Sputnik News
Here's where to find the latest announcements, press releases, and news articles about Sputnik.
How to Create New Captive Portals in SputnikNet
Captive portals are (usually) how people log into Wi-Fi networks using SputnikNet. And they’re a vital way to convey your brand, deliver messages to your customers, run seasonal promotions and welcome customers to your Wi-Fi network.
SputnikNet enables you to create unlimited captive portals. Once created, you simply apply portals to one or many Sputnik-Powered Wi-Fi access points. Then add one or many authentication systems (ways to log in) to each portal. Each Wi-Fi hotspot on your network can be different, or they can all be the same. This gives you tremendous flexibility to create the kind of experience you want to offer your customers.
In short, there are no limits. 2012 is a great year to use Wi-Fi to connect with your customers and communicate your brand.
Here’s how to create new captive portals in SputnikNet.
Happy Holidays from Sputnik!
Sputnik offices closed for Thanksgiving
Content Caching on Sputnik-Powered Devices: How-To
Routers commonly ship with USB ports nowadays, and Sputnik engineers have been cooking up some good ways to use them.
Here’s the first that we’ve shipped: content caching at the edge. And here’s what it does.
Content caching stores data from frequently visited web sites locally, on the router—or to be exact, on a USB flash drive attached to the router. That way, when the content is requested by a user’s browser it can be loaded locally, from the router, rather than over the Internet.
For example, lets say one of your users visits a popular site such as Facebook, Google News, Yahoo! News or YouTube. The first visitor fetches the web content from the Internet, and it is automatically stored by your Sputnik-powered router. The second visitor then only needs to fetch content that is unique to them—the rest is servved right from the router (at local network speed). As more content is added to the local cache, more and more becomes available to users on your local network.
It’s the same idea used by companies like Akamai to distribute content closer to the “edge” of the Internet, where users are. Only in this case, the “edge” is the Sputnik-powered router only a few feet from the user!
This can dramatically improve network performance and save bandwidth.
How much bandwidth? That depends upon your network. Customers are reporting savings of 10% or even more over time. (We’d love to hear from you if you’re running Sputnik-powered content caching to hear how much bandwidth you save.)
Content caching makes a big difference if the broadband network serving your hotspot is metered, or if you’re on a low bandwidth, high latency connection such as a sattelite.
Sputnik-powered content caching works with the routers we sell that include a USB port, for example the Cisco E200, Cisco E3000, Cisco E3200, Cisco E4200, Netgear WNR3500L and Asus RT-N16.* It requres a SputnikNet Pro subscription for that router.
OK – that sounds good, so how do you get started? It couldn’t be simpler.
- Order a Sputnik flash drive from our online store. (We provision and test each USB flash drive to ensure it works well with SputnikNet.)
- Put the flash drive into your Sputnik-powered router.
- Enable USB support and turn on content caching.
- Wait 15 minutes for your first bandwidth saving report.
That’s all there is to it. We hope that you enjoy saving bandwidth and providing a faster browsing experience to your customers!
* Supported router list is subject to change over time.
Sputnik Announces New Cloud-Managed Outdoor Wi-Fi Access Point and Network Gateway
Devices Offer Superior Wi-Fi Coverage for Large Wi-Fi Networks, and Management for High-Traffic Networks
San Francisco - October 20, 2011 - Sputnik, a leading provider of cloud applications for managing Wi-Fi networks, today announced two new hardware models: the Sputnik 320 outdoor Wi-Fi access point, and Sputnik 750 managed network gateway.
Sputnik 320
The Sputnik 320 is a high-powered, rugged, cloud-managed indoor/outdoor 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless access point built for maximum range, flexibility, and performance. The Sputnik 320 embeds a Cisco e2000 router board running Sputnik-Powered DD-WRT firmware into a weatherproof, die-cast aluminum enclosure with a 7 dBi, 5 degree electronic downtilt omnidirectional antenna and PoE injector.
The Sputnik 320 is designed for flexible deployment in a wide variety of indoor and outdoor venues. The powerful long-range antenna enables the Sputnik 320 to be mounted overhead, against a wall, even locked in an equipment closet-- while still offering excellent coverage over a wide area.
Sputnik 750
The Sputnik 750 is a high-performance cloud-managed network gateway. Existing wired and wireless network traffic is routed through the Sputnik 750 for authentication, management and reporting. Powered by the Intel Atom Z530 CPU running at 1.6 GHz, with 1 gigabyte of RAM, and running Sputnik-Powered DD-WRT firmware, the Sputnik 750 is capable of authenticating and managing the busiest networks with ease. But it is not much bigger than a deck of cards.
The Sputnik 750 is ideal for large, high-traffic networks in hotels, multi-tenant dwellings, exhibit halls, conference centers, transportation facilities, campus environments, RV parks, stadiums, theaters, shopping malls
Cloud-Based Network Management with SputnikNet
As with all Sputnik-powered devices, the Sputnik 320 and Sputnik 750 are designed for remote management using SputnikNet.
SputnikNet enables:
- plug-and-play provisioning
- remote management of one or thousands of Wi-Fi access points through a simple web interface
- beautiful captive portal design
- multiple authentication methods for free, advertising-supported, or paid WI-Fi
- flexible network policies and bandwidth control over subscribers, routers, and applications
- detailed reports and real-time alerts
"The Sputnik 320 offers astounding Wi-Fi coverage," said David LaDuke, CEO Sputnik, Inc. "At Sputnik's office in San Francisco, we're seeing its Wi-Fi bubble cover nearly a full city block. The Sputnik 750 can authenticate, manage and track over 100 simultaneous users without breaking a sweat. These powerful new hardware devices will help our customers take Wi-Fi deployments to the next level."
Pricing and availability
The Sputnik 320 is $249.95. The Sputnik 750 is $459.95, with an optional heatsink for an $18.95. Both products are available in starter kits that bundle pre-paid monthly or annual SputnikNet subscriptions at a discount, and can be purchased from the Sputnik Online Store at http://store.sputnik.com.
After a one-time $49.95 account setup fee, SputnikNet is $19.95/month, or $199.50/year, per managed router. Volume discounts kick in automatically as providers add managed Wi-Fi devices to their networks. The Sputnik 750 requires a Sputnik Pro subscription at $49.95/month or $499.50/year, with volume discounts available. Providers can sign up for SputnikNet at Sputnik's online store.
About Sputnik, Inc. (http://www.sputnik.com)
Sputnik Inc. is a leading provider of cloud-based software that enables ISPs and wireless service providers to build custom-branded, access-controlled Wi-Fi services and manage them over the Internet. Sputnik's remote network and subscriber management features allow cost-effective operation in locations without onsite technical support. The company's easy-to-use, flexible software supports a wide range of businesses, service providers, and educational institutions, and has been adopted by customers in more than 100 countries around the world. The company is based in Sausilito, California.