Wireless internet control

Well, when a client machine connects to the wireless network, and they get an IP address, the MAC address for their wireless network card will be recorded by the DHCP server, which then gives the IP.
So, that is one way to reference the user and track their use, by the MAC address.

The solution entirely depends on how much admin intervention you want to do, and also to a degree on if your customer has their own Wireless card or requires one from you. A good solution will seperate the Customer WLAN from the business LAN. Also if you will be using a DHCP WLAN then the solution is slightly different to a Fixed IP WLAN. A simple admin solution is to use a firewall that allows filtering of outbound traffic by MAC address, the symantec Firewall/VPN Appliance box is good for this. Simply use the inbuilt DHCP server to issue IP addresses, record the customers MAC address and add this to a group on the firewall that is allowed outbound access. At the end of each day simply remove the mac addresses of customers who have not paid. This is a manual admin solution however is cheap and quick. Install your firewall and plug your wireless access points into this, give each WAP a fixed IP so for example 192.168.0.1 is the firewall, 192.168.0.2 - 20 is the WAPS, 192.168.0.20 - 254 are DHCP addresses. This doesnt stop people connecting to your network but it does stop unauthorised systems using your internet connection. A more secure and less admin heavy solutions are about however the price does go up relevant to the automation.

One thing's for sure - virtually everyone uses "low-tech" for this. They charge a daily rate, not on a per-usage basis: the authentication mechanisms to deliver this functionality are client O/S and application-specific, meaning that generic Wi-Fi users can't inter-operate.

One other point of note when using WLAN in marinas; 802.11b (the most widely used standard) operates in the 2.4GHz band - the same as microwave. As you may know, microwaves are absorbed by water (this allows your microwave oven to work). What is there rarely a short supply of in marinas...? This is particularly important when, for instance, clients have their laptop down inside the boat - potentially below the water-line - and wonder why they get no coverage, even with the relatively high gain omni-antennas (with downtilt) which you would likely need for this environment.

Hope this helps,
Paul Lewis (CCDA, Cisco WLAN Design Specialist)

There are a few simple solutions for you which may benefit you. I currenty work for a hotel that is in the middle installing a wireless system. Depending on what kind of revenue you are looking to get out of this there are many place to try. In your marina situation you may want to go with one of them to actualy come out and do a site survy. Please email me and I will go into more depth about your options and what I have found out in researching them.

Sean

Try here:

http://cafesuite.net

Remember no spaces after copy and paste

Lee