How to prevent other bars’ customers from using my bar’s wifi?

[bkkjames]

Just make your password something like Our Girls Get Bigger Tips or something similar.

[GTI68]

I would understand if you use a neighbors signal at home. But running a business and asking such a question on an internet forum is just insane.

If you can't afford it, please let it be. Changing the password is pretty much easy. Gesshhh

He doesn't want to change the password every day, he said that. Reasons are his I assume.

Insane. Maybe you.

Very unconstructive comment.

[GTI68]

Thanks for all the helpful replies guys - with the exception of some guy who thinks I am insane to even ask a question about something I admittedly know very little. (That probably means that around of half of Thai Visa members should be consigned to the loony bin....)

It seems to me that I might as well go the simple route - i.e. just get a bog standard router from 3BB, and see how it goes.

I will only start changing the password if it becomes a problem, for as someone quite rightly said, why should the next bar along use my WIFI when they have their own? I guess I was overreacting.

A friend suggested that I set the router so that the 'lease time' for users is set for 3 hours; that way old mac addresses would be discarded and I wouldn't have the current problem of having to reset the router to get rid of them.

I will suck it and see.

But back to your regular customers. There a a couple of simple, cheap options for their convenience.

I'd suggest talking to your local computer fella, he deals with it everyday.

[Paul944]

I have no idea how much you pay for an internet connection. But if you experience buffering problems getting an own connection is not a bad idea. It gives you also the control over your own router so no need to bother the next door bar people for a reset.

If your youtube player is at a fixed location try to connect it with a cable instead of using wifi. If this is not possible and your wifi router supports multi wifi groups, create a private group for your wifi player with its own password.

How many customers does your bar has at peak time? If more as 10 people are busy with their smart phones and tablets you can not avoid some lag and slow connection experience without investing in office grade equipment and a faster internet connection.

On the wifi router disable the option giving a mac address always the same IP number because else the router will register the first 254 devices and can not serve any new customers.

Changing the password on daily basis only makes your employers and regular customers annoyed.

Connect the wifi router to a power group that gets switched off when the bar closes so it get a daily reset.

[dotpoom]

I don't know a lot about this stuff but I would imagine that, as you already stated, when the two bars each have their own Wi-Fi that would be the solution. There would then be no need to piggyback off each other . Just my thoughts on it. I always think the " keeping simple" way is usually better that all the science stuff.

Edited August 18, 2014 by dotpoom

[sfokevin]

Name your router 20bahtoffyourfirstbeerifyoucomesitatmybar

Edited August 18, 2014 by sfokevin

[bino]

Get yourself a router with advanced settings that you can limit the speeds your customers can connect at. They do not need high speeds to use email, messaging apps and checking social media. If they want to stream videos, they can do that on their own time.

A router that accepts the dd-wrt firmware is easy to configure in the "wireless" tab and then under the WL0-Advanced tab (as well as the WL1-Advanced tab). Someone with a mediocre understanding of router set up could do this for you.

A DD-WRT firmware capable router was going to be my suggestion too. As above, you can create a virtual access point for the customers with limited speed. Another cool feature in the DD-WRT wireless settings is being able to adjust the power / range of the signal. Turn it down to a minimum to cover your bar area.

For about 1500 THB you can get the Linksys WRT 54 GL that is extremely proven / reliable and very capable with DD-WRT installed. It is only Wireless G (54 MBPS) but totally adequate for your customers to do the basic functions mentioned above... email. web pages, Facebook et al..

The push-button secure setup might be the answer to your customer dilemma. When somebody wants to connect, just push the button on the router to open a secure connection that they can join. I've never bothered with this - don't know if it would work or not.

For best possible YouTube streaming, I would set it up near your Media PC and connect to the router via Category 6 LAN cable.

Edit to add- you can also change the "lease time" for your wireless visitors so that the IP addresses get released faster once they are no longer being used. This will prevent having to reset the router all the time.

Edited August 18, 2014 by bino

[RichCor]

Mobi,

There are THREE types of 'bog standard routers' you can purchase.

3BB adsl Modem/Router or adsl Modem/Router/Wifi: You cannot 'share' adsl connections, so anything 'adsl modem' (phone connection) would be a waste.

Router/WiFi: This device can share one IP address to many IP addresses (users), but if you use them back-to-back (serially) it creates many issues. Best if there is only one 'NAT Router' on the network and all devices communicate with it. Many brands allow you to configure the device as needed (ie NAT Router WiFi or WiFi only)

WiFi Access Point: This is a plain WiFi device. SSID and login password only, all communications are passed to the network router.

I would suggest buying a Router/WiFi that can be configured.

[bilago]

My opinion you should have your own router, then you can just make a new password each day as one of your tasks from the morning. Or better, make some good offers or events in YOUR bar so you will get more customers.

Cheers

Edited August 18, 2014 by bilago

[maderaroja]

Why not have your own router with two access points? Then sell access to the other bar for one of them.

[jpinx]

to the OP -- I feel for you -- been there, done that I suggest you get the bog standard router and, assuming there is a socket, make your own desktop a WIRED connection for youtube etc. Then set a tricky wifi password which you can hand out to customers without thinking too much. When you have the time or a friendly techie happens by, see if you can get some password controls set up -- if only to change it. Limited connection time per device would be a good plan too. Ultimately there is software that will generate a time-limited password per transaction in the till - assuming your till system is connected to the the desktop.

Good luck

[Briandajew]

Have you looked at NFC? Cisco/Linksys which I think are now Belkin provide this, basically you have a credit card sized NFC card which you need to tap on your mobile device (less than 5cm) and it allows access to your network.

[HerbalEd]

Constantly streaming music is probably what's bogging your system down the most. Why not stream and record the music after hours?

[poweratradio]

There is software available so that you can give individual codes to customers, only one code per device. We have it at our school. I think it has to run from a server.

Just measure your bars circumference and then get a range limited modem.

[KamalaRider]

Why stream ?, why not record and play as I would have thought that vast majority of the stuff you play time and again as its older music its merely accessing an archive, why not create your own ?

External hard drives are very cheap and YouTube capture software is free.

Your existing shared connection would not need to be changed as its YouTube that's taking most of the available bandwidth.

Maybe you stream because of some licensing issue that I'm unaware of.

There's no music license fee for streamed music in Thailand.

[animatic]

Buy a second wifi unit - router and put it in your space, have a tech set up your own password for that unit and give it to your customers.

This doubles local access nodes, but doesn't expand the internet bandwidth or require extra monthly fees.

[Chicog]

Change the password every day. It takes a minute and you can write it on the blackboard.

If people are coming in your bar to nick the password and go back to the bar next door, fill them in.

[Mobi]

The only reason I didn't want to change the pw every day was because I thought it may inconvenience my regular customers who log on every day. .

As I said, I will suck it and see and change the pw daily if it proves necessary....

I have no idea why so many people come onto this thread and make rude comments - I would have thought at least here, in the technical forums, people would be a bit more civilised, but clearly not.... so sad...

Ah well. as I said before, many thanks to all those who have given constructive advice. It is appreciated.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Mobi

[vox2]

Only give the daily password after the customer has purchased a drink. Change the wifi password every day. Should only take a minute or two of your day before you open. Post a sign out that says free wifi with the purchase of a drink. That should solve your problem.

[kaydee412]

The present arraangement works reasonably well except that my customers are often ‘locked out’ because too many people have already connected to the wifi and the router will not allow new ‘log ons’, until it has been reset.If the router was in my bar it would be no problem, but it is quite difficult to explain to the bar staff next door every time we need them to reset their router as the owner is rarely there and they don’t really understand.

That is likely caused by an artificial limit on the number of IP-addresses that is handed out by the WAP (wireless access point, wireless router) or rather its DHCP server. You should be able to hand out a total of 253 addresses at any given time. Any IT professional will be able to check this and make the change.

The second reason is that I need a more reliable wifi connection so that I can play non-stop music from You Tube. At present, we sometimes experience buffering or the connection even drops out completely because too many people are using the wifi.

Buffering is caused by overloading the available bandwidth, i.e. the bandwidth shared by the users is too small to sustain a steady, sufficient stream of data. You can use something called QoS (quality of service -- basically prioritizing what traffic/usage is more important) but that is something you'd probably need an IT professional to help you with. Another option that is easier is to create a public wireless network and one private wireless network. You will use the unlimited private one and your guests will use the bandwidth-limited one. That way you can control how much bandwidth is used by your guests.

But there is little point in us having our own wifi because when we make the password available to our own customers, it won’t take long for the customers in the next bar to get hold of the password and log in as well.

So is there any way I can let my own customers use the wifi, and stop the other bars’ customers from using it?

The only thing I can think of is to change the password each day, but that would be a real hassle, and my regulars would have to continually reset the password on their phones etc as well.

Any ideas anyone or shall I just go with the flow and hope that with each bar having its own wifi I should probably be OK

If periodically changing the password is not an option, you have to implement a secret code type solution. Basically a guest is given a code that is valid for a week, a month or whatever. You issue this code, they enter it, and when it expires, they have to receive and enter a new one. You can issue unique codes that are not shareable or you can have one code for everyone -- up to you, but if shared then other guests can use it as well.

This software will solve your problems: http://www.open-mesh.com/solutions/cloud-controller.html

The hardware to go with the software: http://www.open-mesh.com/products/access-points.html

You only pay for the hardware: $55-95 depending on which router you want. The software is free/included.

Edited August 18, 2014 by kaydee412

[innerspace]

Your ideal solution is a directional wifi antenna. They do exist here but not all that common. An explore and possibly a preorder at tukcom should do it, if not ebay.

Plug your own machines in by cable for best quality and angle the directional straight out.

Just be careful about rhe people the far side of the lake. Directional antennas are capable of going kilometres on the right kit in a dead straight line, but nothing to the sides.

[konying]

Just change password daily. Will take you 5 mins and cost you nothing.

Alternatively , speak with the owner of other bar, and move router to your bar and/or go on a higher plan

[RichCor]

The only reason I didn't want to change the pw every day was because I thought it may inconvenience my regular customers who log on every day. .

[...]

Mobi, as has already been suggested, you can buy WiFi AP or Router/WiFi AP for ฿1,000 - ฿1,500 that can give multiple SSIDs (look like One, Two, Three or Four WiFi Names) each with its own password. So the single unit could look like:

SSID: Mobi_WiFi Password: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 <- For customers. Change password when too many non-customers use it

SSID: Drink_More_Beer Password: Can I Have Another <- For your 'regulars'.

SSID: Mobi Password mobi4545 <- For your private use. Set SSID so it doesn't broadcast -- it'll be hidden and nobody asks about it

4-Port Ethernet:

Port_1: Ethernet connection to neighbor's network modem/router

Port_2: Ethernet connection directly to your Bar's PC/Laptop

Port_3: Ethernet to ... whatever, if needed

Port_4: Ethernet to ... whatever, if needed

You would only need to change the password on the primary SSID when too many non-customers use it. Possibly change the 'regulars' SSID password they stab you in the back and give it out to too many non-customers.

The Third SSID is private and only for your use.

[Tywais]

Inflammatory post removed.

There are some WiFi systems that include prioritization option for multi-media and games QoS/WMM. That is, you can set it for streaming to have higher priority over general use. Also, as mentioned, appears to be some default setting limiting the total number of concurrent users that needs checked.

Example here

[gandalf12]

If it is only regular customers you want to use it then get the MAC address for the device they will use and put that in the users list. None who is not on the list will have access then

[RandomSand]

Thanks for all the helpful replies guys - with the exception of some guy who thinks I am insane to even ask a question about something I admittedly know very little. (That probably means that around of half of Thai Visa members should be consigned to the loony bin....)

It seems to me that I might as well go the simple route - i.e. just get a bog standard router from 3BB, and see how it goes.

I will only start changing the password if it becomes a problem, for as someone quite rightly said, why should the next bar along use my WIFI when they have their own? I guess I was overreacting.

A friend suggested that I set the router so that the 'lease time' for users is set for 3 hours; that way old mac addresses would be discarded and I wouldn't have the current problem of having to reset the router to get rid of them.

I will suck it and see.

I think you may well find a simple solution adequate.

I have some advice to avoid quirks which would be hard to trouble-shoot...

Many routers will create problems for "connected" clients when running in mixed modes i.e Wireless G & Wireless N. These problems are compounded when the router also operates the 5GHZ frequency.

For maximum stability I find it best to:

• Run the Wireless Router in B/G mode (disabling N mode, disabling adaptive bandwidth 20/40MHZ & disabling the 5GHZ freq.)

For maximum security I find it best to:

• Set wireless encryption to "WPA2 AES" and disable WPS (push button PIN) feature.

Any device made within the last five years should be able to connect to these standards.

Ensure your main computer is connected to the router via a network cable. This will enable you to directly login to the router for admin purposes and ensure a trouble free connection for youtube streaming etc.

Finally: Power cycle your router every week as a precaution against possible problems with caching or corrupted entries.

Edited August 18, 2014 by RandomSand

[mrfaroukh]

The best way to avoid misuse of your Wifi is that only few trusted personal should know the password. If you have to share the wifi with your customers then put the password yourself instead of just telling them what it is. In this way they can not share the password with others. But still your customers can use the wifi though they are sitting in another bar, to avoid this change you wifi password once a week, so your old customer who are now drinking in other bars but using your wifi have to be your customer once again.

[Strangebrew]

Have your own internet installed setup your wifi in your bar create your own password and you got it I suudest buying a netgear wifi router when doing they work great just tell the knucklehead at pantip extactly what it is to be used for so he can hook you up. Good luck

[Ken]

Set up a virtual router on your computer. I use some software called "connectify". Not expensive for the Pro version. You set up a password and can then monitor all devices that are connected to the wifi. Any device that is connected that is not one of your customers, you can disable that device with a mouse click. Works for me in wife's beauty salon.

http://www.connectify.me/

Easily Connect All your Devices to WiFi

Connectify Hotspot makes all your devices happy. This easy-to-use virtual router lets you share Internet from your laptop with your smartphone, tablet, media player, e-reader, other laptops, and even your nearby friends.

[casualbiker]

Just to Bugger up the works a little .. under the 2007 computer crime act don't you as a business have to register user's because its a business. My school uses "smartzone"