SolutionsPublic Wi-Fi
i2iCore for Public Wi-Fi
Venues, hospitality and city networks that offer guest Wi-Fi through a captive portal and want to manage access and revenue.
- Modules
- 5
- Suites
- 2
- Core products
- 2
The challenge
What Public Wi-Fi operators have to get right
Public Wi-Fi is a guest service. People arrive at a venue, join a network and expect to be online within a minute, while the operator wants to know who connected, sell or gift access and keep the network running across many sites. The captive portal is the front door, and it sits on top of authentication, plans and reporting.
Captive portal and voucher billing for public Wi-Fi therefore depends on several parts working together. The portal and the plan catalogue decide what a guest sees and pays for, authentication decides who gets in, and record keeping answers questions about what happened on the network. i2iCore separates these parts and each one does its own job.
A portal that suits each venue
A hotel, a mall and a city network each want their own look, wording and sign-in method. Managing separate portals by hand does not scale, and changes must be reversible when a design goes wrong.
Choosing how guests get in
Some venues want a single click, others a mobile one-time password, a voucher from reception or a paid plan. Operators need to mix methods and time or data limits without building a new system for each venue.
Earning from access
Selling plans, issuing voucher batches and selling advertising space all need records: what was sold, what was redeemed and what it earned. Without them, revenue from Wi-Fi is hard to count or defend.
Records that outlast the session
Guest networks usually sit behind carrier-grade NAT, so many guests share one public address. If asked who used an address at a given time, the operator needs preserved records and a way to search them.
The modules
How each module helps
Every operator starts with the AAA and CRM core. The rest are added as the network needs them. Each module has its own datasheet.
- i2i AAAAccess & NetworkCore
Hotspot does not replace your AAA. i2i AAA does the RADIUS authentication and accounting, with Hotspot supplying portal, subscriber, plan and voucher data. It works with i2i Hotspot as a RADIUS client and can also serve enterprise Wi-Fi.
- i2i CRMMonetisation & FinanceCore
Holds customer accounts, invoices, payments and taxes for the commercial side of the service, such as a venue billed as an account. It sits alongside the guest plans and vouchers that Hotspot manages.
- i2i HotspotAccess & Network
The captive portal and plan platform. Design portals with version history, choose click-through, one-time password, Google sign-in or voucher access, sell free, timed or data-limited plans and watch sessions, revenue and access point status.
- i2i TraceAccess & Network
Captures NAT flow records and syslog and keeps them for the retention period a regulator sets. An authorised operator can search by public IP, port and time and export the evidence, with an audit of every search.
- i2i APIsIdentity & Intelligence
A curated gateway for outside systems. Each client is registered, limited to approved source addresses and endpoints and audited, and payment callbacks credit the customer's account. It is not a self-serve open interface.
Checklist
What you need to get right
- Run branded captive portals across venues
- Offer OTP, voucher, social or click-through access
- Sell free, timed or data-limited plans
- Watch sessions, usage and access point status
- Keep NAT records for the period you must
FAQ
Public Wi-Fi: frequently asked questions
What sign-in methods can guests use?
i2i Hotspot supports click-through access, a mobile one-time password by SMS or email, social sign-in with Google, voucher login and registered accounts. You can gate the portal with a login or sign-up page. Other social providers are not supported at present.
Can guests pay online for access?
Hotspot does not offer live online payment by gateway at present. It manages plans, voucher batches, orders, invoices and revenue roll-ups, and vouchers can be revoked or redeemed. Talk to us about how you collect payment.
Does Hotspot handle authentication itself?
No. RADIUS authentication stays in your AAA server, such as i2i AAA. Hotspot supplies the portal and the subscriber, plan and voucher data, and it reads or receives session and accounting data from the AAA side. This keeps the two jobs separate.
How do we keep records for regulators?
Use i2i Trace, which keeps NAT flow records and syslog for the retention period a compliance profile sets. Trace is a separate module and has no link with Hotspot. It preserves records and answers which address and port were in use; mapping to a guest uses your own data.
Can one operator run many venues?
Yes. Hotspot is a multi-tenant service with a web console and a separate guest portal runtime. One operator manages many hotspots and access points, and each portal keeps its own versions. Access point status and alert rules are set per venue.
Other operator types
- Fibre ISPsFTTH and GPON operators who sell broadband plans to home and business subscribers, directly and through partners.→
- Wireless ISPsFixed-wireless operators serving towns and rural areas from towers, where every subscriber depends on radio links.→
- Cable and local operatorsOperators whose customers sign up, get served and pay through a network of franchises and LCOs.→
- Enterprise and leased lineOperators selling business connectivity and leased lines to companies that expect accountable service and clear invoices.→
- Telcos and CSPsCommunication service providers and larger operators with big teams, many systems and formal control over access and records.→