Any hotspot experts around here?

Peas

I manage to set up a WDS hotspot using routers loaded with dd-wrt firmware. The next step is to set up the management system for it and this is where I'm getting pretty confused.

From all those google results I find out that I need a RADIUS server, which I think that I do not have. Can I turn a computer into a RADIUS server?

Zeon

What exactly are you trying to do? Set up a public hotspot? A paid hotspot? An ad supported hot spot? DD-WRT will let you do all 3, and using the "big" or "mega" builts, you should have all the services built in. Turning them on and configuring them with their respective radio buttons and drop downs should be enough, you dont need to enable any extra services.

*edit* DD-WRT also has a radius server built in (i have no idea what that is, to be honest), its under the Wireless -> Radius tab.

Peas

I would like to do something like checking out and controlling the amount of bandwidth for users who logged into the hotspot, as well as maybe setting some sort of a time limit. The RADIUS server is suppose to do the above for me I guess, but I'm not really sure at this stage.

Oh well more googling and researching I suppose

travathian

Stuff about RADIUS, I'm sure you can find more.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb742489.aspx

Goetterdaemmerung

RADIUS is an AAA server (authentication, authorization, accounting) -- basically a fancy way to authenticate a username/password. If you want to use windows (active directory) authentication, you can find a active-directory-backed RADIUS server (same if you want to use linux user accounts, or mac osx accounts, or your very own manual list of users). RADIUS servers also have some protocol to manage extra metadata about those users (this is the "accounting" part of it), which is -- I guess -- one way to implement bandwidth limitations. I've only heard of it used for quotas though (like X GB per month), not throttling.

Zeon

Did you read the wiki? The chilispot service should do what you want (re: bandwidth limitations).

Link: http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Chillispot

*edit again* of course, you will need to pay for CSP it looks like.

Peas

Yea I'm trying to use free open source stuff to do this but the whole thing is starting to look really complicated. I found something called freeRADIUS which can do what I want, but it seems like it doesn't support windows so I have to download an open source OS like Ubuntu.

Zeon

Youd also have to have an ISP that doesnt mind you running a server, not to mention a hotspot. Mine doesnt, but of the 6 or 7 that offer services in Toronto, its the only one, and its not a terribly speedy connection either.