Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Cheap SSL Certificates

I'm posting this here more for reference sake then for blatent advertising.

http://www.ssl-certificates.com.au

Certificates start from $32.00 AUD and are the real thing - a root signed (Equifax Secure Corp) 128bit certificate. I'm not sure if its an anomaly, but the certificates show up as 256bit under firefox, which makes sense since IE only handles up to 128bit, so maybe they are 256bit certs?

Validation is easy, automated phone and e-mail as specified in their FAQ. Payment is via PayPal or 2CO, I only used the PayPal method with a credit card.

The ordering process is a bit 'all over the place', but its streamlined and not difficult to grasp. If it worries you then you can get a FreeSSL certificate that lasts 30days and try it out - the process is identical minus the payment process. Plus when you update a FreeSSL certificate to a paid one, you get a few months bonus.

I didn't get paid to write this, I'm simply a happy customer.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

More on the hotspot revamp

Well I have arrived at a point where I am satisfied that the hotspot backend. I will begin work on the administration and support interface while preparing to roll out the new sites.

Feature List:
ModPerl compatible - works with ModPerl::Registry.
Works with multiple Databases - SQL is multi-db compliant, well, it can be quite easily adapted
Data and Time tracking - tracks and charges for both time and data
Flexible payment gateway interface - I reference a payment proxy via https get/post
Only single host required - run multiple instances on a single virtual host

It only works with Mikrotik RouterOS (versions 2.8 and 2.9). I will develop another version that works with the Colubris MSC3200 series access controllers later on - but RouterOS + WRAP is far cheaper and considerably more flexible...

I have established the Marinanet variant of it and its looking the part - simple interface and quick pay and go subscriber process should make this quite the hit among our existing users.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Hotspots for Caravan Parks

As I have mentioned earlier, I have been working on a new hotspot system for our hotspots. This system will be initially used in the five caravan parks operated by the Maroochy Shire Council.

I have completed most of what needs to be done for the backend and router configuration. The only components left to do are receipt generation and account clean up (removing unused or old accounts). The roll out should proceed on time at the end of this month.

I will let the system run for a few months before I establish it as stable, during this time I will probably run a few tweaks etc. I need to sort out a few things with paths and file locations that I'm sure are well covered in the land of perl.

Once stable I will personally take it on to push the product into the Queensland road tourism market. Aiming mainly at the caravan parks that attract tourists and other temporary visitors. I may even try implementing the system at camping grounds - solar power and satellite?

If you are interested in this sort of system, feel free to contact me.


Maroochy hotspot prices page