Client Access to the Hotspot

This section describes the Hotspot user interface, the one seen by the clients when they connect via wireless to the hotspot. The portal appearance and settings can be customised by the hotspot administrator under Menubar ‣ Hotspot ‣ Administration interface ‣ Settings

Note

With the introduction of the Hotspot Social Login before users of mobile devices are allowed to connect to the Internet using e-mail clients or other apps, they are required to connect to the hotspot and authenticate therein.

Before being able to surf the Internet, a user is required to access and log in to the hotspot. For this purpose, no software installation is necessary, since it suffices to run a browser and try to open any web page: The browser will be redirect to the hotspot’s portal in which the user can login, register a new hotspot account or directly login and surf the Internet. The hotspot can serve to the client different type of portals, hence the client will see, depending on the device used, the portal for mobile devices, the one for browsers without JavaScript, or a generic one for all other types of device.

Note

Since version 2.5, the user is not required to authenticate, if the hotspot is configured in user-less mode.

The login page is composed of two sections: On the left it is possible to choose the language of the interface from a drop-down menu and read an informative message. The section on the right is the login form, in which the user can proceed to login, register a new account, or buy a new ticket.

There are two versions for the login form: One for guest access, and one for registered user access. The former only works when ASA is running on the hotspot and encompasses the following options:

Not a guest

By clicking on this button, the login form for the registered user is shown, whose options are shown far below.

Last name

The last name of the guest

First name

The first name of the guest.

Date of birth

The guest’s date of birth, in the form DD.MM.YYYY. (Example: 5th of February 1980 becomes 05.02.1980).

Login

After providing the required information, a click on this button will allow the access to the hotspot.

The login form for the registered users shows the following options.

Log in with Google+

Click on this button to use the credentials of an existing Google account to access the hotspot. A pop up window will appear, in which to insert username and password and carry out the authentication.

New in version 3.0.5-YYYYMM.

Log in with Facebook

Click on this button to use the credentials of an existing Facebook account to access the hotspot. A pop up window will appear, in which to insert username and password and carry out the authentication

New in version 3.0.5-YYYYMM.

Note

The use of Google and Facebook account’s credentials can be configured in the Hotspot Social Login under Menubar ‣ Hotspot ‣ Administration Interface ‣ Settings.

Username

The username of the user.

Passwords

The password of the user.

Register new account

Non-registered users can create a new account to surf the Internet. This is only allowed when SmartConnect™ is running on the hotspot. The procedure for the new account setup can be found below.

Add ticket

The user can buy a ticket, which is a mandatory requirement for accessing the hotspot. This option is also available when SmartConnect™ is activated.

Login

After providing the login credentials, a click on this button will allow the access to the hotspot.

When the hotspot is configured to accept the Terms of Service, after clicking on the Login button on either case, a window will open, with one button on the window’s underside:

I accept the terms of service

By clicking on this link, a window will open that shows the terms of service.

Register new account

Upon clicking on the new Register new account button, a four steps wizard will open, in which to set up and activate a new hotspot account. In the first step the user account is created, for whose successful creation the following mandatory data are required:

First name, Last Name

The name and surname of the user.

Street, Postal code, City, Country

The address, ZIP code, city, and Country where the user lives in.

Phonenumber to receive the username and password

The country code of the user’s phone number, chosen among those available in the drop-down menu, followed by the user’s actual phone number.

Confirm Phonenumber

Re-enter the phone number as confirmation.

It is also necessary to tick the checkbox next to the I accept the terms of service link for the account to be created. Clicking on the link will open a window with the terms of service, that can be read before accepting.

When all the data have been supplied, a click on the Register button on the bottom right of the form will lead to the second step. After registering, a SMS with the username and password will be sent, that will authorise the login to the hotspot.

In step two a ticket can be selected from a drop-down menu that will be associated to the account, and will grant the use of the hotspot to access the Internet. Depending on the hotspot setup, the choice can be only among free tickets or also among prepaid or postpaid tickets. For each available ticket, its name, duration, and cost are displayed. For this option to work, SmartConnect™ must be activated on the hotspot, and payments via PayPal should be set up.

After the selection of a ticket, click on the Continue button to proceed to step three.

Note

While there is no limit in the purchase of prepaid and postpaid tickets, it is not allowed to have time-based and traffic-based ticket at the same time. In other words, a client possessing one or more valid time-based ticket, cannot buy any traffic-based ticket until all the valid time-based tickets associated with the account have been consumed or expired. The same applies to traffic-based tickets: All of them must be used or expired before being allowed to purchase a time-based ticket.

In step three, choosing a ticket which requires payment, will redirect to the PayPal website where to provide the necessary data for the transaction and complete the purchase of the ticket using a credit card or an own PayPal account. Otherwise, if a free ticket has been selected, this step will be simply skipped and the process continues to step four.

In step four appears a message that informs of the successful registration or, if some part of the registration process were not successful, an error message will be displayed. In any case, also the transaction ID string will be reported. The transaction ID should be written down for future references or used in case of any problem has arisen during the registration process or if some issue will happen during the connection. In the former case, quickly contact an hotspot administrator to complete the registration and obtain the login credentials.

Login

When logging in after providing username and password, an informative panel on the page will display various details about the connection status. This page must remain open: If closed, the session will be immediately ended and a new log in to access the hotspot must be made. The following information are shown on the page:

Remaining time

The total time still to consume. The unlimited string appears when using a traffic-based ticket.

Session time

The duration of the current session.

Remaining traffic

The amount in Mb of Gb of the traffic available for the current ticket. The unlimited string appears when using a time-based ticket.

Session traffic

How much data have been exchanged while browsing. A total amount is given, as well as the amounts of downloaded and uploaded data within bracket.

Idle timeout

A countdown that shows the device’s idle time, i.e., the time since the last activity between the device and the hotspot. When the countdown reaches 0, the device will automatically be disconnected.

Session start time

The timestamp of the session’s starting time.

Disable automatic login

When the checkbox is ticked, the user will need to authenticate upon reconnection, regardless of the Smartlogin settings. Otherwise, when the checkbox is not ticked, there is no need for the user to authenticate upon reconnecting to the hotspot.

Note

This option only appears if the SmartLogin functionality has been enabled by the Hotspot administrator.

On the bottom of the panel two buttons appear.

Start browsing

By clicking on this button, located on the left-hand side, a new tab will open in the browser, that leads to the hotspot’s home page.

Logout

Clicking on this button immediately logs out from the hotspot.

Add ticket

Before accessing the hotspot and the Internet, the user must own a valid ticket. The procedure to purchase a ticket is the same as the one described in step two and step three of the registration process.