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Providing Wireless

Internet Access and Computers

Hostel Witness started this discussion 17 years 11 months ago

{**note to the admins - tried posting this in front desk ops but for some reason I got into a loop where I kept being redirected to the login page over and over, unless I'm doing something wrong yee might wanna have a look @ that}

Anywho, questions, questions, so many questions! I'm on a roll in this place!
I was wondering if any of the ppl here offer wireless as part of their service. If they don't I reckon they should look into it as it's something that's where it's at atm.

If you do provide such a service I was wondering what sort of service, exactly, you provide, how do you charge/bill, do you use special software, etc, etc.
I was looking at Antamedia's hotspot software http://www.antamedia.com/hotspot/
I've been using their internet cafe software for years now and it's a decent product. (Only problem is that the blurb for the hotspot software doesn't specify if it's compatible with systems other than Windows, and you just know you're gonna get some finikey techie-dread with a mac or a linux laptop)

I reckon there's money to be made, though, from hotspot access, especially if you put a big sign out on the street. Course you'd want to make sure it's secure - last thing you want's a hostel full of dug-in geeks getting free internet. Would make that bedbug problem from another thread pale in comparison.

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Josh Hostels

17 years

I'm partial to free, open-source software like Linux. Linux doesn't have any of the spyware/virus problems that Windows has. Linux can also run well on cheaper/older hardware.

There is a program that someone mentioned to me once that might do what you are looking for -- make a clean installation of Windows every night. I will try to find the name of the program for you.

On a side note, I don't think this one runs on pin codes, but I wanted to add it to the list of software in this thread:
http://openkiosk.sourceforge.net/work.html -- free Internet kiosk software:

OpenKiosk, is a system made up of a collection of programs that work together in a local network of inter-connected computers. It is a centralized management software for kiosks.

When a customer walks in and uses a kiosk or a workstation, the client program obtains his/her login/user account information. It then sends this login information to the server, which in turn, verifies this data and if valid, returns the access rights and duration of use for the customer back to the client program. The client program at this point, handles the restrictions transparently.

Scalable kiosk software

OpenKiosk is primarily designed with the multi-user network in mind. From a library containing 20 public browsing terminals to a large internet cafe or convention center containing hundreds to thousands of kiosks or workstations, OpenKiosk is built with components that are designed to scale up. It is not meant to be used on a single stand-alone computer

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Josh Hostels

17 years

I still haven't found the name of the program that I was thinking of, but here are two programs that can take a disk image and then restore your hard drives to a clean state:
http://www.acronis.com/
http://www.returnilvirtualsystem.com/

I'm still looking for the other program and will post it as soon as I can find the name.

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Ria

17 years

for the leads. I'm forwarding this to the person in our company who handles the internet stuff. I'm clueless when it comes to things with plugs...

She says so far it's been very helpful and she may log on here to ask some additional questions.

Cheers!

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Josh Hostels

17 years

I'm still trying to find the name of the other program because it looked very useful. I think it's commonly used in Internet cafes in the UK. I will post here if I can find it.

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Josh Hostels

17 years

I think that this is the program that was mentioned to me before -- it's called Deep Freeze:
http://www.faronics.com/html/deepfreeze.asp

Here is the description from the Web site:

"Deep Freeze instantly protects and preserves baseline computer configurations. No matter what changes a user makes to a workstation, simply restart to eradicate all changes and reset the computer to its original state - right down to the last byte."

You set up the hard drive how you would like it. Then you "deep freeze" it and every time you reboot the computer it goes back to the original state (without viruses, spyware, trojans, etc.).

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