MikroTik Hotspot Setup: A Starter Guide for Uganda
MikroTik routers are the backbone of most hotspot businesses in East Africa: they are affordable, reliable, and their built-in hotspot server does most of the heavy lifting. This guide walks through a first deployment.
Choosing hardware
For a location with up to ~40 concurrent devices, a hAP ac² or RB750Gr3 is plenty. For a busy trading centre, step up to an RB4011 or a CCR. Add outdoor access points (cAP or wAP) for coverage rather than pushing one router harder.
Configure the hotspot
- Set up your WAN connection and confirm the router has internet.
- Run the hotspot setup wizard on the LAN or WLAN interface.
- Set the address pool and DNS.
- Point authentication at your RADIUS server instead of local users.
Connect billing
Local MikroTik users don't scale — you can't sell vouchers across ten routers from one place. A RADIUS backend gives you one customer database, central voucher generation, and real-time session tracking. Connect-ISP runs the RADIUS server for you and pushes config to each router over a secure tunnel.
Launch the captive portal
The captive portal is the page customers see when they connect. It should load fast on a cheap Android phone, show your plans clearly, and support both voucher codes and mobile money. Connect-ISP ships themed portal templates you can brand in minutes.
Go live
Print a first batch of vouchers, put up clear signage with the WiFi name and price list, and train whoever sells at the counter. Watch the dashboard for the first day and adjust plan pricing based on what sells.