W-isp billing and proxy server software

Hi, In my spare time i am currently trying to plan a city-wide wifi network and had a question

If there were to be a WISP that provided free access so users can connect together in a city-wide network, but charge for internet usage, how would that be billed?

I have been a long time fan of wingate but its login and billing features are not the best. Wingate does not disable accounts when the balance becomes a negative figure, and you can only export account balances, bandwidth usage etc in csv format which is not very useful.
Wingate also only allows 3 types of login method:
- Automatic by IP address. Wont work in a dynamicly addressed network
- Java popup window (Proxy only). When a user opens an internet connection a java based login box pops up before they can continue. This is a problem for winxp users who do not have a java engine installed. (booo sun)
- WGIC (Wingate Internet Client) which is a winsock redirector that hardly ever works but can still authenticate for proxy and NAT. I dont like it because it says "wingate" all over it (good for hackers or sniffers)

Does anyone know of some good windows server software that works with both proxy and NAT? It would be great if it had a good billing system and the user login screen was not java based.

For windows have a look at
http://www.advancedispbilling.com/
http://advancedradius.com/

I would suggest that you look to using Linux/BSD as the OS on which to base a wisp - aside from being a much better server OS than windows, there is heaps of good isp and network software available, much of it open/free.
Have a look at
http://www.sisd.com/freeside/
http://www.freeradius.org/
http://nocat.net/
http://www.hpi.net/whitepapers/warta/

As well as authentication and billing you will need to manage bandwidth and priority, both of which are much easier using Linux.

where are you planning the network?

I am planning the network for Napier. I have been trying to learn about wifi and its capabilities for a year now and havnt been able to make much progress. I know of a company called airnet up here that use the 5ghz band but they dont allow public access to the network, which is the goal of my network.

they do now - see reach wireless...

Hi Ray, still interested in video site?
Post message here if so, so we can talk
crirus in GAF