| Forum Home | ||||
| Press F1 | ||||
| Thread ID: 108396 | 2010-03-27 05:11:00 | Internet billing for deep cove hostel | Greven (91) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 870301 | 2010-03-27 05:11:00 | I'm doing some volunteer work for the Deep Cove Hostel & discovered a fatal flaw in their internet billing system. If one person buys internet access, everyone else gets free access. They use a Zyxel router that connects to the satellite modem in the manager's accommodation that prints out access tickets. It appeared to work fine until I realised that it authenticates the entire wireless bridge to the hostel instead of detecting all the computers on the end of the bridge. I'm going to try contact Zyxel support, but any suggestions here would be appreciated in case I don't hear from them before I have to go home. |
Greven (91) | ||
| 870302 | 2010-03-27 11:16:00 | Off the cuff suggestions. 1. Increase rack rate by $x per night and allow free internet. Should break-even or better with out breaking a sweat. 2. Make Internet a separate charge per device, and train front desk staff to do MAC address control. Is more labour intensive, but ensures that the internet is only accessed by paying customers. 3. Sign up for Tomizone and get Tomizone compatible router/modem. 4. Website. Where do I start? Even just converting to say Drupal or Joomla and creating a consistent look and feel across all pages will help convey a more professional view of Deep Cove Hostel to the web. Having the price schedule link open a PDF is naff! |
HAL9000 (12736) | ||
| 870303 | 2010-03-27 19:53:00 | The wireless bridge needs to be configured in AP mode, rather than in a router mode (or something along those lines), so that it passes through the MAC addresses of the connected devices to the Zyxel router.. | somebody (208) | ||
| 870304 | 2010-03-28 00:02:00 | The wireless bridge needs to be configured in AP mode, rather than in a router mode (or something along those lines), so that it passes through the MAC addresses of the connected devices to the Zyxel router.. The bridge is configured in AP mode, not routing mode. DHCP comes over the bridge from the Zyxel, so I don't know why the access restriction part of it can't diferentiate between the different computers. Increasing the accomodation cost isn't going to work because most guests don't want to use the internet. It is mainly used by university students studying the marine life, but is available to anyone who wants to use it. |
Greven (91) | ||
| 870305 | 2010-03-28 00:08:00 | I don't know what sort of access you have to the Zyxel router, but it would be worth checking if there is a "client list" on it which lists devices connected to the wifi bridge individually, or whether it just lists the wifi bridge. If the bridge is in AP mode, in theory, the Zyxel router should be able to see the individual MAC and IP addresses (which sounds reasonable considering DHCP is coming from the Zyxel). | somebody (208) | ||
| 870306 | 2010-03-28 08:00:00 | I'm back in Invercargill now, but the trust member I went in with is reasonably technically savvy & he is going back in over easter, so I'll ask him to take a look. One thing I didn't check was if it assumes there will only ever be one device attached to each LAN port & everything else will be wireless. Hopefully we will hear back from Zyxel with some more insight. |
Greven (91) | ||
| 1 | |||||