How ISP Billing Systems Handle MikroTik Hotspot Billing in Kenya

MikroTik Billing — The Full Picture

MikroTik RouterOS dominates the Kenyan ISP market. Its affordability, flexibility and feature set make it the default choice for everything from a single hotspot to a carrier-grade network. Any ISP billing system you choose has to integrate deeply with MikroTik, for both Hotspot and PPPoE.

How a Billing System Controls MikroTik

There are two common approaches.

The traditional route is the RouterOS API, which MikroTik exposes on port 8728 (or 8729 for TLS). A billing system connects inbound and uses it to create and remove PPPoE secrets, add and remove Hotspot users, assign bandwidth profiles, check active sessions, and apply IP bindings and address pools. This needs the router reachable from the internet, which is awkward behind CGNAT.

The alternative is an on-router agent that connects outward to the billing platform. Jasiyo works this way: a small script installed on the MikroTik dials home, so there is no public IP to arrange, no inbound port to open, and no RADIUS server to run.

PPPoE Billing via MikroTik

For PPPoE subscribers, the billing system stores credentials and syncs them to the router. When a subscriber's package expires their secret is disabled, so they cannot authenticate. When they pay, it is re-enabled immediately. The subscriber experiences this simply as being disconnected and reconnected.

Hotspot Billing via MikroTik, Step by Step

1. A customer connects to your WiFi network
2. MikroTik intercepts their traffic and redirects them to a captive portal
3. The customer selects a package and pays via M-Pesa STK Push
4. The M-Pesa callback reaches your billing system
5. The billing system creates or activates the Hotspot user on the router
6. The customer is granted access for the duration of their package
7. When the package expires, the user is removed and they land back on the login page

Bandwidth Control

MikroTik lets you set upload and download limits per user profile. Your billing system should map each package to the correct profile automatically — a customer on a 5 Mbps package should get exactly 5 Mbps, not whatever happens to be spare.

Voucher-Based Hotspot Billing

Where customers may not have a smartphone for STK Push — bus parks, rural trading centres — vouchers work well. The billing system generates codes tied to specific packages, the operator sells them over the counter, and the customer enters the code at the captive portal.

What to Look for in MikroTik Integration

• Supports both Hotspot and PPPoE from the same platform
• Real-time sync, not batch updates every few minutes
• Handles dropped connections gracefully, with retry logic
• Supports multiple routers from one account
• Works behind CGNAT, without requiring a public IP on every site

Common Problems

• Customers pay but do not get online — usually a delayed Safaricom callback, or a captive portal the device never reached
• Customers overstaying their package — session management on the router needs to be configured correctly
• Multiple devices on one voucher — the billing system should enforce single-device use where you need it

Jasiyo handles these scenarios as part of its MikroTik integration. See the MikroTik setup guide →