Paid WiFi Access

Monetise your guest WiFi by charging guests for access. Guests pay securely via Stripe on your branded splash page before they connect — no apps, no fuss.

What Is Paid WiFi?

CaptiFi's Paid WiFi feature lets you turn your guest WiFi into a revenue stream. When a guest connects to your network they are presented with a branded splash page showing your pricing options. Once they choose a plan and pay, their device is automatically connected — no manual steps required.

Paid WiFi is ideal for hotels, airports, co-working spaces, event venues, and any location where internet access has real value.

Key highlights:

• Guests see your logo and brand colours on the splash page
• Payments are handled by Stripe — a trusted, global payment platform
• Apple Pay, Google Pay, and all major credit/debit cards are accepted
• Access is granted instantly after a successful payment

How to Enable Paid WiFi

1. Open your site in the CaptiFi dashboard.
2. Set the site's access mode to Paid.
3. Ensure your Stripe account is connected in your CaptiFi settings.
4. Customise your splash page branding (logo, background colour, accent colour) under the site's captive portal settings.
5. Save your changes — your captive portal will now show the paid access screen to guests.

Each site can only have one access mode at a time (Free, Voucher, or Paid). Switching to Paid WiFi replaces any existing splash page behaviour.

Pricing Tiers

The Paid WiFi portal currently offers two access tiers:

Plan	Duration	Price
1 Hour Access	1 hour	99p
48 Hour Access	48 hours	£2.99

Pricing is displayed in GBP on the splash page.

Tip: 99p for short sessions and £2–3 for day passes works well for most venues. Airports and events can typically charge more, while cafés should keep prices low.

How Guests Pay

1. Connect — The guest joins your WiFi network and the CaptiFi splash page appears automatically.
2. Choose a plan — Pricing cards are displayed with the plan name, duration, and price. The guest taps Select on their preferred option.
3. Pay — A secure Stripe payment form appears, accepting cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. The guest taps Pay & Connect to WiFi.
4. Get online — After a successful payment the guest's device is authenticated and they are connected to the internet within seconds.

Trust indicators such as "Secure payment powered by Stripe" are shown throughout the process so guests feel confident.

Managing Sessions

• Revenue tracking — All transactions appear in your connected Stripe dashboard, where you can view payment history, issue refunds, and download reports.
• Guest logs — Every paid session is recorded in CaptiFi's guest log with the payment status, amount, access duration, and expiry time. You can review these in the CaptiFi dashboard under your site's guest log.
• Automatic expiry — Access expires automatically at the end of the purchased duration. Guests will need to purchase a new session to reconnect.

Splash Page Branding

Your Paid WiFi splash page is automatically styled to match your venue:

Setting	What It Controls
Logo	Displayed at the top of the splash page
Background colour	Start colour of the page gradient
Accent colour	End colour of the page gradient

You can update these at any time in your site's captive portal settings. Changes take effect immediately for new guest sessions.

Best Practices

• Price for your audience — Hotels may include basic WiFi in room rates and reserve paid access for conference areas; event venues can offer short 1-hour passes.
• Put up signage — Display your WiFi network name and pricing clearly in-venue so guests know what to expect before they connect.
• Test the flow — Run through the full payment and connection process yourself to make sure everything works smoothly.
• Monitor your Stripe dashboard — Keep an eye on successful payments and any declined transactions so you can respond quickly.

Troubleshooting

Issue	What to Do
Payment form does not appear	Check that your Stripe account is connected correctly in CaptiFi settings.
Payment is declined	Ask the guest to try a different card. You can also check the Stripe dashboard for specific error details.
Guest pays but does not get WiFi access	Verify that your site's network controller (e.g. UniFi or Omada) is connected and working in the CaptiFi dashboard.
"Unable to process payment" error	This usually indicates a temporary issue reaching Stripe. Ask the guest to try again in a moment.
Payment succeeds but the guest cannot browse	Check your network controller credentials in CaptiFi. The payment will still be recorded and can be refunded via Stripe if needed.

Other Access Modes

CaptiFi supports three access modes — you can switch between them at any time in your site settings:

Mode	How Guests Connect
Free	Guest enters their name/email on the splash page
Voucher	Guest enters a voucher code (see WiFi Vouchers)
Paid	Guest pays via Stripe