FAQ hotspot installation

  1. Features of the opensplot firmware
  2. Which ports must be allowed at a firewall to the internet?
  3. Can I inhibit filesharing?
  4. What can I do if I forgot the password for my router?
  5. Can I run my HOTSPLOT with DD-WRT?
  6. Are there any alternatives to DSL?

  1. Features of the opensplot firmware

    1. Gateway with captive portal. On LAN ports the captive portal is optional.
    2. Comfortable graphical user interface.
    3. Three options for WAN connection: pppoe, static, dynamic/DHCP
    4. Three ways of operation:
      1. hotspot router with captive portal (the chilli process)
      2. access point with wired connection to a hotspot router (LAN port to LAN port)
      3. WDS repeater with wireless connection to a hotspot router or access point
    5. Packet secure port forwarding. I.e. the WLAN clients do not see each other. (This security feature can be deactivated if unwanted.)
    6. Configuration of WiFi parameters: Transmitter power, operating mode of antennas, SSID.
    7. Walled garden: List of domains that can be accessed without authentication.
    8. Wireless encryption with openVPN. Administration of certificates is done by hotsplots' servers, hence one click configuration!
    9. Traffic shaping
    10. Three protocols for administration: web, ssh and telnet
    11. Three ways to access administration (all configurable): WAN (typically internet), LAN and WLAN (wireless)
    12. Installing updates directly from hotsplots' server.
    13. Verification of authentication data for hotsplots servers.
    ^

  2. Which ports must be allowed at a firewall to the internet?

    All connections are initiated by the hotspot router. For stateful firewall it is therefore not necessary to open or forward any ports.

    For manually configured firewalls it might be necessary to allow certain ports. The following ports are relevant for hotspot-routers:

    • DNS: UDP port 53
    • Web: TCP ports 80, 443
    • NTP: UDP port 123
    • VPN-Routing: UDP ports 1193, 1194, 1195
    • Radius: UDP ports 1812, 1813
    • Load-Balancing: TCP ports 5001-5008 (for appliance only)
    ^

  3. Can I inhibit filesharing?

    At the moment there is no method known to inhibit filesharing effectively. The often

    mentioned blocking of certain ports that are often used by filesharing clients can easily be eluded by using ports that are supposed to be use by other programs. E. g. common ports are the ports for normal surfing, 80 and 443. 

    Who uses filesharing intensively will probably get his own DSL connection. Until then: Enjoy the turnover.

    Nevertheless you can use the traffic shaping of our firmware. The traffic is classified into three groups:

    1. High priority (DNS, SSH, VoIP)
    2. normal (telnet, Web and email)
    3. bilk traffic (edonkey, bittorent, etc.)

    The traffic shaping can be acitvated in the admin interface. Additionally the bandwidth of the own internet connection has to be set. If for example it is set to only half of the real bandwidth, the clients behind the HOTSPLOT can use only that half. In that case a congestion of the own traffic is prevented.

    ^

  4. What can I do if I forgot the password for my router?

    If you forgot the password for your router or the network is configured in some way so you cannot get access to your router any more, you can always boot the router in the so called failsafe mode:

    1. Reboot your router simply by unplugging it for a moment.
    2. After the reboot the power LED flashes for a few seconds. After that the  DMZ LED turns on.
    3. Now, you have about 2 seconds to press the reset button on the back of the router.
    4. After pressing the reset button the DMZ LED starts to flash.
    5. While the DMZ LED flashes the router runs in failsafe mode with 192.168.1.1 as LAN address.
    6. You can access the web administration using the standard username "admin" and password "admin" (from firmware version 1.2; for older versions use "hotadmin" as password). Alternatively you can use ssh or telnet with username "root".
    ^

  5. Can I run my HOTSPLOT with DD-WRT?

    We recommend our own firmware for all hotspots. It provides all features for WLAN hotspots. 

    In case you need to run DD-WRT for some reason you can use it too. You find a DD-WRT HowTo in the documentation section.

    ^

  6. Are there any alternatives to DSL?

    Unfortunally in many areas of germany (A)DSL is not available. Together with (TV) cable connection it is most common and most appropriate for WLAN hotspots. Nevertheless our billing system works completely independent of the type of internet connection.
    As alternatives one can use for example:

    • ISDN
    • Satellite for download or for down- and upload
    • UMTS
    • (TV) cable

    ISDN

    Advantages:

    • available nearly everywhere
    • very low fixed costs

    Disadvantages:

    • low bandwidth
    • aborted logins cause costs
    • usually no flatrate available

    Satellite connections

    Advantages:

    • higher bandwidth compared to ISDN; especially for downloading

    Disadvantages:

    • more hardware needed; satellite antenna and possibly running PC
    • shared medium, i.e. no garanteed bandwidth

    Satellite connections usually needed an telephone uplink. Since recently there are fairly priced products with Down- and Uplink via satellite available. We have partners in this field. If you think, this might be the solution for your location, please contact us.

    UMTS

    Advantages:

    • compact and energy saving hardware
    • typically faster than ISDN

    Disadvantages:

    • shared medium, i.e. no garanteed bandwidth
    • high traffic might be very expensive
    ^