In brief
Basic internet free, high speed on a paid coupon. The tiered Wi-Fi model for hotels and marinas, whether paid Wi-Fi makes sense in Türkiye, and a general look at the accounting side.
Free guest internet is an expectation now. But "free" and "unlimited at top speed" are not the same thing. In long-stay settings such as hotels and marinas a tiered model works well: a free basic connection for everyone, a paid fast tier for those who want it. This post covers how the model is set up, whether it makes sense in Türkiye, and what to watch on the accounting side.
The model: two plans, two paths
On the box, plans are defined in one place regardless of access point brand: download/upload speed, session length, idle timeout, device count, daily quota. Two plans are enough for a tiered model:
| Plan | Speed (suggested) | Devices | Quota | Access path |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic (free) | 5/2 Mbps | 2 | 1 GB/day | SMS code via the portal |
| Fast (paid) | 15/5 Mbps or more | 3 | 5 GB/day or unlimited | Coupon |
The numbers are lab suggestions; adjust them to your line. The logic: the basic plan carries messaging, maps, e-mail and social media comfortably. Video calls, high-resolution streaming and large downloads call for the fast plan.
Coupons for the fast plan are generated and printed in bulk. Reception or the marina office sells the coupon; the guest enters the code in the portal and moves to the fast plan. The box takes no payment; the money is collected at your till, in your existing sales process.
Why free first?
Three reasons:
- Expectation. A guest who cannot connect complains; a slow but free connection does not generate complaints.
- Records. The internal IP assignment records that Law 5651 expects from a public-access provider make no distinction between paid and free. Everyone passes through the portal, so every session is recorded.
- The sales funnel. A guest on the free plan sees for themselves that the speed is not enough. "Visit reception for a faster package" sits in the portal or on the post-login page.
Does paid Wi-Fi make sense in Türkiye?
Honest answer: not everywhere. In cafés, restaurants and shops paid Wi-Fi rarely takes; guests stay briefly and mobile data is usually enough. There, a single free plan with a sensible quota is the right choice.
Where the tiered model works:
- Marinas. Boats stay for weeks, crew and guests spend most of the day on board, stream video and make video calls. Mobile data is weak along the shore and roaming is expensive for foreign guests. A fast package explains itself here.
- Hotels. Especially in business-travel hotels, guests on video meetings ask for the fast tier. Resort hotels sell it on long stays too; giving the fast tier free by room type is another option (the suite guest finds a coupon in the welcome envelope).
- Serviced apartments and long-stay lodging. For monthly residents the fast tier can be an add-on line on the stay.
- Campsites and caravan parks. The marina logic applies here as well.
Use this test: if guests stay longer than 24 hours and mobile data is not enough, the tiered model is worth trying. For short stays it is not.
How to set the price
We do not give figures; each business decides on its own costs. A few principles:
- Sell the fast tier per day or per stay; hourly sales wear out reception.
- At marinas a monthly package per boat is the usual logic: one coupon, 3 devices, 30 days.
- Do not restrict the free plan so much that guests feel squeezed. The basic plan must genuinely work.
- Printing coupons as physical cards improves perception; the guest holds something in their hand.
Accounting and paperwork
This is general talk; consult your own accountant.
When you sell a fast package you have sold a service. Its document (a receipt, an invoice, or a separate line on the lodging invoice) falls under your business's normal sales process. Some businesses fold the internet package into the room rate and do not sell it separately; others show it as a separate line. Decide with your accountant which suits you. The box stays out of this: it generates coupons, records that a coupon was used, and does not know who paid what.
Coupon serial numbers are visible in the panel. You can pull a report from the panel to reconcile coupons sold against your till records.
Records and privacy do not change
A guest who moves to the fast plan is recorded in the same way: coupon code (or phone number, encrypted), device MAC, internal IP, session start and end. Records are chained with SHA-256 digests, time-stamped and kept on the box for 2 years. Visited sites are not recorded. The fast plan is not a "monitored" plan; only the speed limit differs.
Setup steps
- Define two plans: basic and fast.
- Generate coupon batches for the fast plan: daily, weekly, monthly.
- Add "fast package at reception/the office" to the portal text and the post-login page.
- Give reception a one-page instruction: which stack, how to log it, what to do when it expires.
- Watch coupon usage in the panel for the first month; tune the basic plan's speed accordingly.
For marina and hotel setups see the industries page. The box supports 250 concurrent users; for larger sites let us plan together whether a virtual appliance or more than one box fits.
This article is for general information and is not legal or financial advice.