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ragmondo (OP)
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August 19, 2013, 03:02:55 PM |
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Hi all,
I have completed a working prototype of a Bitcoin enabled Wifi Hotspot running on a Raspberry Pi. I will upload a video in hopefully the next 5-7 days once I've made the web pages a little bit prettier.
Anyway, here's what it does :
1) creates an open SSID called "BitcoinWifi". Allows any connection to a bitcoin node on port 8333 (thus enabling easier wifi payments).
2) any webpage gets redirected to a payment page on which the user can pay an administrator - adjustable fee for access ( so far just 1hr or 24hr but these are just initial timeslots).
3) upon payment (there is a bitcoin formatted URI on the payment page above which should enable *most* bitcoin smartphone wallets to go directly to their payment mechanism), the redirect is disabled and full internet access is allowed. The wired subnet that the router is on is blocked *apart* from the actual "real" router for internet access (so users will not be able to access anything on your network).
4) after the time period, the restriction is automatically started again.
The device is zero config to get running. Just plug into a 5v usb micro and ethernet into your router. To extract the bitcoins, you'll need to login as an administrator (password will be included in the package), and just go to an admin page and put in an address to which the bitcoin balance will be forwarded.
I am going to be marketing it shortly (as mentioned, just need to tidy up the webpages as they look awful - I'm a developer first and foremost!).
I will be selling the device as a Rasp Pi + WiFi USB + SD Card for probably about 1 btc to start with (which is pretty much the sum of the parts) once I have a demo online (I am tempted to put up a pre-order page but I know how much you all love those - "shipping in two weeks" (tm) promises). However, I am collecting names, contact details of interested parties now.
Feel free to get in touch with me via this post or PM and we can exchange email addresses.
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The Bitcoin software, network, and concept is called "Bitcoin" with a capitalized "B". Bitcoin currency units are called "bitcoins" with a lowercase "b" -- this is often abbreviated BTC.
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Elwar
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Viva Ut Vivas
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August 19, 2013, 04:02:29 PM |
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Quite cool. Have you thought of a way to create a wifi bridge that is funded (and funds) with Bitcoin? The implication being enough of those could create a completely wireless mesh network funded with Bitcoin  |
First seastead company actually selling sea homes: Ocean Builders https://ocean.builders Of course we accept bitcoin. |
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peonminer
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August 19, 2013, 04:26:25 PM |
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Will you be selling these?  |
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ragmondo (OP)
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August 19, 2013, 05:04:37 PM |
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When in a reasonable state, yes. For about the sum of the parts (ie so it should be the same price as a rasp pi, wifi + sd card) , with perhaps a very small markup for the support.
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MoonShadow
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August 19, 2013, 07:27:30 PM |
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Quite cool. Have you thought of a way to create a wifi bridge that is funded (and funds) with Bitcoin? The implication being enough of those could create a completely wireless mesh network funded with Bitcoin Hmm, I don't think that you quite understand what a wifi bridge actually is. It is not a mesh node. Still, it's an interesting idea. Wifi sucks for mesh work, though. |
"The powers of financial capitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the systems was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world's central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank...sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world."
- Carroll Quigley, CFR member, mentor to Bill Clinton, from 'Tragedy And Hope'
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nimda
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August 19, 2013, 08:53:56 PM |
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Maybe enable access to blockchain.info, mtgox, coinbase, Inputs, et al for those users who don't run full Bitcoin nodes.
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TitanBTC
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August 19, 2013, 09:35:12 PM |
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I'm interested. There are some raspberry pi clones out there that are integrating a wi-fi chip and on board memory that could make this much cheaper. Any reason this couldn't accept dollars via paypal or similar, as well?
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Kris
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August 19, 2013, 09:36:48 PM |
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Maybe enable access to blockchain.info, mtgox, coinbase, Inputs, et al for those users who don't run full Bitcoin nodes.
Yes, this is part of what I forwarded to OP, the possibility of accessing your "hosted wallet". However there is also the security element to this, since the operator of a "BitcoinWifi" access point could be shady. So there might need to be some way of knowing you connected to a authentic non modified "BitcoinWifi" spot. I am thinking checksum md5 on a locked firmware, or something. Very exciting project though. |
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qwk
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Shitcoin Minimalist
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August 19, 2013, 10:10:33 PM |
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How many packets per second will a pi route?
From professional experience, I can tell you that the average routing hardware (typical OpenWrt routers) will not be sufficient to actually handle the load from only a few dozen users sharing a simple DSL connection.
I've resorted to mikrotik hardware for that reason. You might want to have a look at their stuff, just a suggestion.
Edit: also, maybe if you just setup the pi as a RADIUS server, you could enable bitcoin payments for practically all the generic hotspot solutions on the market.
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Yeah, well, I'm gonna go build my own blockchain. With blackjack and hookers! In fact forget the blockchain.
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nimda
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August 19, 2013, 10:28:15 PM |
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Maybe enable access to blockchain.info, mtgox, coinbase, Inputs, et al for those users who don't run full Bitcoin nodes.
Yes, this is part of what I forwarded to OP, the possibility of accessing your "hosted wallet". However there is also the security element to this, since the operator of a "BitcoinWifi" access point could be shady. So there might need to be some way of knowing you connected to a authentic non modified "BitcoinWifi" spot. I am thinking checksum md5 on a locked firmware, or something. Very exciting project though. In the case of blockchain.info, even the hotspot operator can't steal your coins. Also, I think https (hardened against BREACH) should be sufficient, yes? |
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WinVery.com
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August 20, 2013, 04:55:23 AM |
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I couldn't even operate on a Raspberry PI.
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ragmondo (OP)
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August 20, 2013, 07:59:39 AM |
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How many packets per second will a pi route?
From professional experience, I can tell you that the average routing hardware (typical OpenWrt routers) will not be sufficient to actually handle the load from only a few dozen users sharing a simple DSL connection.
I've resorted to mikrotik hardware for that reason. You might want to have a look at their stuff, just a suggestion.
Edit: also, maybe if you just setup the pi as a RADIUS server, you could enable bitcoin payments for practically all the generic hotspot solutions on the market.
Not sure what the limit is right now. Will be testing with maybe 5-10 users shortly but .... if it's that busy then I would state that is a sign of success and therefore we can dedicate more time into making a more efficient hotspot. |
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ragmondo (OP)
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August 20, 2013, 08:00:29 AM |
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Maybe enable access to blockchain.info, mtgox, coinbase, Inputs, et al for those users who don't run full Bitcoin nodes.
Yes the idea is to have a white list maintained by the owner so they can add their own store site, web site etc etc (as well as having many bitcoin related sites as well). |
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crazy_rabbit
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RUM AND CARROTS: A PIRATE LIFE FOR ME
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August 20, 2013, 08:09:20 AM |
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It would be nice if it were to run a full Bitcoin node at the same time, to support the network. I'm totally interested in one! I was thinking of something similar myself, but would rather buy it from you. Although to be honest- why not open source it? There isn't an enormous amount of money to be made on it, while on the flip side you would be doing a great service for bitcoin. None the less I would be interested!
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more or less retired.
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MoonShadow
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August 20, 2013, 06:02:14 PM |
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It would be nice if it were to run a full Bitcoin node at the same time, to support the network. I'm totally interested in one! I was thinking of something similar myself, but would rather buy it from you. Although to be honest- why not open source it? There isn't an enormous amount of money to be made on it, while on the flip side you would be doing a great service for bitcoin. None the less I would be interested!
If, by "full" you mean one that can mine/hash, it's not worthwhile. |
"The powers of financial capitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the systems was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world's central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank...sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world."
- Carroll Quigley, CFR member, mentor to Bill Clinton, from 'Tragedy And Hope'
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MoonShadow
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August 20, 2013, 06:04:26 PM |
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How many packets per second will a pi route?
From professional experience, I can tell you that the average routing hardware (typical OpenWrt routers) will not be sufficient to actually handle the load from only a few dozen users sharing a simple DSL connection.
I've resorted to mikrotik hardware for that reason. You might want to have a look at their stuff, just a suggestion.
Edit: also, maybe if you just setup the pi as a RADIUS server, you could enable bitcoin payments for practically all the generic hotspot solutions on the market.
Not sure what the limit is right now. Will be testing with maybe 5-10 users shortly but .... if it's that busy then I would state that is a sign of success and therefore we can dedicate more time into making a more efficient hotspot. Guys, if you think that he's doing it wrong, then do it yourself. Otherwise leave him be to make his own discoveries. |
"The powers of financial capitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the systems was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world's central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank...sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world."
- Carroll Quigley, CFR member, mentor to Bill Clinton, from 'Tragedy And Hope'
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qwk
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Shitcoin Minimalist
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August 20, 2013, 08:32:45 PM |
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How many packets per second will a pi route?
From professional experience, I can tell you that the average routing hardware (typical OpenWrt routers) will not be sufficient to actually handle the load from only a few dozen users sharing a simple DSL connection.
I've resorted to mikrotik hardware for that reason. You might want to have a look at their stuff, just a suggestion.
Edit: also, maybe if you just setup the pi as a RADIUS server, you could enable bitcoin payments for practically all the generic hotspot solutions on the market.
Not sure what the limit is right now. Will be testing with maybe 5-10 users shortly but .... if it's that busy then I would state that is a sign of success and therefore we can dedicate more time into making a more efficient hotspot. Guys, if you think that he's doing it wrong, then do it yourself. Otherwise leave him be to make his own discoveries. I'm not saying he does it wrong. Just giving advice from a few years' practical experience with hotspot solutions in hotel environments. The longer I think about it, I'd absolutely suggest a bitcoin RADIUS server. That would scale very well with OpenWrt access points and whatever DSL router you might wana use. Could probably become a top-seller when it's combined with a small display, thermal printer and a few buttons to produce hotspot tickets as well. Edited because I f***ed up the quotes. |
Yeah, well, I'm gonna go build my own blockchain. With blackjack and hookers! In fact forget the blockchain.
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crazy_rabbit
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RUM AND CARROTS: A PIRATE LIFE FOR ME
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August 20, 2013, 09:49:19 PM |
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It would be nice if it were to run a full Bitcoin node at the same time, to support the network. I'm totally interested in one! I was thinking of something similar myself, but would rather buy it from you. Although to be honest- why not open source it? There isn't an enormous amount of money to be made on it, while on the flip side you would be doing a great service for bitcoin. None the less I would be interested!
If, by "full" you mean one that can mine/hash, it's not worthwhile. No, a full node does not mine. |
more or less retired.
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P_Shep
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This is not OK.
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August 20, 2013, 09:51:20 PM |
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Maybe enable access to blockchain.info, mtgox, coinbase, Inputs, et al for those users who don't run full Bitcoin nodes.
Yes, this is part of what I forwarded to OP, the possibility of accessing your "hosted wallet". However there is also the security element to this, since the operator of a "BitcoinWifi" access point could be shady. So there might need to be some way of knowing you connected to a authentic non modified "BitcoinWifi" spot. I am thinking checksum md5 on a locked firmware, or something. Very exciting project though. The green 'https://' in the address bar will tell you if your connected securely. Don't need to worry about that. |
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MoonShadow
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August 20, 2013, 10:44:30 PM |
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It would be nice if it were to run a full Bitcoin node at the same time, to support the network. I'm totally interested in one! I was thinking of something similar myself, but would rather buy it from you. Although to be honest- why not open source it? There isn't an enormous amount of money to be made on it, while on the flip side you would be doing a great service for bitcoin. None the less I would be interested!
If, by "full" you mean one that can mine/hash, it's not worthwhile. No, a full node does not mine. A local copy of the blockchain isn't particularly useful, either. We are well past the point of diminishing returns on the 'multiple copies keeps data safe' method. |
"The powers of financial capitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the systems was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world's central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank...sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world."
- Carroll Quigley, CFR member, mentor to Bill Clinton, from 'Tragedy And Hope'
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