Billing for Wireless Access
Cisco Meraki Billing allows you to charge users for wireless network access using access codes called prepaid cards. This article outlines how to configure a billing SSID, as well as different configuration and billing options.
Beginning August 1st 2016, all networks configured using Meraki's PayPal Billing splash page will no longer be able to accept credit card payments. A custom splash page will allow you to continue processing credit card transactions. We have negotiated transition offers with our partners to offer better solutions with lower transaction costs than the Meraki solution (20% transaction fees). Customers using the Meraki PayPal feature are encouraged to switch to one of our partner's splash page products.
Click here for step-by-step guides for configuring credit card billing splash pages.
Determining a Pricing Plan
The first step is to decide on a pricing plan. You can offer your users one or more tiers of service. For each tier, you can select a time period, per-client bandwidth limit, price, and currency. You can also create a free, time-limited tier to let people try out your service. Pricing plans and setup are located under Wireless > Configure > Access control > Billing plans, when the Splash page is configured for Billing (paid access).
Note: The maximum amount that can be charged for a single billing SSID transaction is $300. Once an account accumulates $20 USD (or its equivalent in another currency) after the 20% transaction fee, you will receive a payment on the 15th day of the following month .
Note: We have seen some recent issues when trying to save the Access Control > Billing (paid access) > Pricing plans value in Dashboard. Please contact our 24x7 support if this value is not being saved accordingly.
An example pricing plan might be:
- Free internet access for 20 minutes per day at 500 Kbps
- $5 per day for .5 Mbps
- $15 per week for 1 Mbps
- $45 per month (30 days) for 1.5 Mbps
See below for a screenshot showing this example configuration.
You can offer hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly plans. We currently support billing in the following currencies:
- United States Dollar (USD)
- British Pound (GBP)
- Euro (EUR)
- Canadian Dollar (CAD)
- Brazilian Real (BRL)
- Haitian Gourde (HTG)
- Mexican Peso (MXN)
- Philippine Peso (PHP)
Configuring an SSID for Billing
Warning: Once billing has been enabled on a network, the network cannot be deleted.
Once a billing plan has been selected, the following instructions outline how to enable billing on an SSID:
- Log into Dashboard.
- Navigate to Wireless > Configure > Access control.
- Select your SSID from the SSID drop down.
- Select Open (no encryption) for Association requirements.
- Select Billing (paid access) for Splash page.
- Find the section Billing plans.
- For the Free access drop down choose Enable with limits or leave it Disabled. Free access can provide customers with free access for a limited time each day.
- Choose your currency from the Currency drop down.
- For Pricing plans, setup your tiered billing access by setting a Price, Duration, and per-client Bandwidth limit if necessary for each plan.
- Change your Reply-to address if desired. When clients purchase network access, they receive a receipt by email. When clients reply, their email will go to the email you set as the Reply-to-address .
- Set the Firewall drop down to Prevent wireless clients from accessing my LAN. This provides Internet only access to your wireless users.
- Click the Save Changes button
Additional Resources
For additional information about billing SSIDs, use, and troubleshooting, please refer to the following articles: