Frequently asked questions
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Account & billing
Section titled “Account & billing”How am I billed for ISPMan?
Section titled “How am I billed for ISPMan?”Your plan and charges are shown on the Billing page, with an invoice for each period. Pay an invoice from its page, either by M-Pesa prompt (enter the Phone Number to Prompt) or by card. When you pay by M-Pesa, the invoice is marked as paid automatically once the payment is confirmed.
What happens if my ISPMan invoice is overdue?
Section titled “What happens if my ISPMan invoice is overdue?”A banner appears at the top of the dashboard. ISPMan won’t stop your services automatically before contacting you to confirm, but settle overdue invoices to avoid any interruption.
Do expired PPPoE customers count towards my bill?
Section titled “Do expired PPPoE customers count towards my bill?”Yes. Active PPPoE accounts count even while they’re expired. They come off the bill once they’re deactivated, which happens automatically after the grace period set in Settings → PPPoE Deactivation Policy (7 days by default).
Can I run more than one business from one login?
Section titled “Can I run more than one business from one login?”Yes. Use Create Business in the account menu to add another business. You can then switch between them without signing out.
How do I give staff their own logins?
Section titled “How do I give staff their own logins?”Go to Team and use Invite Member or Add Member, then choose their role. See Add a staff member with limited access.
What is the Assistant, and does it cost extra?
Section titled “What is the Assistant, and does it cost extra?”The Assistant is an AI helper on your dashboard. It can look at your customers, routers and payments, run diagnostics, and prepare customer import files. Its usage is measured in agent credits, which you can see on the Billing page. Any usage above your allowance appears on that period’s invoice.
Hotspot
Section titled “Hotspot”Which routers can I use for a hotspot?
Section titled “Which routers can I use for a hotspot?”MikroTik routers running RouterOS 7.18.2 or newer, and Ruijie devices. A MikroTik that broadcasts Wi-Fi itself also needs the wireless or wifi-qcom package. Routers without Wi-Fi (hEX, CCR, RB750 and similar) can run a hotspot server for external access points.
Where do I create hotspot packages?
Section titled “Where do I create hotspot packages?”Inside a hotspot configuration: Settings → Hotspot Configurations, then open the configuration. Hotspot → Packages lists all your packages, but you create and edit them inside the configuration.
Can a customer use one package on several devices?
Section titled “Can a customer use one package on several devices?”Yes, up to the Max Sessions per User you set on the package. Roaming between hotspots and routers is controlled by the Roaming card in Settings.
Can I offer free trials or free internet?
Section titled “Can I offer free trials or free internet?”Yes. Packages can be marked as free trials. You can also hand out free access with vouchers or 100%-discount promo codes. See Run a promo or loyalty campaign.
How do I give a customer time without them paying?
Section titled “How do I give a customer time without them paying?”Open the customer, click Connect, choose the package and set the expiry. Every manual connect is logged under Hotspot → Manual Connects with the name of the staff member who did it.
A customer’s bundle ended before its time was up. Why?
Section titled “A customer’s bundle ended before its time was up. Why?”The package probably has a data cap, and the customer used it up. Usage counts whichever is larger, download or upload. See Slow speeds and fair usage.
Can I change how the login page looks?
Section titled “Can I change how the login page looks?”Yes. Settings → Customize Branding sets your logo, name, colour and contact details. Settings → Captive Theme sets the portal design, with a live preview.
How do PPPoE customers renew?
Section titled “How do PPPoE customers renew?”They pay to your Paybill using their account number. The money goes to their wallet, and when the subscription ends ISPMan renews it automatically if the balance covers the package. You can also send them an M-Pesa prompt with STK Push on their page.
What does an expired PPPoE customer see?
Section titled “What does an expired PPPoE customer see?”Their router stays connected, but only to a limited connection. Their browser shows your Expired PPPoE notice (designed under Settings → Captive Theme), which has a button to their account so they can pay.
Can I give a customer a few extra days to pay?
Section titled “Can I give a customer a few extra days to pay?”Yes. On their page, click Connect and choose Grace Period, then set Grace Period Ends.
Can I import my existing PPPoE customers?
Section titled “Can I import my existing PPPoE customers?”Yes. Use import on Services → PPPoEs with a CSV or Excel file. The Assistant can build that file from your spreadsheet and/or your MikroTik’s PPPoE secrets. See Move your existing PPPoE customers into ISPMan.
Does ISPMan send PPPoE expiry reminders?
Section titled “Does ISPMan send PPPoE expiry reminders?”Yes, if you turn them on for each package (for example 1 week before, 1 day before, and when expired) and PPPoE Expiry SMS is on in Comms → SMS → Settings.
Can I send PPPoE customers a formal invoice?
Section titled “Can I send PPPoE customers a formal invoice?”Yes. Go to PPPoE → Invoices → New Invoice, add line items, then print it, email it, or record payments against it (including part-payments).
Payments
Section titled “Payments”Which payment methods are supported?
Section titled “Which payment methods are supported?”It depends on your country. In Kenya, you can use M-Pesa Paybill, M-Pesa Till, a bank Paybill and card gateways such as Paystack. Settings → Payments Settings lists the providers available to you.
Do I need my own Paybill?
Section titled “Do I need my own Paybill?”No. Without one, customer payments are collected into your ISPMan wallet, and you withdraw them to M-Pesa from Payments → Withdrawals. With your own Paybill or Till, money settles to you directly.
A customer paid to the wrong account number. Can I fix it?
Section titled “A customer paid to the wrong account number. Can I fix it?”Yes. Open the payment in Payments → Received. If it says No destination wallet assigned., click Assign Wallet and select the right customer. Owners, admins and operators can do this.
What is the minimum withdrawal?
Section titled “What is the minimum withdrawal?”100 in your currency. Before you can withdraw, you need to link an authenticator app under Wallets Security. See Withdrawals pending or failing.
Why is a customer’s money “Loaded” but they’re not connected?
Section titled “Why is a customer’s money “Loaded” but they’re not connected?”Wallets → Loaded lists customers whose money is in their wallet but hasn’t been used for a package yet. A hotspot customer can pick a package on the portal to use it. See Payment received but customer not online.
Devices
Section titled “Devices”How does ISPMan connect to my router?
Section titled “How does ISPMan connect to my router?”When you import the setup script, it connects the router securely to ISPMan. From then on the router stays in touch with your dashboard, which can monitor and manage it.
How do I know a router is online?
Section titled “How do I know a router is online?”Check Last Seen under Devices → All Devices. On the device page, buttons such as + Hotspot, Enable SSH and Reboot only appear while the router is reachable. Offline routers raise alerts under Alerts.
Can I reach Winbox on a router remotely?
Section titled “Can I reach Winbox on a router remotely?”Yes. Settings → Winbox Access lets you reach your devices’ Winbox through a secure gateway. Changes take about 3 minutes to apply.
Does ISPMan back up my router configuration?
Section titled “Does ISPMan back up my router configuration?”Yes, for onboarded MikroTiks. Backups run daily, are stored encrypted, and are kept for 30 days. Use Back up now on the device page for an immediate backup.
How do I add more routers than my limit allows?
Section titled “How do I add more routers than my limit allows?”If Add shows Device limit reached, contact support to raise it.
Who do my SMS come from?
Section titled “Who do my SMS come from?”The shared ISPMan sender ID, until you register your own under Comms → SMS → Sender IDs. Documents are reviewed within 1 working day.
How are SMS charged?
Section titled “How are SMS charged?”Depending on your account, you either buy prepaid SMS units (Comms → SMS → Buy SMS), which never expire, or SMS usage appears on your monthly Billing invoice. Long messages are sent in parts, and each part counts as one SMS.
Can I use my own SMS provider?
Section titled “Can I use my own SMS provider?”Yes. In Comms → SMS → Settings, turn off Use Default SMS Settings and enter your provider’s SMS API URL, API Key, API Key Location and Sender ID.
Why didn’t a customer get their SMS?
Section titled “Why didn’t a customer get their SMS?”Check Delivered and Error in the message list under Comms → SMS. See SMS not delivering.
Data & security
Section titled “Data & security”Can I restore a customer I deleted by mistake?
Section titled “Can I restore a customer I deleted by mistake?”Yes. Owners and admins can open Settings → Recently Deleted, find the customer and restore them.
Can I export my customer list?
Section titled “Can I export my customer list?”Yes. Hotspot customers can be downloaded as Excel from Hotspot → Customers, and PPPoE customers exported to CSV from Services → PPPoEs.
Who can withdraw money or change payment settings?
Section titled “Who can withdraw money or change payment settings?”Only owners and admins. Withdrawals also need a code from the authenticator app linked under Wallets Security.
Can I see who did what on the dashboard?
Section titled “Can I see who did what on the dashboard?”Yes. Each team member’s page shows their Login Activity and Audit Logs. Your own activity is under My Activity in your profile. Manual connects and compensation runs are also recorded.
Are router passwords and secrets safe in backups?
Section titled “Are router passwords and secrets safe in backups?”Configuration backups include sensitive values such as PPPoE, RADIUS and wireless secrets, so they’re stored encrypted and removed after 30 days. Only staff with device management access can see them.
What should I never share with support?
Section titled “What should I never share with support?”Your password, your authenticator codes and your API keys. Support never needs them to help you, so don’t share them with anyone. If someone asks, report it.