Hotspot Wi - Fi

Wireless internet really made the technological life easy and convenient. There are different methods or technologies to use the wireless internet everywhere and continue our regular and important work related to internet technology. One of these technologies is the Wi-Fi hot spots.  

A hotspot is a site that offers Internet access over a wireless local area network through the use of a router connected to a link to an Internet service provider. Hotspots typically use Wi-Fi technology. With the help of our mobile devices we can access the wireless network through hot spots from coffee shops, malls etc.

To set up a hotspot, all we need is

1. a hotspot kit (hardware, software and remote monitoring device)

2. a high speed internet connection (DSL, T1 or DS3)

 
The type of hotspot kit depends on whether we need a Single Access Point or Multiple Access Point. If we are going for multiple access points, the area where we want to deploy the network has to be considered – whether it is a multi-storey building or a medium sized hotel.

Setting up a Hotspot

If we already have a network held together by Ethernet and now want to upgrade to a wireless hotspot, we need to purchase a Wireless Access Point and join it with the Ethernet network.

If we are starting from the scratch, what we need is a Wireless Access Point Router. This kit contains:

· a port to connect the modem

· a router

· an Ethernet hub

· a firewall

· a wireless access point

We can then connect the computers with Ethernet cables or with wireless cards. Whichever we choose, once we plug in the Wireless Access Point on, the Wi-Fi hotspot will be functional.

We will need the 802.11a standard if we are setting the network for business purposes. For home use, we can either choose the 802.11b which is the least expensive but also the slowest, or 802.11g which costs a little more but is much faster.

 

To Bill or not to Bill

This depends on the nature and size of your business. Many businesses want to set up hotspots as another value added service to attract more customers.

If you decide to charge your customers, make sure that you are choosing a Wi-Fi provider who has a built in package that helps in billing. The hotspot kit you purchase should enable you to take credit cards to your gateway. In this model, you are likely to share the revenues with the service provider, and the service provider assists in the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the hotspot.

The so-called "User-Fairness-Model" is a dynamic billing model, which allows a volume-based billing, charged only by the amount of payload (data, video, audio). Moreover, the tariff is classified by net traffic and user needs. If the net traffic increases, then the user has to pay the next higher tariff class. By the way the user is asked for if he still wishes the session also by a higher traffic class. Moreover, in time-critical applications (video, audio) a higher class fare is charged, than for non time-critical applications (such as reading Web pages, e-mail).

Hotspot 2.0

Also known as HS2 and Wi-Fi Certified Pass point, Hotspot 2.0 is a new approach to public access Wi-Fi by the Wi-Fi Alliance. The idea is for mobile devices to automatically join a Wi-Fi subscriber service whenever the user enters a Hotspot 2.0 area. The intention is to provide better bandwidth and services-on-demand to end-users, whilst also alleviating mobile carrier infrastructure of traffic overheads.

Hotspot 2.0 is based on the IEEE 802.11u standard, which is a new set of protocols to enable cellular-like roaming. If the device supports 802.11u and is subscribed to a Hotspot 2.0 service it will automatically connect and roam.