The increasing number of traveling workers and mobile users, coupled with the market demands to facilitate customers with more value-added services in today's competitive business world, are driving the trend toward wireless Internet access in public locations – whether in coffee shops, bookstores, hotel lobbies, convention centers or airport terminals. The 4ipnet WHG101 Wireless Hotspot Gateway with built-in access point is designed to provide an easy-to-use, all-in-one solution for secure, manageable, and high-speed wireless Internet access.
The dual-mode 802.11b/g WHG101 can immediately achieve compatibility with existing network configurations, and furthermore, hotspot operators can add additional switches and access points to expand wireless coverage based on their deployment requirements. The WHG101 integrates "secure access control","visitor account provisioning", and "high-speed secure wireless connection" into one box to fulfill the needs demanded by a public wireless network.
Besides providing a public wireless network for wireless users through 802.11b/g wireless connectivity, the WHG101 takes advantage of creating separated networks with its two integrated public and private ports. Through the public port, it creates a public LAN network to allow both wired and wireless clients to access either a free or pre/post-paid broadband Internet connection. The WHG101 allows customers to obtain and pay for Internet service online using their credit cards or PayPal accounts from a Web Interface which automatically will show on their laptops or PDAs while opening a browser. Through the private port, business owners can be assured their confidential information stays secured from public access.
The WHG101 manages up to 500 user accounts in its built-in database and supports up to 50 online concurrent users. When it comes to hotspot owners taking full control over the hotspot service, the WHG101 provides user-friendly, web-based management interface – easy to reconfigure feature settings when needed. Other handy features include user bandwidth control, customizable billing plans, customizable login/logout web pages, real-time traffic monitoring, and URL redirection. The WHG101 also supports NAT IP Plug & Play (IP PnP) so that network-ready computers can connect to the Internet without needing to change their static IP configurations.
To block unauthorized users from reaching the public hotspot service, the WHG101 supports Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) to ensure only authorized users have rights to Internet access. For securing the private network, the integrated DHCP server and firewall with Denial of Service (DoS) protection safeguard the network from malicious attacks and intruding hackers. For deploying larger-scale hotspot networks, the WHG101 simultaneously supports multiple user authentication methods such as RADIUS and NT Domain, which comes handy to manage internal user accounts.
