TarHeelV

Stumbled (no pun intended) upon the forums and saw some great opinions, so I thought I would run something up the flagpole and see what you all thought.

A hotspot appliance (HS in a box, but that term is so overused it is pathetic) that is a PC that is completely self-contained so it has router, NIC, everything already built it. Connects to existing high-speed data line and poof, a hotspot. The target market is retail, hotels, etc, that want to provide free wifi access to customers, so there are no billing issues. The AP provides content filtering and connects to a central point, via VPN, for management, so the owner is oblivious. The connection is secure in the fact that while it is on the existing network, the backoffice of the owner is separate.

When a user pops on, they enter the SSID then hit the web. First stop, customized login/registration screen. This is owned by the location, so they can ad advertising, etc to it. Existing ID, they login and are redirected to their original destination. New, they are taken to a reg screen. Pretty standard stuff. After registration, the owner can create a customized list of questions, marketing research type, but completely customizable. That would be a one time shot at registration. Now, all the registration info, as stated in the TOS can be provided to the owner. The owner gets a monthly report of all accesses via their AP (multiple locations can get a a summary of all locations, as well as stats for individual locations) which has name, address, logins, time online, etc. No tracking info of sites visited, etc. They can use this info to market, ie, a certain zip code is predominate among users or a certain user logged in twice in a month, the owner may want to send them a coupon via email or snail mail, etc. I think you see the point on the value of the demographic/marketing data.

Cost of the appliance, roughly $2K. Monthly maintenance fee, $69.95. Install is free. End User Support via toll free (or local), $159.00 a month for unlimited calls. All marketing material (tent cards, door sticker, instruction cards (business card size), buttons for staff, etc) is provided as well.

Shoot it down, folks. Constructive criticism welcome, please try to keep the flames down to 2nd degree burns. Could this fly? What changes, additions, subtractions, would you make?

Thanks in advance!

V

Barry

You been watching late night tech tv??

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TarHeelV

Sorry...I must be missing something. Late night TV?

dgstinner

He said late night TechTV which is a TV station dedicated to technology. Late night TechTV would be XPlay, Unscrewed with Martin Sargent, and The Screensavers.

dgstinner

I think Linksys already beat you to it. They have a new Wireless-G VPN Broadband Router, WRV54G, coming out in a few days (5/24/2004 or at least that's when newegg.com gets it) with a firmware upgrade to turn it into a commercial hotspot through Boingo.

Info here
Info on the router here
PDF explaining the payout and setup

TarHeelV

Thanks for the info. Here is what I see as the difference. I will let the masses decide which option is better:

• We completely manage our solution, from initial install forever. The owner doesn't have to even know the box exists once it is installed. We would provide all user reports on a monthly basis, though the owner can access the reports at anytime he/she wants online. The press release says Boingo offers backoffice, but, again, I would have to research to determine if that is strictly from a billing/pay out standpoint or if they are offering more
  
  We provide content filtering
  
  Ours is set-up for free access, designed as an amenity. I understand there are two entirely different camps of thought regarding Free vs Fee. Our value proposition is the hotspot is a marketing tool and differeniator:
  
  "...their survey showed that six percent of visitors to the stores during the survey came because of wireless access. At $7 for an average customer purchase, that equates to $100,000 in gross additional revenue per store.."
  http://wifinetnews.com/archives/002436.html
  
  They offer access to entire Boingo network which is a nice feature provided people want to pay for it. Again, the Free vs Fee argument.

As I have said, I am willing to listen to any and all arguments for and against our proposition. My thought is that the target market we are going after doesn't have a technical background and wants something they don't have to worry about, that provides value-add for their customers.

Thanks again for your input.

Barry

They have the dumb ass "make money while you sleep" crap comercials. Shows this goofy looking box that lets you check your e-mail and surf the web. Also has wifi built in so the blond chick can click away at her handheld like she is typing on it while talking to some dude and not looking at what she is doing. Kinda reminds me of the one where there is this old dude selling prepaid calling cards with this 20 something blond chick sitting is a hot tub. Sorry, tired of getting spammed on the tv, now we are getting it here.

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Penny's giving it up. She's giving it up hard. Cause she's with Captain Hammer, and these, are not the hammer...... The hammer is my penis. --- Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

TarHeelV

I apologize if you feel as if asking for opinions and feedback is "spamming". I don't see where I placed a URL or phone number. I don't see where I said what I am talkking about will make you money (notice, I said there is a cost and the concept is FREE access), or anything else that I would consider spam. Now, had I said I have the best thing for hotspot or wifi since WEP, here it is, buy it now, hurry before it is too late, you will make millions from this little box then I can see where you might get a bit out of sorts. Being that I simply asked what people think of the idea/concept, I have respectfully disagree with your spam comment.

The Others

The thing is, I could hack nocat onto a Linksys WRT54G for a fraction of this price, and still perform any function yours could.

You seem to be charging a lot of money for a cheap PC running linux.

Let's think about this, you want to charge $2000 and $70 a month so a company can provide free internet? How on earth does the company benefit at all? You're charging for the most expensive splash screen in the world! Also, how do you plan justifying you "maintanence fee"? What exactly will that involve?

If people wanted to provide free internet, they'll just buy a $30 AP and put a sign up.

Then, if it breaks, I haven't spent $70 a month "maintaining" it. With this fortune saved, I can just buy another AP. Hell! I could buy two a month for the price you're charging! Sure, linksys customer care is crap, but, their stuff rarely breaks and is cheap enough to replace if it does.

Sorry dude, the maths is against you.

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TarHeelV

See, that is the type of feedback I was looking for. You have a very good point and that is a concern of mine as well. To be more specific, a company that has offered me a job has exactly what I am describing and I wanted to get feedback from others as to the concept and application. In researching the wifi/hotspot industry, I have come across several applications/appliances/programs. In response, however, I would say while you (and others) can hack into the Linksys box, how many of our target market have that same skill? If someone came to you and said they wanted to do that, what would you charge them?

Several good questions. 1) Benefits: Installation is transparent to the owners in that once they decide to move forward, one day they come to work and it is done. Good, bad or indifferent, there is benefit to that. Counter to that, I would think, would be you could hire someone, buy the Linksys box and have the same thing for, from what you are saying, less money.

The customer polling feature I think is valuable for the owners in that they can get a feel for their customers and what they are looking for. Again, you (and in this case, I) could create a simple web page/site with the same features, but again, for a cost. The maintenance fee is better referred to as a management/reporting fee. We would manage the installation from a support standpoint in that we would monitor the appliance, apply upgrades as needed, etc. This, I think, is the most valuable benefit as it relates to the management fee. The reporting is the other tool. To be able to gather demographic (name, address, etc) information of people that are actually in the store and, we would hope, have spent money is very valuable.

Another good point, however, people aren't doing that because you and I both now while it is simple, it isn't THAT simple. Also, while not as pressing as other issues, the signage, marketing collateral, etc, does cost money. Again, not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things, but there is a cost involved and we provide that as well.

Two year bumper to bumper on the appliance and again, the maintenance fee should be called a management fee. That is my fault.

Thanks for your criticism. This is exactly what I wanted to hear.

As a follow up, what would see as a fair price for what I have described? By that, you can use the Linksys product, have it feedback to a central database to gather the user data, provide content filtering, customer ability to modify areas (ie, banner, etc) of the splash page, the polling/survey option (again, owner "editable"), marketing collateral, owner AND end-user support?

<EDIT>
Also, the devices would allow for IPSEC VPN connectivity.
</edit>

G8tK33per

You want us to handle the marketing/advertising/trouble-shooting for your business as well?

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Thorn

What TarHeelV is proposing is a "turn-key" hotspot system for places that want to provide HS service to an existing customer base, and that lack the technical know-how. It may be simple for those of us here to do things like flash NoCat to a Linksys WRT54G, but damned hard for a busnes owner who calls in a consulant when the printer is out of paper. (And yes, they're out there.)

True, any moron can hang a cheap AP on a DSL line and call it a hotspot. However, unless they are very low usage, those types of setups are a problem for the busness owner in several respects. Even if it is a "free" service* business owners want managment. Just an example: We've all seen "free" continental breakfasts at hotels. I can assure you that every competent hotel manager knows exactly things like what days of the week are high demand, and what are low; the ratio of people that choose the poppy-seed bagels verses the blueberry muffins; and how much it costs to produce that breakfast each day to the cent. The same thing applies here. No business manager worth his salt is going to put up a hotspot and not want to know if it is producing (and how much) for him.

Monthly service fees are a fact of life, too. Again, competent managers are those who concentrate on the "core business", and pay for people to handle the stuff they need, but lack the expertise to do themselves. TarHellV is offering a lot of things that business owners like, such as monthly demographic reports, advertising materials, etc.

While I'd question some of the specifics, it is has potential to be a viable business model.

*TANSTAAFL

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The Others

I agree with the benefits you describe; I used to work for a supermarket who released a new points card. I had to attend endless presentations about this card. The result was that the supermarket would experiance greater customer loyalty and, most importantly, gain customer information. Many buisnesses would adopt your scheme if it providd accurate customer demographic information and stuff like average sales, etc.

Yeah, your argument for installation is a good one. If somebody paid me to do this, I'd buy the cheapest WRT54G I could find (£60), I'd then flash it with the Sveasoft firmware and install it. The sveasoft stuff does everything you've mentioned. If it doesn't it wouldn't be hard to implement with a little imagination. I'd also do a short site survey and recomend any antenna upgrades, multiple access points, etc. Of course, I'd recomend multiple access times much of the time. This is not just because I'd recieve extra money, but because, I think this is a better idea than omnis. Anyway, I'm drifting off-topic.

This whole process would take very little time to do. I'd charge £200 - £250 (about $500) for the hardware and installation. Obviously, this would rise with the addition of more hardware and they'd have to pay for a tank of petrol. Selling a single access point would give me roughly £190 profit for a days work, if that.

I'd remove the monthly fees by installing a web based interface on the box. I can'd find the URL, but, you can get some good stats of those WRT54Gs. The owners could look at these for free and at their lesuire. If the owner wanted, I could make this visible to the wider internet and set them up a domain name for it, something like www.coffeeshopstats.com. This would be password protected and would cost extra. Probably, £100 or there abouts. I'd email clients about (selected) available updates and charge £25 a time to update their box. I'd do this via ssh and wouldn't have to leave my house.

Obviously, they have to advertise all this, something my scheme fails to do.

And yeah, I'm a student and therefore have a strange perception of money. I would not do this as a job, either, so profit margins don't mean that much to me. I'd just like an easy way to earn £200 in an afternoon between lectures.

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all good ends all

TarHeelV

No thanks, but will keep you in mind.

helio

And are they hiring?? (just curious)