Hey Everyone,
I’m looking to replace a really messy hotspot system that is currently in place on a clients premise.
I have seen the ‘mikrotik’ name when I was setting up something for someone and it looks as though it will do what I want but I need to confirm some details.
What I need is something that can serve out DHCP to the inside of the network (where all the clients will be coming from). I need a user interface people can create user accounts in. I need the user interface to be accessable from the internet (the device would have its own public IP and I would need to restrict access from a single IP to the device also) as its on a seperate network to the network staff will be creating the accounts from.
What I need to know is what hardware/software would be required to set this up and how hard is the whole process? Is there many documented cases of getting this all setup and working?
If anyone can give me some information I would really apreciate it as I need a nice reliable hotspot gateway!
If you mean “people can enter accounts” as you or a manager/employee entering account info for users, then yes, it can.
The setup is not real easy, but not bad if you do it a step at a time. I would recommend getting the public and private networks working together first.
Set up your ip addresses, default gateway, masquerade, DNS, and DHCP first. Then test your private net. You should be able to get on the internet without trouble. Insure the DHCP server works ok and DNS is functioning. Then set up the hotspot service. The “User Manager” package works good for entering/controlling user access.
Almost any of the RouterBoard products will do, but the level of the license will determine how many users it will handle.
thanks for the reply.
My initial post was pretty average now that I read over it again. I’ll explain the setup a bit better this time round.
We have a ‘hotspot’ VLAN configured on the switches that has various devices around the property hooked in to it (Wireless AP’s and some copper ports patched to it). I will obviously need the private interface of the mikrotik device patched in to that VLAN, this interface will be handing out DHCP addresses. Then the ‘public’ interface will go on to our public VLAN and have its own public IP which we will need to access user management from. I think you understood me in the first instance but I just wanted to clear it up.
The user requirement will be around 50 concurrent hotspot at the most. What hardware and OS would I need to support that?
I will definitely need user manager and like i said it will need to be accessable from a specific public IP for staff to add user accounts.
from what you have said it can achieve all this but I guess the next step is which specific hardware and OS will I require to do this?
Sorry for repeating myself quite a bit but I really need to have a rock solid plan in place for this as the current hotspot gateway in place is in desperate need of replacement (setup by a previous IT company and badly might I add).
Your help is very much apreciated!!
I would probably use the RB450 if all interfaces are ethernet. If you plan on connecting any wireless cards direct, then the RB433 or RB433AH would be my choice. BTW, the numbering on the RB products indicates what features it has. The first is normally processor speed (RB433AH is an exception). The second is the number of ethernet ports, and the third is the number of mini-pci card slots for wireless radios. For example, the RB433 has a 400MHz processor, 3 ethernet ports, and 3 mini-pci card slots.
I don’t know why the switches would have anything to do with the hotspot, but it is difficult to see the setup from here. You can set up a DHCP server on each interface/localnet.
The units come loaded up with the RouterOS operating system. That is the forum you are on now.
Awesome, I will only require ethernet interfaces, one for private traffic and one for public.
I only mentioned the switches to give everyone a higher level view of the setup.
Thanks again for the advice, looks like I will be sourcing some equipment and getting to work on this!