i2i Hotspot
Run public Wi-Fi with branded captive portals, plans and vouchers
Live sessionsIllustrative| Subscriber | Access | Gateway | IP | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTTH-44120 | PPPoE | bng-01 | 100.64.18.23 | Authorised |
| FTTH-51877 | PPPoE | bng-02 | 100.64.22.140 | Authorised |
| ENT-2209 | IPoE | bng-01 | 203.0.113.14 | Authorised |
| WIFI-GUEST-88 | Hotspot | ap-lobby | 10.20.4.77 | Captive portal |
| FTTH-39002 | PPPoE | bng-02 | – | Rejected: expired plan |
4 authorised · 1 rejectedIP logs retained · Trace
Overview
i2i Hotspot is a hotspot and captive portal platform for operators of public and venue Wi-Fi. You define hotspots and their access points, design a captive portal, choose how guests get in and watch sessions, usage and revenue from one console.
It does not replace your AAA. RADIUS authentication stays in your AAA server, such as i2i AAA. Hotspot supplies the portal, the subscriber, plan and voucher data, and the management screens, and it reads or receives session and accounting data from the AAA side. The current generation is a multi-tenant service with a web console and a separate guest portal runtime, so one operator can manage many venues and each portal keeps its own versions.
At a glance
- Branded captive portals with version history
- Free, timed, data-limited and voucher access
- Advertising slots with targeting and reports
- Access point status and alert rules per venue
What is a Wi-Fi captive portal and hotspot platform?
A captive portal is the web page a guest sees when joining a public Wi-Fi network. Until the guest signs in, the network lets through only the addresses the operator allows, known as a walled garden. After sign-in, the access controller or gateway opens the connection, usually for a set time or data allowance.
Behind that page sits a hotspot platform. It records which venues and access points exist, what the sign-in options are and which plan each guest holds. It works with an AAA server over RADIUS, which grants or refuses access and sends the accounting records that show how long and how much each guest used.
Operators use these platforms for very different services. A cafe may want click-through access with an advert. A hotel may tie access to the room booking. A community network may sell prepaid vouchers. Guest sign-in can use a mobile one-time password, a social account or a code, depending on how much the operator needs to know about the user. The platform also has to give operators reports, alerts when access points go quiet and an audit record of administrator changes.
Capabilities
What i2i Hotspot does
Venues and access points
- Hotspots with business hours
- Access points with keys and status heartbeat
- Bulk access point import from CSV
- SSIDs, access point groups and config profiles
Captive portal designer
- Drag-and-drop layout with preview
- Draft, publish, version history and rollback
- Text per language and a walled garden list
- Splash page and gated login or sign-up
Guest access
- Click-through guest access
- Mobile one-time password by SMS or email
- Social sign-in with Google
- Voucher and registered account login
Plans and vouchers
- Free, time, data and speed plans
- Recurring daily, weekly and monthly allowances
- Voucher batches with revoke and redeem
- Orders, invoices and revenue roll-ups
Advertising
- Advertisers, campaigns and creatives
- Targeting by hotspot, SSID, device and time
- Impression and frequency caps
- Click-through and fill-rate reports
Operations
- Live and historical sessions
- Alert rules for offline access points
- Webhook and email alert channels
- Audit log of administrator changes
Use cases
Where i2i Hotspot is used
Free guest Wi-Fi with a branded page
A shopping centre gives visitors free access for a limited time. The portal shows the centre's branding and asks for a mobile number. A one-time password confirms it, the plan caps the session and the operator reads usage reports per venue.
Prepaid vouchers
A community operator without a card system prints voucher batches and sells them through local shops. A guest enters the code on the portal and gets the plan attached to the batch. The operator can revoke a batch that was lost or misused.
Hotel Wi-Fi linked to bookings
A hotel uses the room login option. The platform polls the hotel property management system, mirrors in-house guests and gives each a subscriber that ends at checkout, so staff do not create or remove accounts by hand.
Venue advertising
An operator sells slots on the login and success pages. A campaign is targeted to a set of hotspots or SSIDs and time windows, with a daily cap per device. The ad report shows impressions, clicks and fill rate for each campaign.
FAQ
i2i Hotspot: frequently asked questions
Does i2i Hotspot include a RADIUS server?
No. It works alongside your AAA server. The AAA side can read subscriber, plan and subscription data from a restricted database role, or post accounting events to a Hotspot ingest endpoint, and the plan can carry reply attributes such as a session timeout or rate limit. Ask us for the tested pairing with i2i AAA for your release.
Which access points and controllers work with it?
The guest flow is proven with MikroTik hotspot. Server-side authorisation for Huawei NCE-Campus and Juniper Mist exists but has been tested only against mocked services. Other vendors are not evidenced, so confirm your access point model with us before you plan a rollout.
Can guests pay by card on the portal?
Not yet in the current generation. The order and invoice flow works with a test gateway only, and the Stripe and Razorpay adapters are not yet connected. Vouchers and operator-created subscribers are the working ways to sell access.
Does it manage access point configuration?
It keeps an inventory of access points, groups and config profiles, receives status heartbeats and raises an alert when one goes offline. It does not push configuration or firmware to access points, so keep using your controller or vendor tool for that.
Which social sign-in providers are supported?
Google works once you configure it. Facebook sign-in needs an app registered with Meta and is not complete without one. The earlier generation lists further providers, and this page does not promise them for the current one.
How is guest data protected?
The current generation stores a hashed MAC address and only its last two octets, and the portal rate-limits one-time password requests. Ask us for the data-protection notes for your release.
Is there an earlier version I might be running?
Yes. An earlier generation, with billing, plans and vouchers held in the i2i billing service and three guest themes, is still deployed. The current generation is a separate build with its own data. Tell us which you run and we will confirm what applies.