Shared Internet / WIFI useage

[cindywelburn55]

We own a small camprgrounds in a rural area , I have around 15 campers begging for Internet and WIFI. I have contacted Hughes net and it is available  I just dont know how to set this up.  We stay in a cottage for 6 months of the year ( At the camp ) Which is where I will set up the Internet service and a WIFI router ( password protected ) My concern is how do I control the amt of usage they use? What if one of them starts streaming Netflex or starts downloading heavily...and that puts the expense back to me P.S. we will be using a business acct. I also have Hughes net at our home for the last six years and have been satisfied with their service.

[BirdDog]

Personal opinion, no way will you be able to control 15 people using a single HughesNet connection. Will constantly be over allowance. Plus if even 5 are using it at the same time the speed will be almost like dial-up.

About the only possible way is setup a Guest account in the router and only let one or two people use it at a time. Even then it is going to be a nightmare to not go over allowance every month.

[Amanda]

Hi Cindy

Welcome to our community. If HughesOn (http://business.hughes.com/solutions/network-solutions/hugheson-wifi) service doesn't sound like something you need, you can do something similar to what BirdDog is suggesting. There are ways to set up your router to turn off at certain hours, bandwidth limits, limit the amount of connected devices, etc... This does take a lot of work but could be tacked on to campground fees ($2 per guest pass?) to help alleviate data issues and maybe get the largest package.

Thanks
Amanda

[Mordacious]

I agree with BirdDog, in fact, I would go so far as to say there is no way on earth your would be able to find a plan that would supply you with the data you would need (business accounts are much different from residential accounts) for this and the speed would be absolutely unbearably slow. Controlling the amount of data used by each individual would be possible with some routers but even with a 50/50 plan I think you would be constantly going over your allowance and purchasing expensive tokens. Each user would probably have to pay 1/4 of your regular monthly fee to ake it financially viable. My best advice.... DON'T DO IT!

[cindywelburn55]

Thank you all for taking time out of your busy day.....It does sound like a nightmare to me....but I am losing a lot of business due to the fact that a few of campers ( due to their jobs have to have at least e-mail service ) I have another ?  What if... I use a smaller rental cabin next to ours and set-up a system where just one or 2 people come in and use the WIFI at a time...any ideas??

[Amanda]

Hi Cindy

That sounds pretty neat - like a "Business Center"? You could even put a net nanny on the computers to block websites like Netflix or Hulu and keep it professional !

Amanda

[El Dorado Netwo]

Cindy,

You can get your guests Internet service with HughesNet but you'll need some technical help from someone who can setup and configure a wireless router with Gargoyle firmware.

The Gargoyle firmware adds features to a standard router that will enable you to set limits on how much data each person can use, when they can use it, and on what types of activities they can use (blocking torrent files, movies, audio streaming, etc).

Gargoyle also allows you to set an overall daily data limit so you will not use all your data before the end of the month. If the daily limit is reached, the router can be set to throttle back speeds to everyone so at least they will have basic Internet til the next day.

It may not be a perfect solution (what is?) but it can and will work for you.

[Gwalk900]

One point worth making I think is that if someone was to try to use VPN to communicate with work or whatever ... speeds will plummet drastically if they can connect at all.

VPN is not a supported function. The high latency inherent to a sat connection among other things makes it nearly unusable.

[El Dorado Netwo]

I "think" VPNs can be blocked as well.

The VPN connection will be slow only for the individual user, and not affect everyone else.

[El Dorado Netwo]

Find a local HughesNet Authorized Retailer and ask him/her about Installation and router options.

A local Retailer can give you a better deal than you'll ever find online, or even directly from HughesNet:

http://www.hughesnet.com/dealers