Wi-Fi for paying customers only: print the code on the receipt

A password written on a chalkboard is shared within a week. Soon the office upstairs and the people at the bus stop are on your Wi-Fi, and your paying guests wonder why it is slow. Printing a Wi-Fi code on the receipt fixes that without asking staff to do anything.

Two ways to use receipt codes

One code per order

The till asks Wispot for a fresh code each time it prints a receipt. The code is valid for the phones you choose (1 to 5 per order, for a table of friends) and for a set time, for example two hours, or until closing. When the time is up, the code stops working.

This suits busy cafés, coworking spaces and fast food: every receipt is its own pass.

One shared code a day

If your till can't talk to Wispot, print the same code on every receipt, or on the menu. It changes every day, so yesterday's photo on social media is useless today.

What the guest sees

The guest joins the Wi-Fi, the welcome page opens and shows a box for the code next to the usual options. They type the six characters from the receipt and they are online. If you like, codes can sit alongside WhatsApp login, so guests who want your offers can still join your list.

Who enforces the limits

The router. Wispot tells your access points which phone may go online and for how long, so the limits hold even if a guest shares the code. A code with a limit of two phones lets two phones in, not twenty.

Connecting your till

Most modern tills (POS) can call a web address when they print. They send the order number and get a code back to print on the ticket. Wispot's API does exactly this; your POS provider or installer can set it up. Without that, start with the shared daily code: it takes no integration at all.

When not to use codes

If your goal is to grow your guest list, make codes optional rather than required. A required code keeps the Wi-Fi for customers, but some guests will connect, use it and leave without ever joining your list. Many venues use codes for the busy lunch hours and WhatsApp login the rest of the time.

Codes work with every router Wispot supports. If you run UniFi, start with our UniFi setup guide.