What is Hotspot Gateway?
A hotspot gateway is a router feature that intercepts every new device joining a Wi-Fi network and holds it on a login page until the user authenticates — with a username and password, voucher code, OTP or by watching a sponsor message. Until login, no internet flows; after login, the gateway enforces that user's speed limit, data quota and session time.
In India hotspot gateways power hotel Wi-Fi, hostel and PG internet, railway-station networks and village Wi-Fi zones. A hotel can auto-generate a voucher per room on check-in, valid 24 hours at 10 Mbps; a PG owner can sell monthly codes at ₹300 with a 100 GB cap. On MikroTik the hotspot server is built into RouterOS, so no extra license cost is involved — just configuration.