How To Build A WiFi HotSpot Or Entire WiFi Network Using A Chilliwave Server
If you have a Chilliwave Single Dashboard & Billing Account, skip down to step 6.
Chuck DeJarnett ; chuckdejarnett@gmail.com
NOTE: For more information on Chilliwave Wifi Hotspot Management & Billing System go to www.chilliwave.com
( UPDATED: 07/30/2010 ; Chuck DeJarnett )
Set your network up like this:
(chillidog is an old prgram we wrote, but this drawing still applies to the
new Chilliwave server)
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Things to do before we get started:
A) You should have a static ip address for the internet connection that this server will run on.
B) If the server is behind a router on its internet connection, you will need to forward ports 22, 80, 443, 1812, 1813 through to the LAN ip address of the Chilliwave server inside your local LAN.
Getting Started with the server setup:
1) When the Chilliwave Server boots up and you can see it running in proxmox, open a web browser and go to the following address:
http://your-chilliwave-server-ip/
or
http://your-chilliwave-server-ip/admin
user = admin
pass = admin
(Change this password immediately under the SETUP tab once logged in)
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2) Once logged in, change your password, as stated above, by clicking the SETUP tab followed by CHANGE ADMIN PASSWORD. Enter your desired administrator password for the system and click on CONFIGURE.. (Note: the username will always be "admin" for the administrator and this cannot be changed.. Choose a strong password, but stay away from non-alphanumeric characters )
Next click SETUP again and click
on IP ADDRES / DOMAIN NAME.. Enter the ip address of domain name of your server
and click on CONFIGURE.. ( The system will say it is building the firmware,
but it is also placing crucial settings throughout the system to tie all of
the pieces of the puzzle together. This is a crucial step and the server will
not work if this step is not done.) When it says it has finished, click outside
the modal box to close it.
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3) Click on ACTIVATE SERVER KEY.... Enter the server activation key that you got when you bought the software and click on ACTIVATE SERVER... Only do this one time.. If you need to re-activate your server, you can do it on the page that is linked there in the activation menu or on the "Resolve" page that pops up if the activations fails.. If the server is not activated within 30 minutes of booting up, it will shut itself down.. That is the key program shutting it down.. Just boot it back up and activate it within 30 minutes and it will stay running forever...
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4 ) Click on CREATE HOTSPOT and create your first landing page for wifi customers
to see when they connect to your wifi signal.. The username and password can
be given to a "Site Owner" if you have a reason for it.. This is why
you create a new login name here.. You can also access the site owner pages
by clicking on MANAGE HOTSPOTS in the Chilliwave Superadmin Control Panel.
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5) Once you have created a hotspot
dashboard, logout of the superadmin control panel and log back in as the owner
of the new dashboard. ie. chuckoms / ifiw321 as shown in the example picture
above.
You will see the dashboard Network Overview page initially.
Next Click on NETWORK SETTINGS.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on SAVE SETTINGS... This is important to do this step the very first time you enter each new hotspot dashboard that you create.. This finalizes the radius settings getting transferred into the correct places in the system..
Once that is done, you can go back and change anything you want to be the way you would like and click save settings again.
6) To add your first node, click on MANAGE NODES / ADD NODE.
Enter the settings you would like to have for this node / router, and click on ADD NODE when you are done. You MUST enter a lat/long for the map on each and every node or the map will come up entirely blank..
7) Now you will see your node on the map and under Full Node List, but it will be showing up in red because we have not flashed the router yet with the firmware to make it communicate with your server..
Note: When adding nodes to the network, you can assign the address of a webcam or an ip camera and make that show up when you click on a node in the map, too. Here is an example:
8) Now we need to flash a router and setup the Billing side of the system, so click on the Billing link in the upper right hand corner of the dashboard control panel. You will see the following page.
There are two sets of dd-wrt firmwares inside the Router Firmware tab there, but we no longer support the use of those firmwares, nor do we recommend using them, because we have discovered a bug in the chillispot version that runs in dd-wrt that cannot be fixed at this point, so the best firmare to run on this system is the Robin-Mesh firmware that is build by our own firmware builder.
If you have a firmware builder account, you can build a custom firmware for your server's ip address or domain name, and then import that firmware into your server, at which time it will show up under the first firmware option link in the router firmware tab on this billing overview page..
If you have the One Touch Firmware Flash Tool, simply connect a compatible router to your network or directly to your pc that is running the flash tool, put the router into "recovery mode" if it is an Ubiquiti device, and click on the flash tool.. The One Touch Flash Tool will automatically find the router, identify what type it is and what firmware to flash into it, and then it will flash.. Very simple and this is the preferred method for flashing routers at this point.. The flash tool also allows multiple routers to be flashed so you can do batches of routers very easily..
Once the router is flashed, leave the power connected to it for at least 10 minutes and let the flash sink in real good. It is doing things in there to apply all of the settings and such.. After ten minutes, plug the router into an upstream router so it can have access to the internet.. This will be your first gateway, (access point), in the test network for getting started. Now you can flash more routers and simply plug them into power and let them sit in open space and they will automatically find the first gateway router and create a mesh network.
9 ) You will want to choose a new THEME for your hotspot and modify its colors
and other attributes, and you will also want to edit the text contents of your
user agreement, main page body, access plans page, and the "about"
page..
Click on CLICK HERE TO SWITCH TO LANDING PAGE VIEW FOR EDITING.
Here you can setup your theme for the hotspot, the access plans page, the terms of user page, the about this hotspot page, the paypal button settings for the hotspot, etc.. Go through each and every tab and set things to suit your network needs..
In this software package, you will find many prebuilt templates for the hotspot pages, and these are fully customizable inside each landing page on your system. You will find templates for:
APARTMENTS
ASSOCIATIONS
COFFEE SHOPS
RESTAURANTS
MALLS
RESORTS
TROPICAL
AND MANY MORE. THAT IS JUST 1/3 OF THE THEMES IN THERE
These are just a few of the built-in themes you can choose for your hotspot. You can also modify any of these themes colors and other attributes, along with all text that is seen by the end users.
Now go to a laptop and try out a test user or pre-paid ticket to make sure you can successfully log in and out of the system..
Read on below to learn how to setup your network solutions account, (you may have a different domain name provider, and that is fine, but the idea is here), and also make sure you setup your paypal account to get the token out of the website payment preferences so you can add it to the paypal account setup here in the chilliwave dashboard..
Once all of that is done, you will be able to process payments through the wifi network, along with being able to print out pre-paid tickets to be handed out to users if you would like to run some hotspots that way..
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How to install WinSCP, and Putty for use in remotely accessing your server
Now let's install WinSCP and Putty on your WINDOWS MACHINE, so you will have the tools needed to manage your new server with.. They can be found in your own pro-mesh server inside the /var/www/dd-wrt/ directory...
Install both WinSCP and Putty just as you would install any Windows program... During the installation, place a shorcut icon for each program on the desktop so you can access them easily later...
Let's start with Putty... This is a simple terminal window program that will allow you to gain command prompt access to your server and your routers for configuration and management of the overall system.. When you lauch the Putty program you will see the following screen:
To access your pro-mesh server, simply enter the IP address of your server into the "Host Name (or IP address)" field shown above and click on "Open"... Then login with username = "root" and password = "your-root-password", unless you have already changed the password.. Then you the new one instead..
Once logged in to your pro-mesh Server with Putty, you will be sitting at the same command prompt as if you were sitting at the machine itself, and you can access the machine this way from any computer on the internet...
Now let's launch WinSCP and see how to login to the Enchilada Server with it... When WinSCP launches you will see the following screen:
To set this up you just enter the IP address of your pro-mesh server as the Hostname.. Leave port 22 there, which is the default port for ssh, which is what this uses... Username is root... Password is "your-root-password"....
NOTICE THAT I HAVE CHANGED THE SETTING FOR THE PROTOCOL TO "SCP" !!
The protocol MUST be changed to SCP for this to work... Click the Save button to save these settings so you don't have to keep punching this in every time you want to connect to your server...
Once you are logged in to your server with WinSCP, you will find that it is a complete file management system, and is a very convenient way to move files back and forth between your windows machine and your server, and it is also a very good way to edit file on the server, because there is an editor built into WinSCP.. You just right mouse click on any file and select EDIT.. Then save the file and you just modified a file on your server.. This is important, as this is how we will configure the server for connection with paypal later in the tutorial...
Security Note: Once logged in with winscp, you might want to edit the file:
/etc/ssh/sshd_config
( Change the ssh port from 22 to something like 23456... This will stop web bots from finding your server and running brute force ssh attacks on it.. The server generated a new set of ssh keys during installation that are not brute forceable, but this is a good idea anyway.. )
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Set up paypal
NOTICE! IF YOU ARE NOT RUNNING CHILLIWAVE SOFTWARE YOU NEED TO UPGRADE YOUR SYSTEMS ASAP. CONTACT ME AT:
HOW TO SETUP YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT TO RECEIVE PAYMENTS
You should already have a PayPal Account setup, but if you do not, then do so now.. Once you have a PayPal Account, login to that account and click on "Profile".... Once in your profile, click on "Website Payment Preferences".....
Once inside the Website Payment Preferences page, turn on "Auto Return" and enter the appropriate Return URL for your pro-mesh server.. This is the same URL that you just setup with Network Solutions.. Just add the http:// in front and the /confirmation.php on the end... (Note: This URL does not actually get used in a wifi paypal transaction.. Rather, the customer is automatically sent back to /wifi-1.1.1/success.php , so you can use this URL to autoreturn from and entireley different paypal payment page that you might have.. If you have no other paypal payment pages, just set it up the way I show here...)
Next you will turn on "Payment Data Transfer"... The Identity Token will not be displayed for you yet, most likely.. That will happen when you save everything at the bottom of the page after making these changes.. Once you do click save settings, come back and get this Identity token and copy and paste it into a Notepad file or something on your desktop so you can access here shortly, as we continue this tutorial... That token will need to be set into the Enchilada server, and we will cover that further down..
Turn on "PayPal Account Optional, so people can pay with credit cards, and not just PayPal.. Set the other settings I show here also...
Once all of that is done and you have copied your "Identity Token" to a Notepad file in your windows machine, then you can click save settings, apply, and logout from PayPal... That should all be set to go to receive money from the WiFi customers...
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PART 8 : DEPLOY THE NETWORK
Now let's go back to the original network diagram and set things up like the picture show...
You need this setup at your main location where your pro-mesh server will reside, but you can also add unlimited numbers of additional access points and repeaters to this configuration, both inside this LAN and outside the local network out on the internet at large.. Your AP's and Repeaters that are out in the field will phone home and do everything just as if they we on your local LAN... THAT IS THE BEAUTY OF THIS WHOLE THING!!! Your business is now capable of operating in any location, regardless of the location of the server.. They are independent of each other..
Once you are setup like the picture above shows, the final thing we need to do is change your pro-mesh server's network card from DHCP to a Static IP, as this is how you lock the server to one IP address and prepare it to become visible to the internet at large.. This is so the router can forwared all of the correct ports through to your server from the internet and know where to find the server to do so... (Note: Changing your IP address of the server will deactivate the server key you got from us, so you should get the server stabilized on a static ip address within 30 minutes of first booting it up and then activate the server key for the pro-mesh program.)
The ports that get forwarded to the server are as follows:
22, 80, 443, 1812, 1813
Now try accessing the server with your public IP, or your domain name that you setup with network solutions as shown below... If that works then you are finished and ready to test out the system.. If not, then you do not have your port forwards setup correctly yet..
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HOW TO SETUP YOUR NETWORK SOLUTIONS OR OTHER DOMAIN NAME PROVIDER ACCOUNT
If you do not already have one, you will probably want an internet domain name to represent your business and your hotspot on the internet at large... For example: www.wifi-is-great.net
A good place to buy a domain name and have it hosted is Network Solutions.. There are others, so if you have a different name hosting company then just apply this same information to that service...
First login to your Network Solutions account.... Then click on "Manage Domain Names".....
Next Click on "Manage DNS Records" at the bottom of the page, as show below....
Next choose the domain you wish to setup for your hotspot.. Click the checkbox to the left of it and select the "Edit DNS" button... ( You might have more than one, like me...)
Next you will see the following screen come up, which is where you will set your "Web Forwarding" for your domain to point to your IP address.
Click the "Add/Edit" button and setup your domain name and subdomains to be any way you want them to be... Just make sure you assign one of them to be the domain name of the enchilada server... As you can see, I have my main domain name there, and then I have several sub-domains defined, and they can even route to an entirely different IP address...
After you have everything set the way you want it in Network Solutions, click the "GO" button and Save and Apply settings and logout from Network Solutions, as you should be finished with this part now...
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CONCLUSION
This should have your pro-mesh hotspot network up and running.. Don't bother with the paypal sandbox.. Just plug some pennies into it and test it out live, as paypal will take a penny payment and simply absorb the penny for the cost of the transaction.. That way when you see it work, you will know it is ready to go for the real world.. It will only cost a quarter to test it out... I am confident that if you did exactly as I suggest above, the system will work just fine, right from the first try..
Good luck with your new business and be sure and join us in the forum so we can help each other as we go.. That is where you will find most of the information on this software..
http://www.pro-mesh.net/forum/
Take care, and I hope you enjoy the software and what it can do for your business...
Chuck DeJarnett ; chuckdejarnett@gmail.com
www.chilliwave.com