Topic: Bounty 20 BTC: Wi-Fi Hotspot, enabled by bitcoin (Read 27526 times)
Locked because of necro-posts. OP contact me if you want me to unlock it.
Technically you could just use an existing 4G portable hotspot device, then pay for the mobile plan using a bitcoin debit card, or if there's enough demand, the distributor will start accepting bitcoin straight.
what do you think about like idea on wireless/wifi as like electricity/on-demand or pay as you go 
and another question brings, it's still centralized structures and under surveillance with any existing infra. and always security is concern with incoming more future wireless devices and bots and I think this area still wildwest and solvable.. also goods for everyone in global if peers can share internet resources fairly, securely. probably it's more efficient for everyone for internet access and information/knowledge sharing.. 
Technically you could just use an existing 4G portable hotspot device, then pay for the mobile plan using a bitcoin debit card, or if there's enough demand, the distributor will start accepting bitcoin straight.
Even years later: I'm interested in what is described in the post(s) here - a WiFi (WLAN) hotspot with native Bitcoin payments for traffic/time enabled. How about starting with this instead of fancier SDN solutions?
right, SDK/SDN comes later, just saying since in order to do much more later current exiting network logic/technique in hw needs to be out/extracted and move toward more software defined on modern generic computing hardware, not expensive enterprise hw.. which gives flexibility/scaleability and will allow to create mesh/stable network, everyone's network/internet. also please take a look, my post on https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/the-idea-about-peer-to-peer-virtual-network-1650067 this research's one of focus is wireless connectives fair sharing with fair anonymity with security.
Even years later: I'm interested in what is described in the post(s) here - a WiFi (WLAN) hotspot with native Bitcoin payments for traffic/time enabled. How about starting with this instead of fancier SDN solutions?
it's similar idea.. but have been researching; peer to peer/decentralized virtual network, SDN.. now just for wire for test/research, but wireless is part of it since traffics needs to be flush down to internet anyway, land/wire.. is this something still interested or looking for?
We have started a presale and crowd funding campaign for a new bitcoin product, The BEWP: Bitcoin Enabled WIFI Portal. BEWP is software configured as a router for Raspberry Pi 3 and other Linux based mini-computers to serve Wi-Fi through a bitcoin pay wall. Using popular bitcoin wallets, such as CoPay, consumers can use bitcoin to get past the Wi-Fi captive portal and establish an Internet connection.
The limited edition plug-and-play prototype is available through Purse.io as well as our Bitcoin Starter page where we offer a few price points to help support the project with a preorder of the final product or an early prototype to help us beta test the various features we have planned.
We just wrapped up deploying the BEWP at the 13th annual Porcupine Freedom festival and provide great WIFI coverage in the remote white mountains of New Hampshire.
Learn more at our Bitcoin Starter page or below is a link to an article just published by Bitcoin.com
https://bitcoinstarter.com/projects/bewp-bitcoin-enabled-wifi-portal/
https://news.bitcoin.com/meet-bewp-bitcoin-enabled-wifi/
The limited edition plug-and-play prototype is available through Purse.io as well as our Bitcoin Starter page where we offer a few price points to help support the project with a preorder of the final product or an early prototype to help us beta test the various features we have planned.
We just wrapped up deploying the BEWP at the 13th annual Porcupine Freedom festival and provide great WIFI coverage in the remote white mountains of New Hampshire.
Learn more at our Bitcoin Starter page or below is a link to an article just published by Bitcoin.com
https://bitcoinstarter.com/projects/bewp-bitcoin-enabled-wifi-portal/
https://news.bitcoin.com/meet-bewp-bitcoin-enabled-wifi/
good work guys.
We have started a presale and crowd funding campaign for a new bitcoin product, The BEWP: Bitcoin Enabled WIFI Portal. BEWP is software configured as a router for Raspberry Pi 3 and other Linux based mini-computers to serve Wi-Fi through a bitcoin pay wall. Using popular bitcoin wallets, such as CoPay, consumers can use bitcoin to get past the Wi-Fi captive portal and establish an Internet connection.
The limited edition plug-and-play prototype is available through Purse.io as well as our Bitcoin Starter page where we offer a few price points to help support the project with a preorder of the final product or an early prototype to help us beta test the various features we have planned.
We just wrapped up deploying the BEWP at the 13th annual Porcupine Freedom festival and provide great WIFI coverage in the remote white mountains of New Hampshire.
Learn more at our Bitcoin Starter page or below is a link to an article just published by Bitcoin.com
https://bitcoinstarter.com/projects/bewp-bitcoin-enabled-wifi-portal/
https://news.bitcoin.com/meet-bewp-bitcoin-enabled-wifi/
The limited edition plug-and-play prototype is available through Purse.io as well as our Bitcoin Starter page where we offer a few price points to help support the project with a preorder of the final product or an early prototype to help us beta test the various features we have planned.
We just wrapped up deploying the BEWP at the 13th annual Porcupine Freedom festival and provide great WIFI coverage in the remote white mountains of New Hampshire.
Learn more at our Bitcoin Starter page or below is a link to an article just published by Bitcoin.com
https://bitcoinstarter.com/projects/bewp-bitcoin-enabled-wifi-portal/
https://news.bitcoin.com/meet-bewp-bitcoin-enabled-wifi/
Come on, this is pretty easy and does neither require much funding nor does it require much time.
The least it requires are "partners".
1. Set up regular public access point using open source tools (HostAP?)
2. Create a website that shows a BTC address that users have to pay. The address is deterministically generated from the connected MAC address in the same manner as a brain wallet is created, salted of course.
3. Create hook script to set the default gateway for each MAC address to the payment site (on connection)
4. Set up a SPV client monitoring payment addresses and set the default gateway to the REAL ONE for all mac addresses (i.e., the connected bitcoin addresses) that have been paid.
(Consider checking past payments for old payments if a client reconnects but still has some time left)
One day, max.
The least it requires are "partners".
1. Set up regular public access point using open source tools (HostAP?)
2. Create a website that shows a BTC address that users have to pay. The address is deterministically generated from the connected MAC address in the same manner as a brain wallet is created, salted of course.
3. Create hook script to set the default gateway for each MAC address to the payment site (on connection)
4. Set up a SPV client monitoring payment addresses and set the default gateway to the REAL ONE for all mac addresses (i.e., the connected bitcoin addresses) that have been paid.
(Consider checking past payments for old payments if a client reconnects but still has some time left)
One day, max.
Hey all,
My partners and I would like to give this project a go. Over the last few months we have been playing around with some code and looking at other attempts at this project. We currently have a working prototype for a raspberry pi 3.
We have seen the project that 21.co put out but the price point of a 21 computer makes the product a bit to pricey for most. Our software would run on any raspberry pi and would only need a wifi adapter for a pi 1 and 2 to work. (plus SD card, power adapter and network cable)
If anyone in here is still offering a bounty that would be cool, but I'm trying to fully understand what features make this a great product that you all would support. We will likely sell some prototype units to make back our time developing this product.
We also have an opportunity to demonstrate the product at an upcoming even in New Hampshire among bitcoin users. I'll be back to post an update on our prototype sale but please let me know what it is that would make this qualify for any bounty's or your support buying a prototype.
Thanks!
My partners and I would like to give this project a go. Over the last few months we have been playing around with some code and looking at other attempts at this project. We currently have a working prototype for a raspberry pi 3.
We have seen the project that 21.co put out but the price point of a 21 computer makes the product a bit to pricey for most. Our software would run on any raspberry pi and would only need a wifi adapter for a pi 1 and 2 to work. (plus SD card, power adapter and network cable)
If anyone in here is still offering a bounty that would be cool, but I'm trying to fully understand what features make this a great product that you all would support. We will likely sell some prototype units to make back our time developing this product.
We also have an opportunity to demonstrate the product at an upcoming even in New Hampshire among bitcoin users. I'll be back to post an update on our prototype sale but please let me know what it is that would make this qualify for any bounty's or your support buying a prototype.
Thanks!
So a couple points to be a little bit realistic here:
1. The best way to implement a solution for this would be to use one remote server-side application, and a client-side application that would run on a router. The client would basically forward all requests to the server, and the server would handle payments, authentication, and re-routing.
2. If you wanted to implement this as just a client side application where anybody can use it, that would be possible too. However, it would require communication with the internet in order to perform bitcoin transactions. Furthermore, it would be unreasonable to not use an external service for handling bitcoin payments. Building a bitcoin payment system from scratch would be a horrible idea... way too much time and effort to try to reinvent the wheel.
3. I seriously doubt you can find good software engineers who are going to want to build this as open source. Or if they did, the reward would have to be way way way more than 20 BTC. An app like this wouldn't be too difficult to make, but it would be VERY time consuming. There are a lot of moving parts involved. In real life, something like this would most likely cost at least several hundred thousand dollars to develop.
1. The best way to implement a solution for this would be to use one remote server-side application, and a client-side application that would run on a router. The client would basically forward all requests to the server, and the server would handle payments, authentication, and re-routing.
2. If you wanted to implement this as just a client side application where anybody can use it, that would be possible too. However, it would require communication with the internet in order to perform bitcoin transactions. Furthermore, it would be unreasonable to not use an external service for handling bitcoin payments. Building a bitcoin payment system from scratch would be a horrible idea... way too much time and effort to try to reinvent the wheel.
3. I seriously doubt you can find good software engineers who are going to want to build this as open source. Or if they did, the reward would have to be way way way more than 20 BTC. An app like this wouldn't be too difficult to make, but it would be VERY time consuming. There are a lot of moving parts involved. In real life, something like this would most likely cost at least several hundred thousand dollars to develop.
So a couple points to be even more realistic here:
1. Why would anyone want a centralized single point of failure? The original idea of running the system on the router itself is more than fine, and gives the operator maximum flexibility.
2. Not sure why you would consider a router a "client side application", but regarding the bitcoin transactions I see absolutely no problem. Using simplified payment verification (via Electrum or obelisk servers) it's fairly easy to verify received payments. I would estimate the time to code this to 30-45 minutes. It's no horrible idea at all, Bitcoin was invented to avoid centralization ... using a centralized service is ironic.
3. If Linus Torvald had thought this way, we all would be still using Windoze
Still not sure why you call it time consuming. I could do it in one 8 hour work day, I think.
Whats so hard to monitor bitcoin transactions and set individual routes for the connected clients (either a route to the internet or a route to the payment site) using a hand full of easy bash scripts that are triggered from either a countdown timer or a SPV client when certain transactions are seen?
The peoples on here they are answering to an approach made on May 11, 2011. I wonder if the creator of this thread found the solution.
I dont think so that first of all he is following this thread which he created long back, if he would have not found the solution he would have been in details about it and would have reported or replied the messages.
True,
Besides he was providing that amount when the price was different for a solution.
The peoples on here they are answering to an approach made on May 11, 2011. I wonder if the creator of this thread found the solution.
I dont think so that first of all he is following this thread which he created long back, if he would have not found the solution he would have been in details about it and would have reported or replied the messages.
The peoples on here they are answering to an approach made on May 11, 2011. I wonder if the creator of this thread found the solution.
Pfsense is a FreeBSD distro, not some magic "hotspot enabler". The often mentioned OpenWRT distribution (Linux based) would be another option. Both of them already have basic captive portal software built in, still nobody bothered to create a proper Bitcoin plugin for them over the past few years.
The way how to do this is actually not very difficult or completely out of the box... it is just hard to monetize and unless you have a lot of people around that have BTC and would use them to pay for WLAN access, it would be very hard to profit from this at all (e.g. a hackerspace - but then again you'd likely offer free WLAN instead of charging money for something as basic as internet). This means you'd have to do this for the bounty here and personal interest. Apparently both are still not high enough to motivate people.
The way how to do this is actually not very difficult or completely out of the box... it is just hard to monetize and unless you have a lot of people around that have BTC and would use them to pay for WLAN access, it would be very hard to profit from this at all (e.g. a hackerspace - but then again you'd likely offer free WLAN instead of charging money for something as basic as internet). This means you'd have to do this for the bounty here and personal interest. Apparently both are still not high enough to motivate people.
pfsense you can build into a hot spot easily all the options are there. I work with pfsense every day with my server farm.
Pfsense is a FreeBSD distro, not some magic "hotspot enabler". The often mentioned OpenWRT distribution (Linux based) would be another option. Both of them already have basic captive portal software built in, still nobody bothered to create a proper Bitcoin plugin for them over the past few years.
The way how to do this is actually not very difficult or completely out of the box... it is just hard to monetize and unless you have a lot of people around that have BTC and would use them to pay for WLAN access, it would be very hard to profit from this at all (e.g. a hackerspace - but then again you'd likely offer free WLAN instead of charging money for something as basic as internet). This means you'd have to do this for the bounty here and personal interest. Apparently both are still not high enough to motivate people.
The way how to do this is actually not very difficult or completely out of the box... it is just hard to monetize and unless you have a lot of people around that have BTC and would use them to pay for WLAN access, it would be very hard to profit from this at all (e.g. a hackerspace - but then again you'd likely offer free WLAN instead of charging money for something as basic as internet). This means you'd have to do this for the bounty here and personal interest. Apparently both are still not high enough to motivate people.
Why not just design a computer using pfsense. pfsense you can setup a computer as a router and get more range also with expand ability of adding a application to accept the bitcoin.
I would like have hotspot based on some popular WiFi router, like Linksys or Ubiquiti.
Person pay with BTC and get access to internet.
- Better if hotspot will be self sufficient. Some hardware, like Dlink DIR-320 has USB port. It can be used for USB flashdrive as storage of blocks.
- Better if it will have options, like counting traffic or time, several bandwidth throttling degrees, depending on price.
- Better if hotspot will have 2 SSIDs - one private and one public.
How do you think to start implementing this?
My bounty is small, but I think someone on this forum would need the same and also pay for developer.
There are some routers that lets you flash Custom Firmware and they might have an Open Source Custom Firmware that creates an Captive Portal (Thats what you're searching for). To get the payments in Bitcoin you can use BlockChain API to receive payments on that captive portal system (it needs some changes to work with the API) Person pay with BTC and get access to internet.
- Better if hotspot will be self sufficient. Some hardware, like Dlink DIR-320 has USB port. It can be used for USB flashdrive as storage of blocks.
- Better if it will have options, like counting traffic or time, several bandwidth throttling degrees, depending on price.
- Better if hotspot will have 2 SSIDs - one private and one public.
How do you think to start implementing this?
My bounty is small, but I think someone on this forum would need the same and also pay for developer.
What if a user doesn't have a mobile phone (e.g. on airports you often don't have a local SIM card) or the SMS service provider takes a few hours to send the message? The login details (why logging in anyways if you can already identify someone by MAC address?) are probably better displayed on the splash page or there is no need to "login" anyways as soon as the payment goes through.
Actually, that seems more appropriate. I was at an airport at my place and had an SMS sent, so probably thought the idea was applicable. It would be nice to autologin once the payment is completed, and probably have a timer that the user can see. You could have packages like for 1 hour of usage or 2 hours and different prices.
What if a user doesn't have a mobile phone (e.g. on airports you often don't have a local SIM card) or the SMS service provider takes a few hours to send the message? The login details (why logging in anyways if you can already identify someone by MAC address?) are probably better displayed on the splash page or there is no need to "login" anyways as soon as the payment goes through.
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