I’m building a real-world Wi-Fi system that gives internet access after users watch ads — AMA about the tech, security, business model, or everything I’ve broken while building it.

I’ve been building a Linux-based captive-portal Wi-Fi project that combines networking, ads, session control, device access, and security.

The idea sounds simple: connect → watch an ad → get internet.

In reality it means dealing with DHCP, DNS, routing, firewalls, captive portals, authentication, session limits, bandwidth control, and figuring out why something that worked perfectly yesterday suddenly doesn’t today.

Ask me anything about the project, mistakes I’ve made, networking, Linux, building from scratch, or where I want to take it next.