Turn your Wi-Fi into a smart guest portal that checks people in, collects analytics, and lets you send push messages — explained like you're five years old, with exact commands.
Log into your business dashboard, click the venue that needs the portal, and hit Upgrade to Verified. Once you're on the $19/mo plan, the "Install Portal" button appears in your dashboard's Overview page.
✓ Done when: your dashboard says "You're on Verified".
In your dashboard, go to Settings → Router Plugin. You'll see two long strings of letters and numbers:
cbdc0848-9a43-… (identifies your business)Copy both somewhere safe. You'll type them into the router in Step 4. The token is like a key: don't share it with anyone, and if you suspect it leaked, regenerate it in the dashboard.
✓ Done when: you have both codes saved.
Your router needs to be running OpenWrt 22.03 or newer. If you bought a router with OpenWrt pre-installed, you're all set. Otherwise you (or your IT person) will need to flash OpenWrt first — that's outside this guide, but the OpenWrt installation docs are excellent.
Quick check: SSH into your router (more on that next) and run:
cat /etc/openwrt_release✓ Done when: it shows a version of 22.03 or higher.
"The command line" sounds scary, but you're just typing a few short lines. Think of it as texting your router.
Windows (PuTTY): Open PuTTY, type your router's IP (usually 192.168.1.1) into "Host Name", click Open, and log in with your router's username (usually root) and password.
Mac / Linux (Terminal): Open Terminal and type:
ssh [email protected]…then enter your router's password. (Replace 192.168.1.1 with your router's real IP if it's different.)
✓ Done when: you see a # prompt (or something like root@Router:~#). That's your "you're in" sign.
Still on your router, type (or copy-paste) this one line and press Enter:
wget -O /tmp/install.sh https://business.spotsocial.link/install.sh && sh /tmp/install.shThis downloads a small setup program (the "installer") and runs it. The installer will:
uhttpd for the login page, curl for talking to our servers)✓ Done when: you see "Install complete" at the end.
Grab a phone and try to join your venue's Wi-Fi. Instead of connecting straight through, a page should pop up saying something like "Welcome! Check in with Spot Social."
That's the magic moment: the portal is alive. A guest checks in with the app (or taps Guest Pass and enters their email), and they're online. You can now see them in your dashboard in real time.
✓ Done when: a phone shows the Spot Social welcome page instead of just "Connected".
Your router quietly reports back to us every hour. Give it about an hour after installation, then refresh your dashboard's Overview page.
You should now see the full analytics: live visitors now, average time stayed, data used, device breakdown — and the Visitors page unlocks. From there, Push Campaigns lets you message people currently in your venue (only if they opted in — always your choice and theirs).
✓ Done when: your dashboard shows dwell time and devices. You're fully unlocked! 🎉
uhttpd is running: /etc/init.d/uhttpd statusYour router only ever talks out to our servers over an encrypted connection (HTTPS). We never open a way into your network from the internet — that keeps your business network safe. The router token only works for your venue, so a lost token can't affect anyone else.