Using PayPal

Topic

This article describes how to configure PayPal to integrate with splash pages for Datto access points.

Environment

  • PayPal
  • Datto Access Points

Description

With PayPal, you can charge users for access to your network based on time increments or bandwidth tiers.

Key features

  • All payments go directly to you; Datto does not take a cut.
  • Under Paypal's Website Payments Standard, you will only pay transactions fees—no commission or monthly payments.
  • You keep control of the look and feel of your splash page and only add a PayPal Buy Now button.
  • With automatic MAC Authentication, you can allow users to roam between nodes without seeing the splash page again.
  • You can offer multiple bandwidth tiers, or provide a free lower-speed service tier and one or more paid tiers at higher speeds.

Steps you will take

  1. Make a Business PayPal account where you can receive payments. You can also use existing accounts.
  2. Create a Buy Now button and payments page at PayPal.
  3. Enable auto-return and Payment Data Transfer in PayPal and integrate this into Datto Networking.
  4. Integrate PayPal into your Datto Networking splash page.

Procedure

The following procedure requires a Business Paypal account with PayPal Payments Standard enabled. If you are creating a new account, navigate to https://www.paypal.com/bizsignup/, and select PayPal Payments Standard when configuring your account.

If you have a Personal PayPal account, you can upgrade to a business account to access the required features.

Enable auto-return

Auto-return brings your customers back to the splash page after completing their payment.

1. On your Paypal home screen, click your username and select Account Settings from the drop-down menu.

Creating the Buy Now button


Figure 1:
The Navigation menu

2. Click Website payments in the left-hand menu of the Account Settings page, then click the Update link next to Website preferences.


Figure 2:
Account Settings

3. Click the Buy Now button.

3. Select the On radio button under Auto return and paste the following link in the Return URL field, then click Save: https://paypal.cloudtrax.com/v2/return.


Figure 3:
Auto return preferences

Enable payment data transfer

Payment data transfer notifies you of successful payments as they are made. You must enable auto return to enable payment data transfer.

1. Select the On radio button under Payment data transfer.

2. Copy the Identity Token value. You will use this in a future step.

Figure 4: Auto return preferences

3. In a separate window, open a CloudTrax session. From the drop-down list, select the network to link with this PayPal account.

4. Select Configure, then click Vouchers from the drop-down menu.

5. Scroll down to the PayPal section and set the values accordingly:

  • Clients Per Voucher: Number of Client Devices per PayPal purchase. Typically one to five (maximum 10). If you are running a coffee shop, you will likely want one device. If you run a hotel or apartment complex, you might want to set this to 3 to 5 to cover multiple guests and their laptops, phones, tablets, etc.
  • Download Bandwidth: Download bandwidth per client device (in Mbps) for PayPal.
  • Upload Bandwidth: Upload bandwidth per client device (in Mbps) for PayPal.
  • PayPal Identity Token: This is the unique string of numbers and letters you copied from the PayPal website. Paste it here.
Bandwidth throttling for PayPal vouchers will *not* work unless you've enabled bandwidth throttling for all SSID's you are using with the captive portal and splash-page.

Figure 5: Voucher settings

Enabling the Buy Now button

1. On the Button creation screen, enter Internet Access in the Item Name box.

Fig9.png
Figure 6:
The button creation screen

2. In a separate window, start a web session for your network, navigate to Configure ? SSID, and copy the Item ID string under PayPal.

fig10.png
Figure 7:
PayPal Item ID

3. Return to the window hosting your PayPal setup. Paste the Item ID string into the Item ID field. This Item ID is how Datto Networking will know what network users belong to when they purchase.

fig11.png
Figure 8:
Item ID in PayPal configuration

4. In the Customize Button section, select the Add drop-down menu with price/option checkbox.

Fig12.png
Figure 9:
Customize button

5. Enter Purchase or a title of your choice in the Name of drop-down menu field.

6. Enter the duration and price values in the Menu option name and Price fields. Datto Networking processes time durations entered as numerical hours, days, weeks, and months (i.e., 3 hours).

Fig13.png
Figure 10:
Customize button

For non-English words, modify the PayPal-generated code. The following example replaces the English word hour with the Spanish equivalent hora:

<option value="1 hour">1 hora $1.00 USD</option>

7. At the bottom of the button creation box, expand Step 3: Customize advanced features (optional).

Fig14.png
Figure 11:
Customize advanced features

8 Set the following options to No:

  • Do you want to let your customer change order quantities?
  • Can your customer add special instructions in a message to you?
  • Do you need your customer’s shipping address?

Fig_15.png
Figure 12:
Customize checkout pages

9. Select the Add Advanced Variables checkbox, and in the box below, enter:

notify_url=https://paypal.cloudtrax.com/v2/notify

return=https://paypal.cloudtrax.com/v2/return

Fig16.png
Figure 13:
Add advanced variables

15. Click Create Button at the bottom of the page.

16. Review your newly created button. When you finish, click the Select Code button, copy the HTML code, and paste it into a notepad for future use.

12.png
Figure 14:
Website HTML

Adding the button to your splash page

1. Return to the web session for your network.

2. Navigate to Configure ?Vouchers, and scroll to the PayPal section.

3. Configure the following options:

  • Clients Per Voucher: Enter the number of client devices per PayPal purchase, you can add up to ten.
  • Download Bandwidth: Enter the download bandwidth per client device in Kbps.
  • Upload Bandwidth: Enter the upload bandwidth per client device in Kbps.
  • PayPal Identity Token: Paste the Identity Token value from Enabling auto-return and Payment Data Transfer (PDT).
Configure Bandwidth Throttling for each SSID using PayPal to throttle traffic accessing the splash page.

1. In the same web session for your network, navigate to Configure ? SSID.

2. Scroll to the Splash page section.

13.png
Figure 15:
Splash page configuration

3. Select Custom as your Splash page type.

4. Click the Edit Splash Page button.

5. Using the Template drop-down, select your configured Splash Page or another template pre-staged.

6. Click the HTML editing (<>) button at the top left of the editor.

14.png
Figure 16:
Edit splash page

7. Scroll the page down to the bottom. Look for the lines <-- PayPal Button Start --> and <-- PayPal Button End -->.

15.png
Figure 17:
Sample HTML

8. Select the sample PayPal button code (everything between the above lines) and delete it. Paste the copied HTML code generated from Creating your Buy Now button.

9. Click the Preview tab below your splash page to review. Look for a voucher entry field and your new PayPal Buy Now button.

10. Click Save Changes. It will take 10-15 minutes for all access points on the network to update.

Testing your new splash page with PayPal

1. Connect to your configured SSID. The splash page should display along with your PayPal Buy Now button.

2. Click the Buy Now button.

Fig21.png
Figure 18
Completed PayPal button

3. Purchase one of your options using a different PayPal account, or use the Credit card as a PayPal Guest option.

4. After completing the purchasing process, a transaction verification page will display, alongside your Voucher Code. This page also sends the code to the email address used in the purchasing process.

Fig22.png
Figure 19:
Voucher Code

5. Click Begin Browsing. Verify that you can browse the Internet.