Meshlink Wi-Fi Gateway – Digital Plan

Sell a service you host yourself, right from a Wi-Fi hotspot you own. No platform takes a cut.

Guests join your network, a sign-in page pops up on their phone, and they pay you through Stripe to get online. No app, no account, and no middleman setting your prices.

I proved it end to end at a real farmers market: ordinary Wi-Fi, across a HaLow backhaul, through a real checkout, and back to the gate that let the laptop online. This guide is the exact path I used, with the configs, the parts list, and the mistakes, so you can skip them.

What you're buying: the meshlink field manual, an online guide with 14 sections and 4 video walkthroughs, plus MCP access for your AI agent and every future update. It's digital: nothing ships, and no hardware is included. The meshlink software itself is free and open source on GitHub; this guide shows you how to build, configure, and run it.

Your responsibility: You alone are responsible for how you use your node and for any service you offer on it. Before you charge anyone, get every permission, license, or agreement that service requires, including your internet provider's express written permission to share or resell its connection. This guide and the meshlink software include no internet service, resale rights, or licenses. Parallel (Salient Ventures LLC) is not liable for how you use them, or for any breach of a provider's terms or applicable law.

What your node does

• Charge $2, $10, or whatever your market will bear. Set free and paid tiers with their own price, speed, data limit, and time. Start from the default free, $2.99, and $9.99 tiers, or make your own, like a single $9.99 30-day pass.
• meshlink's cut: $0. Payments land in your Stripe account, not ours. Stripe's standard processing fee is the only fee on each payment, and no platform can raise its take on you later.
• Your AI agent builds it for you. Includes MCP access, so an AI agent of your choosing reads the guide and installs and configures your node. No manual programming required.
• Takes payments while you're somewhere else. See who's online, which tier they bought, and what the node has earned on the admin page, manage the node remotely with Tailscale, and watch every node you run from one dashboard.
• Covers a whole farmers market from one internet connection. Add a HaLow backhaul to carry the network down a market, across a marina, or past where 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi gives out.
• Open-source code. Your name on the sign-in page, not ours. The software is open source, so you can white-label all of it: brand the sign-in page as your own business, or switch it to a farmers market, restaurant, or marina profile in one click.

Why it works

The Pi's firewall blocks every guest until the sign-in page adds them to an access list, and it drops them when their time runs out. Guest traffic goes through the Linux kernel at full speed, never through an app, so guests who are already online stay online even if the portal restarts. Phones see a normal Wi-Fi sign-in sheet, the same one they show at a hotel or an airport.

The software is open source on GitHub under the meshlink Foundation. Your node stays under your control.

What's included

• The online meshlink field manual, 14 sections: overview, how meshlink works, gear and bill of materials, setup, captive portal and access tiers, payments, Wi-Fi security and HTTPS, managing your node, troubleshooting, advanced setups (HaLow backhaul), FAQ, roadmap, community, and change log
• 4 video walkthroughs inside the manual:
  • Initial setup, from flashing the Pi to your first guest connection
  • Using a custom Wi-Fi radio
  • Modifying the captive portal page's look, feel, and offer
  • Creating a Stripe key and connecting payments, then serving the captive portal page over HTTPS
• MCP access to the Parallel guides server, with your own key, so your agent follows this guide's exact steps, commands, and settings
• Instructions for the four service profiles that come with the software: farmers market, restaurant, and marina Starlink
• Every future update to the guide

Not included

• Raspberry Pi 5, storage, power supply, Wi-Fi adapter, HaLow radio, antennas, or cables
• Assembled nodes or any other physical product
• An AI coding agent subscription, a Stripe account, or a domain name
• Internet service, or permissions or licenses for your service
• Roadmap features that haven't been released

What you need

• A Raspberry Pi 5 running Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit). A Pi 4 may work but isn't tested
• A microSD card or NVMe storage, and a Pi 5 power supply or battery board
• A wired internet uplink: an Ethernet cable to your router, a Starlink, or a hotspot
• A computer with a terminal
• Recommended: an AI agent of your choosing, and a USB Wi-Fi adapter with an external antenna
• Optional: a Stripe account for paid tiers, a domain name for HTTPS, and Tailscale for remote access

Skill level

You should be comfortable flashing a Raspberry Pi and connecting to it over SSH. An AI coding agent does most of the install, but you can install by hand.

Before you charge for anything

Many internet plans prohibit sharing or reselling the connection, and some services need a license or permit. Get your provider's written authorization, and anything else your service requires, before you turn on paid tiers. You're also responsible for the taxes and laws that apply where you operate, including the radio rules in your country: the installer defaults to US Wi-Fi settings, so set your own country if you're outside the US. The software is provided as is, without warranty. Nothing here is legal advice.

Delivery and access

Digital only. Right after purchase you'll get a downloadable file with your portal access, plus an email with the details on how to get in.

Refunds

Because access is provided right after purchase, digital products are non-refundable once access has been provided, except where required by law. If you can't open the manual, email go@buildwithparallel.com within 7 days of purchase and we'll fix it. See our Refund Policy.