Operator guide

Wavu sells your internet packages on a WiFi login page, takes M-Pesa straight into your own Till or Paybill (Wavu never holds your money), and lets you print vouchers for cash sales. You need a MikroTik router (RouterOS 6.4x or 7) with internet, for example from an Airtel or Safaricom 4G/5G router.

1. Sign up

1. Open the console and choose Create an account.
2. Fill in your business name (customers see it on the WiFi login page), your name, phone and email, and a password (8+ characters).
3. Read and tick the terms, privacy notice and operator agreement. They cover the fee (KES 500 per router per month unless Wavu agreed another price with you), when bills come, and your own duty to hold any licence the Communications Authority of Kenya requires to sell internet to the public.
4. You land on Overview, which has a checklist. Each step ticks itself off when it's really done.

One account per email and per phone number. Add staff under Team: they get their own login, and only owners change settings, packages and billing.

2. M-Pesa: sandbox first, then live

Customers pay you through your own Safaricom Daraja app. Wavu stores its keys encrypted.

Try it in the sandbox (no real money)

1. At developer.safaricom.co.ke, create an app with Lipa Na M-Pesa Sandbox.
2. In Wavu, Settings → M-Pesa:
   • Account type Paybill, number 174379
   • the app's Consumer key and Consumer secret
   • the sandbox Passkey from Daraja's simulator page
   • Mode Sandbox
3. Press Save, then Test keys. Sandbox prompts only go to Daraja's test numbers.

Go live

1. On Daraja, apply for Lipa Na M-Pesa Online go-live with your own shortcode. Safaricom emails you the live passkey.
2. In Settings → M-Pesa, choose your account type:
   • Till (Buy Goods) has two numbers, and mixing them up is the most common mistake:
     • Store number: the head office (HO) number of the till. It's the one Daraja knows your business by, often on Safaricom's go-live email or your M-PESA business portal.
     • Till number: the number customers pay to, the one on your sticker.
     • If a payment says "Merchant does not exist", these two are swapped or wrong.
   • Paybill: the paybill number. Account number customers see is optional.
3. Live keys, passkey, Mode Live, Save, Test keys.
4. Make a test purchase (section 6).

Not ready for M-Pesa? On Overview, press Skip: sell with vouchers first and sell cash vouchers (section 5). Add M-Pesa whenever you like.

3. Add your routers (one or many)

Do this for each router:

1. Routers → Add router, give it a name you'll recognise (e.g. "Shop", "Market stage").
2. Wavu shows a one-line command that works for 24 hours. On the router, open a terminal (WinBox → New Terminal, or SSH) and paste it. The router must have internet. The command doesn't touch your internet port or settings, and running it twice is safe.
3. Within a minute the router shows Online, with its model and its ports. The internet (WAN) port is marked and can't be picked.
4. Tick the ports customers use (e.g. ether2–ether5 and wlan1), name the WiFi, keep the network 10.5.50.0/24 unless it clashes, and press Set up hotspot. Progress shows live.
5. Connect a phone to the WiFi: your login page with your packages appears.

Several routers: repeat for each one. They all share your packages, M-Pesa account, vouchers and reports, and Reports splits sales by router. Each router is billed from the first full month after it first comes online.

Command expired? Router page → New install command. Still offline after a few minutes? On the router, /interface sstp-client print should show wavu-tunnel running; check the router's clock (/system clock print) and that it has internet, then contact Wavu support.

4. Packages, also per router

Packages → New package: name, price, time limit and/or data limit, speed (Mbps down/up) and how many devices can use one purchase.

• Per router: with more than one router you'll see Sell on. Tick the routers that should sell this package; leave all unticked to sell it everywhere. For an existing package, open the routers cell in the table, change the ticks and Save. Example: a cheap 30-minute package only at the busy market router, a day package everywhere.
• Pause takes a package off sale without losing its history.
• Changing a package's speed or devices applies at each customer's next login. Customers who already bought keep the time and data they paid for.

5. Vouchers for cash sales

1. Vouchers → Make vouchers: pick a package and how many (24 fit an A4 page).
2. Print cards (PDF), cut them, and sell them for cash.
3. The customer joins your WiFi, taps Have a voucher? and types the 8-character code. A code keeps working on any phone until its package ends.
4. Lost a sheet? Open it and Cancel unused codes.

Vouchers work with or without M-Pesa.

6. Make a test purchase

• With M-Pesa: connect your own phone to your WiFi, pick your cheapest package, enter your number and your PIN. You should be online within seconds, and the payment shows under Payments.
• With vouchers: make a few vouchers, connect a phone, tap Have a voucher? and type one code.

The last step of the Overview checklist ticks itself off when either works.

7. What customers see

• Joining your WiFi opens your login page: your logo, packages and support number. They pick a package, enter their M-Pesa number, enter their PIN, and they're online. No password to type.
• New phone, or "I paid but have no internet": Use your M-Pesa code with the code from Safaricom's SMS moves the package to the phone they're holding. Android phones can change their WiFi address, and this fixes that too.
• When a package ends (time or data used up), they're disconnected and Wavu nudges the device so the buy page opens again by itself: phones show it straight away, and a computer on a cable has its port blinked for 3 seconds. A computer also keeps a "You're connected" tab that turns into the buy page. If nothing appears, open http://10.5.50.1 (your hotspot address).
• Your account is suspended (e.g. unpaid Wavu bills): the page stops selling new packages. Anyone already online keeps their package until it ends.

8. Day to day

• Overview: today's sales, who's online, routers online.
• Live sessions: Disconnect someone, or Disconnect & cancel their package.
• Payments: search a phone or M-Pesa code. Check now asks Safaricom about a payment still waiting.
• Reports: sales per day, per package and per router, and a CSV of payments for your books.
• Billing: Wavu's monthly bill, made on the 1st and due 7 days later. Pay it there by M-Pesa. Any free trial Wavu gave you shows here.

9. Locked out?

• Staff member forgot their password: the owner opens Team and presses Reset link next to them, then sends the link by WhatsApp. It works once, for 1 hour.
• Owner forgot their password: contact Wavu support. After checking it's you, Wavu sends you the same kind of one-time link.
• "Too many attempts. Wait a few minutes": after 10 wrong passwords for one email, sign-in pauses for 15 minutes. Wait, or ask for a reset link.
• "This account is suspended": contact Wavu support (usually an unpaid bill).
• A reset signs you out on every device. Sign in again with the new password.