Entertainment
Cinemas, theatres and beach clubs
At the start of a screening hundreds of phones connect in the same minute, then silence. Hotspot-Box absorbs that wave, shows your announcement on the post-login page and keeps your records when the season closes.
- Pre-show rush
- Post-login announcement
- Power down off-season
- Day coupon option
Everyone in ten minutes, then nobody
A cinema's or theatre's Wi-Fi load is anything but flat. In the ten minutes before a screening and throughout the intermission, hundreds of phones want to connect at once; when the curtain rises, traffic drops to zero. A network sized for average use chokes at these peaks, the login page fails to load and the audience gives up.
A beach club's problem is the season. It opens in May and closes in October; in winter there is nobody. On a summer day there are hundreds of sunbeds with a phone or two on each. Opening an account for a day guest makes no sense, yet the record-keeping duty applies to every single day.
Both share an opportunity: the first page a guest sees after logging in is yours. A trailer, the programme, the menu or a 'please silence your phone' notice all fit there.
The retention clock keeps running off-season
A cinema, theatre or beach club that opens internet access to its audience or guests is a mass-use provider under Law 5651. The law expects internal IP assignment records to be kept, protected with a timestamp and retained for 2 years. For a seasonal venue the retention period runs from the day of each record; while the venue is closed, the records are not deleted but kept. This page is not legal advice.
This page is not legal advice; confirm your obligations with your legal adviser.
Set-up: box office apart, foyer dense
- 1
The box sits between the modem and the switch serving the auditoriums or the beach. The box-office computer, ticket scanners and projection system stay on the staff VLAN; the guest SSID runs on its own VLAN through the box.
- 2
In the foyer, at auditorium entrances and along the beach your installer places access points for the peak device count; the box handles 250 concurrent devices.
- 3
Digital poster screens, the bar POS and the sound system are kept outside the portal with MAC exemptions.
- 4
The post-login redirect address is set to your programme or announcement page.
- 5
A beach club powers the box down at the end of the season; the records stay on the box and the chain continues where it left off at reopening.
Login: SMS for the audience, day coupon for beach guests
Sign-in method
- SMS code
- Coupon
For an audience the SMS code is the fastest route; the code arrives in seconds and they are online before the intermission ends. Beach club guests can be handed a day coupon with their sunbed fee at the entrance; the coupon is valid for that day. Our recommended 'conference' template: 5/2 Mbps, 4-hour session, 10-minute idle timeout, 1 device, 500 MB per day. For a beach club, extend the session to the whole day.
Ready-made plan templates
Speed, session and device count are set per plan on the box, independent of the access point brand. The values below are our own lab recommendations and can be changed in the panel.
- Recommended for this sector
Conference
Events, fairs, waiting lounges, cinemas, bank branches
- Speed (down / up)
- 5 / 2 Mbps
- Session
- 4 hours
- Idle timeout
- 10 min
- Devices
- 1
- Daily quota
- 500 MB
- Remembered device
- Off
Low speed and one device for many simultaneous users; capacity 250 concurrent devices.
Standard
Cafés, restaurants, shops, bakeries, salons, gyms
- Speed (down / up)
- 10 / 5 Mbps
- Session
- 2 hours
- Idle timeout
- 15 min
- Devices
- 2
- Daily quota
- 1 GB
- Remembered device
- Off
Keeps tables turning; a guest who wants more gets a coupon from the till.
Staff-guest
Offices, factories, office towers, logistics, tutoring centres
- Speed (down / up)
- 20 / 10 Mbps
- Session
- 10 hours
- Idle timeout
- 30 min
- Devices
- 3
- Daily quota
- None
- Remembered device
- 30 days
Registered users or coupon groups; separate groups for suppliers and subcontractors.
Extended stay
Hotels, serviced apartments, dormitories, hospitals, residential complexes
- Speed (down / up)
- 15 / 5 Mbps
- Session
- 24 hours
- Idle timeout
- 30 min
- Devices
- 3
- Daily quota
- 5 GB
- Remembered device
- 7 days
No new code every day; in dormitories the remembered window can span the whole term.
What is recorded
- Verified phone number (encrypted, masked in the panel) or coupon code
- Device MAC address and assigned internal IP
- Session start and end time
- Daily hash chain and timestamp
- Aggregate reports such as hourly load (not per person)
What is not recorded
- Which film they watched or which sunbed they used
- Websites visited
- Messages and content
- Location
Example scenario
Example scenario: a six-screen cinema
- Problem
- At weekend evening screenings the audiences of six screens gather in the foyer in the same ten minutes and the existing network cannot serve the login page. The cinema is also looking for a channel to show trailers and promotions to its audience.
- Solution
- The box is installed behind the modem, with the box office and projection on their own VLAN. The installer adds access points in the foyer. Login is by SMS code on the 'conference' template: 5/2 Mbps, 1 device, 500 MB per day, 4-hour session. The post-login page redirects to the week's programme and a 'please silence your phone' notice.
- Outcome
- The pre-show rush stays within the box's concurrent capacity; viewers type their code and are online. Every viewer who logs in sees the programme. Records are stamped daily and stored at the cinema, and management follows them in the panel with an authorised role.
An illustrative example; no real business is named.
Frequently asked
If everyone connects at once before a screening, can the box keep up?
The box is designed for 250 concurrent devices. For a cinema with a handful of screens that is usually enough; for large complexes or open-air stages you place several boxes by zone. The number and placement of access points is a separate matter your installer plans for the peak moment.
Can I show trailers or announcements to the audience?
Yes. Set the post-login redirect to your programme, a promotion page or an announcement. You can brand the portal with your logo and colours and add a short survey. The addresses reachable before login are set with the walled garden list.
The beach club is closed in winter. Can I switch the box off?
Yes. Power the box down at the end of the season; the records and the hash chain stay inside it and it carries on where it left off at reopening. The 2-year retention runs from the day of each record; expired days are deleted automatically while the box is on, and the deletion is written to the audit trail. You can also keep a second copy of the archive off the box over SFTP.
Can I give beach club guests Wi-Fi with their sunbed?
Yes. Hand out day coupons from a bulk batch with the sunbed fee at the entrance; the coupon is valid for that day and lapses when it expires. A guest who prefers not to use a coupon can connect with an SMS code. Both methods run side by side on the same portal.
Do foreign tourists receive the SMS?
Yes. The SMS code is sent to foreign numbers too, and you can set up a separate provider for them. For a tourist-heavy beach club the day coupon is also a practical alternative: it is handed over at the entrance and no phone number is needed at all.
A 20-minute demo for your own venue
Let's work out your device count and sign-in method together.
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