ImaraISPSet up your ISP
The recommended order to take a new workspace live, matching the Go-live checklist in Settings
A new workspace is empty: no routers, no plans, no way to take money. Settings has a Go-live checklist that watches five things and turns each one green as soon as it exists. This page walks them in the order that works best, plus two steps the checklist does not track but you will want before the first customer.
The checklist items, in order:
- Set the required settings
- Add your first router
- Configure a payment provider
- Create a plan
- Add your first customer
Open Settings → Go-live checklist at any point to see where you are. Nothing on it is ticked by hand; each item is computed from what is actually in your workspace.
Before you start
You need:
- A MikroTik router running RouterOS v7 with internet on its WAN port, and Winbox on a laptop that can reach it.
- The credentials for the payment gateway your subscribers pay through, for example M-Pesa Daraja's Paybill or Till, consumer key, consumer secret and passkey in Kenya. Cash and bank need nothing.
- Optionally, an SMS gateway account for login codes and expiry reminders.
- The Owner login for the workspace. Most setup screens need the Owner (or Ops for plans and routers).
The order
Check the required settings
Some workspaces, especially those created under a reseller, have settings the reseller marked as required. Open Settings → Config inheritance and make sure nothing you must set is still on its default. If you run fibre, turn on the Features switch too. See Workspace settings.
Add your first router
Network → Add router walks a field tech through naming the router, pasting one script into Winbox and watching the checks go green. Until a router is on the tunnel, nothing else can serve a subscriber.
Configure a payment provider
Settings → Payment providers. Every workspace already has a Manual (cash / bank) provider, so a cashier can take money from day one. Add the gateway your subscribers pay through to enable phone prompts and payments straight to your business number, and register its callback URL with the provider (for example with Safaricom for M-Pesa).
Create a plan
Plans → New plan. A plan is a name, a speed, a price, a validity and a type. Every plan becomes a RADIUS group; you never touch the router for this.
Invite your team
Settings → Team & roles. Invite cashiers, techs and support staff by phone or email and pick a role for each. Roles decide what each person can see and do.
Add an SMS gateway
Settings → Notifications. Until a gateway is saved, no SMS leaves the platform: portal login codes and expiry reminders are not delivered. Add the gateway that carries them.
Add your first customer
From Home click New customer, pick the plan, copy the shown-once PPPoE password and collect the first payment on Pay now. The checklist turns fully green and reads "All set — you're live".
Who does what
| Step | Needs this role | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Required settings, Features | Owner | Settings → Config inheritance, Features |
| Add a router | FieldTech, Ops or Owner | Network → Add router |
| Payment provider | Owner | Settings → Payment providers |
| Create a plan | Ops or Owner | Plans |
| Invite team | Owner | Settings → Team & roles |
| SMS gateway | Owner | Settings → Notifications |
| First customer | Ops, Owner or a Cashier for the payment | Home → New customer, then Pay now |
Hotspot ISPs
If you sell hotspot access, the router wizard has a Hotspot toggle that adds two steps (configure, then activate), and the captive portal itself is designed on the Hotspot screen. Plans of type HOTSPOT are sold there. See Hotspot portal.
Step pages
Workspace settings
The Settings map, config inheritance and the Features card
Payment providers
Your payment gateways and cash; the callback URL and Test connection
Plans
Price, speed, validity, grace and what a plan becomes in RADIUS
Add a router
The wizard, the script, the checks and what red means
Team & roles
Invite staff, pick roles, see upstream reseller access
Notifications
SMS gateways for login codes, receipts and reminders
Go-live checklist
Each item and exactly what turns it green