, a monthly from 2 hours averages and a yearly chart from 12 hour averages.

If the IP address changes (because of dynamic allocation by ISP), the system will not be able to connect to the device for up to 1 hour, until the next life signal is received. So the graph may show a temporary outage which is not a real outage, but the system is not receiving any data from that IP address.

How to setup?

1. First you need to enable SNMP on your device. For example if you have dd-wrt firmware on the router which is directly connected to the internet, this can be found under Services menu.


DD-WRT SNMP Service


2. You need to set a secure Community String for both RO (Read-Only) and RW (Read-Write). Recommended string is minimum 15 characters, combination of uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers.

3. Be sure that UDP Port 161 is enabled in your firewall.

4. You need to create a new monitor in the Control Center. From Manage > SNMP Monitors menu, you need to select your device and choose the network interface you would like to monitor. The IP addresses and locations are collected from the database which stores life signal data from your hotspot routers.



5. Once you select the location (IP), click on "List Interfaces". For the first time, you need to enter the same RO Community String which you set in Step 2.

6. Our system tries to communicate to your device through SNMP to list the available network interfaces. Once you get the list you need to choose the interface you would like to monitor. You should choose the interface which has the highest Total traffic (this is measured from the moment you plug in the device).

You are done. You need to wait approx. 10 minutes for the first data to come in. Under SNMP Monitors you can see the daily chart, if you click on the chart you can see all the 4 charts. You can also find a list of monitored devices on the bottom of the page where you can edit the interface name to a friendly name and you can also remove the monitor.

How much does this service cost?

Currently the service is free during the beta phase (1st of October, 2012). We will announce the pricing later.

If you are offering a simple click-through authentication where users have to accept the terms, you may want to try out Hotspot FREE SOCIAL where you can get more LIKEs to your Facebook Business page in return for giving out Free Wi-Fi acccess.

WHAT'S NEW ?

+ You can get new Likes to your Facebook Page from your splash page directly. Advantages: Page load times and data traffic is significantly less which leads to more conversions.

+ You can get the email address of authenticated Facebook Users

+ You can post a message to your customer's Facebook Wall so you can reach and drive more people to your business

+ Improved for mobile usage (works much better)

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WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT AND HOW DOES THIS WORK? You can read all here: Hotspot Free Social: Social Wi-Fi is here!


HOW CAN I SET THE NEW FEATURES?

In the Control Center > Manage > Locations > click on name > Modify Hotspot Data > Social Settings you can set up your hotspot the way you like.

Social WiFi Usage examples, Marketing Tips for Managing your Facebook Page and more :http://www.facebook....hotspotsoftware


You can read the Press Release here: HotspotSystem.com's Social Wi-Fi Service Turns Free Wi-Fi Users to Facebook Fans