Networking & wireless forum: Can you help me stop the bandwidth leeches at my pub's free Wi-Fi hot spot?

I'm assuming you use an industrial-strength router in your pub. If you don't, then get one. Don't be shy of the cost, as it will last much, much longer, and give you many more features -- like a good firewall, targeted bandwidth control and operational stability. You should be paying Aus$500-1000 for this equipment.

I'm also assuming your customers supply their own computers. If you supply the machines, then have all USB ports, CD/DVD drives and floppy drives removed. Then remove all software you don't want used, and make sure user accounts do not permit installing software.

One of the nice bits on decent routers is targeted bandwidth control. You can set limits here, for example give all users individual quotas, say 1 or 2 MB. OK, that sounds restrictive, but in practice it's plenty for quick browsing and casual email checks. If necessary, you can reduce that to, say, 500KB, but that's starting to get ugly. Once the quota is used, block that IP for 10 or 15 minutes.

Hforman has suggested signal strength control -- if your router does not permit that (some don't, it's "automatic") then a cheap solution is to cover the interior walls and ceiling of your WiFi room with chicken wire under a fresh wall-paper. This will greate a "Faraday cage", which will effectively stop external leeches.

I wouldn't bother with other security issues. WiFi "hotspots" are public access by definition, so WPA etc will only hinder and annoy your customers. People understand they use hotspots at their own risk. However, don't use this router for your personal and business machines -- get a separate account from your ISP, as the WiFi account will be comromised as soon as you set it up.

Gordon.