This page is for managers who already run a MikroTik hotspot and already sell access. You are not opening a zone: you are operating one. WiNet attaches to what is already there instead of reinstalling everything — and you decide how far it goes.
A zone that has been running for months represents real work: an antenna placed in the right spot, a cable pulled neatly, a network name the whole neighbourhood knows by heart. There is no reason to redo that work just to add selling.
SSID your customers know does not have to change: nobody has to hunt for a new network in their list.They lead to the same place. The first has you declare the device, the second asks nothing of you at the start and lets you choose afterwards.
You enter its details in the app. The device opens a tunnel to WiNet itself, and WiNet checks through that tunnel that the hotspot answers — never by calling in directly from the Internet, and with no port opened on your box. If the check passes, the zone switches to "Online".
The router's age is not an obstacle: if it does not know WireGuard — a RouterOS 6, say — the tunnel is established over TCP on port 443, including behind a carrier-shared connection (CGNAT).
A universal connection script is run on the router; it reads its own serial number and installs only what is needed for remote management. Your Wi-Fi configuration and your hotspot stay in place.
You then choose, from the router's page in the app, what WiNet should do: only monitor, or configure the whole zone (Wi-Fi, hotspot, captive portal) as it would for a brand-new router. Until you decide, nothing changes for your customers.
That is the moment the zone becomes a full WiNet zone: your existing bundles have already been read back from the router — all that is left is to adjust them —, new ones are pushed to the device, and the portal starts selling. It is also from then on that the real code expiry and the device lock described below take effect.
The router may reboot during the operation. As with any work on a zone that is selling, avoid the busy period: a Saturday evening is not the right moment.
When you run a hotspot yourself, three questions always come up in the end: does a code really stop working when it runs out, does one code serve only one person, and will my codes suddenly look different overnight? Here are WiNet's answers, as they work today.
You give a bundle a calendar validity — "valid for 7 days". The countdown starts when the customer connects for the first time, not when they pay. A voucher bought on Monday and scratched on Wednesday gives its seven days from Wednesday.
The code is deleted, the running session is cut, and the small file that let the phone reconnect without retyping the code is wiped. The customer has to buy again, exactly as agreed on the day of the sale.
The rule is enforced by the equipment itself. On the day your operator link goes down, you stop selling for as long as the outage lasts — the portal needs the Internet to take payment — but no expired code becomes usable again in the meantime.
On the first connection, the code binds to the device using it. After that it no longer works anywhere else: a customer who passes it to five neighbours gives them nothing. Tell the customer before the sale: if they switch phones mid-bundle, the code will not follow them.
By default, short codes with no 0 or o, no 1, l or i: the characters that get confused in print are left out. You generate up to a hundred vouchers at once, on a printable sheet, and each one carries the zone name and the bundle name exactly as you wrote it.
That format is a default, not a constraint. You set the code length, its character set — letters and digits, or digits only if your customers type on a number pad — and the choice between a single code or a separate username and password. The day you move your sales to WiNet, your regulars get a code that looks just like the old one.
When you cut a customer's session from the app, the device does not come back online by itself a second later: the session and the automatic reconnection are removed together.
As long as a code has never been used, its countdown has not started. A sheet printed for a neighbourhood party and only half sold keeps for the following month.
The setting only applies to vouchers generated afterwards: the codes already printed in your drawer keep working as they are. One safeguard: WiNet refuses settings that are too weak, because a code that is too short can be guessed — anyone connected to the zone's WiFi can try them one by one. The minimum length depends on the character set you pick, and the app tells you the value to use as you set it.
Five things to check before you start. They prevent almost every failed attachment.
| To check | Why |
|---|---|
| It is a MikroTik running RouterOS | That is the only hardware family supported. A router from another brand cannot be attached. |
| You control it | Administrator access to the router is required. If the original installer left with the password, sort that out first. |
| The site's Internet connection is up | That is how the router reaches WiNet to open its tunnel. |
| You have the zone details | The device serial number, the network name (SSID) and the WiFi key: enough to fill in the form without hunting for a scrap of paper. |
| You have picked a quiet hour | The router may reboot during the operation, and a zone that is rebooting is a zone that is not selling. |
Better said before you attach your router: if one of these points is essential to the way you work, it is better to know now than after the operation.
If your needs fall outside these limits, write to us and describe your install: we will tell you frankly whether WiNet is the right tool for you today.
The day you move your sales to the portal, your regulars go from a code you handed over in person to a page that opens by itself. The code itself keeps the format you set: it is the page that changes, not what they type into it. A small notice at the counter and two sentences of explanation save you a day of questions.
Open a field visit on the zone: a technician vetted by WiNet travels to the site and gives you a written report. The job is settled by debiting the zone balance, never by a payment inside the app.
Four useful pages, before and after you attach your router.
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The WiNet app is not on Google Play yet, and the iPhone version is in the works. Message us on WhatsApp ([email protected]) and we will tell you the day it goes live. In the meantime, the app already runs in your browser.