Wi-Fi Hotspot Advertising & Guest Monetization: Turn Guest Access Into Revenue
Use targeted captive-portal banners, mandatory video campaigns, direct customer offers and paid vouchers to build a measurable Wi-Fi revenue channel.
Use targeted captive-portal banners, mandatory video campaigns, direct customer offers and paid vouchers to build a measurable Wi-Fi revenue channel.
Your captive portal can do more than authenticate
A public Wi-Fi login is a moment of attention: the guest has chosen the network and is already completing an access step. ISPbills turns that moment into controlled advertising inventory without separating it from Hotspot identity, RADIUS access, paid vouchers or the operator’s existing workflow.
The existing captive-portal form, account checks, suspension rules and required mobile verification stay in place. After those checks, a Group Administrator can place a banner, full-screen interstitial, video or sandboxed external HTML creative immediately before RouterOS grants internet access, target it to the right venue or audience, require a verified amount of video playback and then measure impressions, completions and clicks. Paid internet vouchers remain part of the same Hotspot workspace.
Target
Choose routers, Hotspot packages, individual customers, device types and portal languages.
Enforce
Require visible, normal-speed video playback for a specific number of seconds before login continues.
Monetize
Sell sponsorship, completed views, clicks, package upgrades or prepaid voucher access.
Measure
Follow reach, completion, click-through, audience mix and campaign readiness from a visual dashboard.
What the module includes
- Four creative formats: image banner, text-led interstitial, MP4/WebM video and isolated external HTML/embed code.
- Focused management pages: dashboard, advertisements, campaign creation, settings, paid vouchers, logs and login template.
- Safe media delivery: private uploads up to 50 MB or direct HTTP/HTTPS media URLs.
- Automatic external access: exact media, destination and embed dependency hosts are reconciled into MikroTik Walled Garden rules without changing manual entries.
- Precise audience rules: all guests, selected Hotspot packages or selected customers, with router, device, language and schedule filters.
- Direct customer delivery: selected-user campaigns receive audience priority on the customer’s next eligible Hotspot login.
- Mandatory video watch time: page time is not enough; verified media progress must reach the configured requirement.
- Frequency controls: use a general campaign cooldown or a forced rewatch interval for an individual mandatory video.
- Anonymous operational analytics: readable MAC and visitor addresses are not stored in campaign statistics.
Configure it in five steps
- Prepare Hotspot access. Confirm the MikroTik Hotspot Server, ISPbills router record, captive portal, RADIUS flow and Walled Garden already work.
- Enable delivery. Open Hotspot → Monetization Settings, enable guest monetization, switch between the live Spotlight, Split and Minimal previews, then set a sensible frequency cap.
- Create the offer. Add the headline, message, creative, optional call-to-action URL, active dates and campaign priority.
- Select the audience. Choose all guests, one or more Hotspot packages, or exact customers, then narrow by router, device and English/Bangla portal language.
- Test before activation. Keep the campaign in Draft until a matching and non-matching login behave correctly on a real phone.
External creatives load without opening the whole internet
When a campaign uses a remote image, video, destination or HTML embed, ISPbills extracts its exact HTTP/HTTPS hostnames and queues MikroTik Walled Garden reconciliation for only the routers targeted by that campaign. If no router is selected, the rules apply across the ISP group. Pausing, retargeting or deleting the campaign removes stale ISPbills-managed advertising rules while leaving every manual rule untouched.
Third-party scripts sometimes load a dependency that is not written directly in the embed code. The campaign form accepts those exact additional hostnames. Wildcards and credential-bearing URLs are rejected, synchronization retries failed routers, and a 15-minute reconciliation catches routers that were temporarily offline.
Target the right guest instead of showing every ad to everyone
Router targeting can represent a venue, branch, event area or sponsored zone. Package targeting lets an operator show an upgrade to entry-level users without interrupting premium customers. Specific-customer targeting supports a direct offer or service message for a selected list.
The delivery order is deliberate: a matching selected-customer campaign is considered before a package campaign, and a package campaign before a general campaign. Priority resolves campaigns inside the same audience level. “Direct push” means prioritized delivery during the next eligible captive-portal login; it is not an SMS or background browser notification.
Audience identity is resolved only after ISPbills validates the router, ISP group, mobile number and device MAC. A public form cannot supply a trusted customer, package or tenant ID, and one ISP group cannot search or target another group’s customers.
How mandatory video watch time works
For a video campaign, the administrator can require between 1 and 120 seconds of playback. The Continue to Wi-Fi button stays locked until the server accepts enough active playback heartbeats for that session and router.
Only visible forward playback at normal speed counts. Pausing, leaving the tab, stalling, seeking ahead or changing speed does not earn progress. If the clip is shorter than the required duration, it replays until the cumulative requirement is complete. A per-video interval can require the same matched device to watch the campaign again after up to seven days; zero uses the general monetization cooldown.
Five practical revenue models
| Model | How it can be sold | Evidence to share |
|---|---|---|
| Venue sponsorship | A fixed monthly fee for campaigns across a café, terminal, market or event router group | Schedule, router scope, impressions and completions |
| CPM advertising | Agreed price per 1,000 delivered impressions | Impression total and campaign dates |
| CPC advertising | Agreed price for each recorded destination click | Click count, click-through rate and destination |
| Completed video | Fixed placement fee or price per completed mandatory view | Required seconds, completions and completion rate |
| Paid access | Sell time- or data-based Hotspot vouchers directly or through distributors | Available, sold, redeemed and expired voucher records |
An illustrative BDT earning example
Assume a network records 30,000 sponsor impressions at BDT 150 CPM, 400 tracked clicks at BDT 5 each, and 120 paid vouchers with BDT 20 contribution margin per voucher.
| Channel | Calculation | Illustrative amount |
|---|---|---|
| Impressions | 30,000 ÷ 1,000 × BDT 150 | BDT 4,500 |
| Clicks | 400 × BDT 5 | BDT 2,000 |
| Voucher margin | 120 × BDT 20 | BDT 2,400 |
| Total | Before tax and operating cost | BDT 8,900 |
This is an example, not a revenue promise. An advertiser agreement should define valid impressions, completed views, clicks, campaign dates, invalid traffic, tax, reporting and payment. ISPbills records campaign activity but does not automatically invoice a third-party advertiser.
Campaign examples that fit real Hotspot operations
Café sponsor banner: target only the routers serving one venue, use a branded image and let the general cooldown prevent repetitive exposure.
Package upgrade: select entry-level Hotspot packages and link the call to action to a faster or longer plan.
Direct customer offer: search for selected subscribers and deliver a high-priority campaign at their next eligible login.
Sponsored video: require a realistic watch time, choose a rewatch interval and price the placement using verified completions rather than page loads.
Voucher-funded guest Wi-Fi: promote paid access in the campaign and reuse the existing recharge-card inventory for sales and redemption.
Read the dashboard as a funnel
The color-led Hotspot dashboard plots 14 days of impressions, completions and clicks, then shows 30-day completion and click-through rates. Device and portal-language donut charts explain the audience, while campaign-state visuals, router coverage, voucher stock and the ranked advertisement table show whether the operation is ready.
An impression means the campaign page was delivered. A completion means the guest satisfied the campaign gate and continued. A click means the tracked call-to-action opened. None of these alone proves a sale, so reconcile sponsor billing with the commercial agreement and voucher revenue with payment records.
Test the experience before selling it
| Test | Expected result |
|---|---|
| Matching and non-matching router | Only the selected location receives the campaign |
| Matching and non-matching package | Only customers currently on a selected Hotspot package match |
| Selected and unselected customer | The direct campaign appears only for the chosen customer |
| Pause, hide tab, seek and change speed | Mandatory video progress does not advance incorrectly |
| Short video | The clip replays until the required watch time is complete |
| Repeat login | The general cooldown or per-video rewatch interval is respected |
| Responsive view | Creative, controls and continuation remain usable on a small phone |
| Remote creative dependencies | Each exact host loads before internet access and appears only in ISPbills-managed Walled Garden rules |
Make monetization sustainable
Start with one venue and one campaign. Measure completion, click-through, voucher conversion and support complaints together. A high impression count with falling completion can mean the campaign is too frequent or intrusive. A useful sponsor report should be transparent about what each metric means and should never imply that a click or completed video is a purchase.
Use only authorized media and trademarks, avoid sensitive or misleading targeting, prefer HTTPS destinations, disclose sponsored content when required and define consent, retention, tax and reporting rules for the jurisdiction where the Wi-Fi operates.
Put the first campaign into operation
- Choose one goal. Decide whether the campaign sells sponsorship, clicks, package upgrades or voucher access.
- Define the audience. Select the venue routers, packages or exact customers and exclude everyone else.
- Set a fair frequency. Choose the general cooldown and, for mandatory video, the campaign rewatch interval.
- Run acceptance tests. Test identity matching, playback enforcement, login continuation and dashboard measurement.
- Agree the commercial rule. Put the price, valid event definition, reporting period, tax and payment terms in writing.
- Review and improve. Compare reach, completion, clicks, voucher sales and guest feedback before expanding.
Product guide: use the complete Wi-Fi Hotspot Advertising & Guest Monetization documentation for every field, launch check and troubleshooting step. Validate router and captive-portal prerequisites against the deployed network before enabling a live campaign.