What you need: internet, MikroTik and access points

You need three things. You may already have them.

#1. An internet line

Fibre, a fixed wireless link or a business broadband plan all work. Mobile hotspots and consumer 4G routers can work for small spaces but are less reliable.

As a rough guide for a café or lounge, allow 1–2 Mbps per person online at the same time. Twenty people browsing and messaging need about 20–40 Mbps. Streaming and video calls need more. Plans in Wispot can cap each customer's speed, so one person cannot slow everyone down.

#2. A MikroTik router (the gateway)

Wispot works with MikroTik routers running RouterOS 7. We test on the L009UiGS series, which suits most single locations. Larger sites can use any RouterOS 7 model with enough ports and CPU for the number of people.

The router becomes the gateway: every guest device goes through it. It checks with Wispot whether each device has paid, enforces time, data and speed limits, and reports usage.

#3. Access points

The Wi-Fi access points you already have usually work. Connect them behind the MikroTik (to its LAN ports or a switch on its LAN side), so all guest traffic passes through it. Set them to access point or bridge mode, not router mode.

#Starting from scratch?

A typical small setup is one MikroTik L009, one or two ceiling or wall access points, and a small switch if you need more ports. Talk to us if you want advice for your space, or ask us to set it up for you.