yfi_explain_permanent_users

Permanent Users

• Can be pre-paid or post-paid.
• Has their own portal which will reflect data specific to them.
• Data and time restrictions - though strict - may overshoot.
• Can each have a chosen language (if already supported).
• Can manage their own passwords.
• Can be sent bulk messages.
• Can be sent reports on their usage.
• Can be filtered and ordered on various fields.

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Classifications

• Permanent users are classified into three groups - depending on their Cap Type.
• Each permanent are then further tied to a specific profile.
• There are three Cap Types

Hard Cap

• Cap limits are based on a user's profile.
• Cap limits can be time or data based, or a combination of both.
• Caps limits gets reset once a month - you decide the day of month (effect the whole YFi Hotspot Management system).
• Once the user is over their cap limit, they are disconnected.
• A user can acquire extra caps which will allow them extra time or data up to month's the reset day.

Soft Cap

• All the points mentioned for Hard Cap EXCEPT:
• Users are NOT disconnected when their cap gets depleted.

Prepaid Cap

• Cap limits are bases on Internet Credits assigned to a user.
• A user's account gets loaded with Internet Credits which allows them to use the Internet.
• Internet Credits can be time based, data based or a combination of both.
• A user's profile can also include data and time values which will be Added to a user's Cap. This is handy to give a user a preloaded account as a promotion.
• The user's profile will determine how Internet Credits will be used. EG if time, data, or both will be subtracted upon each use of the Internet.
• The user's cap NEVER resets.
• A user needs to top-up their account with Internet Credits
• This allows a user to have one username and password to remember.
• It is also ideal to use with devices like DSL routers which usually has a username and password defined which is not easy changed.

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Overshoot on usage

The way FreeRADIUS works (which YFi Hotspot MAnagement is a front-end to)

• A user tries to connect to a NAS device (like Coova Chilli)
• An Authentication request goes from the NAS device to the FreeRADIUS server.
• The FreeRADIUS server determines if the user are Authorized to access the NAS device.
• Thus so far it has done Authentication and Authorization.
• If the user are allowed access to the NAS device, an Accounting start request is send from the NAS device to the FreeRADIUS server.
• Subsequently their are accounting interim updates coming from the the NAS device to the FreeRADIUS server to update the Accounting info of said user.
• Upon each Accounting request YFi Hotspot Manager's custom Perl module used with FreeRADIUS will determine if the permanent user's cap is depleted.
• Depending on the cap type the user may be disconnected.
• To disconnect the user, the YFi Hotspot manager system sends a disconnect requets to the NAS device for said user.
• It is expected that the NAS device will honor this request and terminates the user's connection.

Taking the above explanation in account. We have a user with a hard cap of 250M - used 248M - Account updates are once a minute.

• Last account update ended his usage on 248M
• Next account update ended his usage on 251M
• YFi's Perl module determines the user should be disconnected and send the request to NAS device.
• NAS device disconnects user.
• Overshoot of 1M happened.

Thus the way YFi Hotspot Manager handles permanent users, overshoot of cap usage is inevitable.
A way to minimize overshoot is by keeping account update intervals short.

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Initial discussion

The original idea and discussion: Permanet User Draft