Centralized account provisioning?

jpstephens · Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 2

Let's say I wanted to have 20 hotspots around town and wanted users to be able to roam from hotspot to hotspot using their same paid for account. I realize I would need to put a FirstSpot box at each hotspot linked back to a centralized server that held the user accounts using RADIUS.

My question is, can FirstSpot handle the provisioning and billing of these users and have it update the centralized user database? I do not want to have to tunnel 100% of the traffic back to the centralized server, only the user authentication/user creation.

Thanks in advance.

alan · **Forum facilitator** Joined: 26 Sep 2003 Posts: 4435

If you use Scenario 2 ( see http://www.patronsoft.com/firstspot/topologies.html ), the traffic won't go to the centralized server.
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jpstephens · Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 2

I'm sorry but that does not really answer my question. Specifically I need to know if I can have all the individual FirstSpot boxes at each site query a centralized RADIUS server maybe at a data center on the internet somewhere for authentication and also have FirstSpot handle user provisioning/billing and update this central user repository.

I would think this would be a common scenario. IE, I have vpn tunnels at each remote site that terminate at a data center where all the accounts are maintained. This would allow for people to roam from hotspot to hotspot using the same credentials while not having to tunnel all internet traffic back to a central location, only accounting/authorization info.

alan · **Forum facilitator** Joined: 26 Sep 2003 Posts: 4435

Actually, the RADIUS protocol doesn't really define updating. So you need to update the centralized RADIUS server directly instead of through FirstSpot.
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dracomaster · Joined: 24 Jun 2004 Posts: 81 Location: Toledo, Oregon

If I may add my two cents to this, I'm in a very similar scenario. I have 12 major access points over a tourist town here on the Oregon Coast. Here is how I do it:

Tower 1 (Main Tower): 1 x 7MB DSL connection, 1 x Firstspot server, 1 x Buffalo Tech Access Point with WDS enabled (flashed with DD-WRT), 1 x Amplifier, High DB Sector Antenna Array.

Tower 2-12 (Slave Towers) 1 x 10DB Omni Antenna, 1 x 400MW Engenius Access Point with WDS enabled.

This is how I started my network, I've tweaked it in some areas, but if you can get this far, you 'll have a good start on a profitable WISP.

Any other questions please email me. dracomaster@jnrcom.com