What goes wrong with one device per username
The first phone signs in. The second one gets "no more sessions allowed", and to the customer that looks like a fault, not a rule. You get the call, and somebody on your team has to explain it.
Customers work around it. They pass the password to cousins and neighbors, so you can no longer tell who is using the connection. Or they buy cheap single-device vouchers one at a time. Either way you lose the sale you actually wanted: a household that would happily pay more for one plan they never have to think about.
Price your plans by the number of devices
Once one account can carry several devices, the device count becomes something you can sell. A simple ladder works well:
- A single-device plan for one person on one phone.
- A home plan for a couple or a small family, with 2 or 3 devices.
- A family plan with 5 devices, for the house with a TV and children's tablets.
Give each step more data as well as more devices, so moving up feels worth it. Keep walk-in vouchers as they are, one device each: they suit people passing through, and they keep your home plans clearly better value for the people who live there.
Let customers see their own devices
The calls you want to avoid sound like "someone is using my data". The answer is to show customers the devices on their account, let them give each one a name they recognize, like Mom's phone, and let them block anything they don't. A customer who can free up a slot themselves doesn't need to call you.
Devices should also reconnect on their own. If people have to type the password every time the Wi-Fi drops, they will either call you or write the password on the wall.
Questions to ask your RADIUS platform
Before you print a price list, make sure the system behind it can keep the promise:
- Can one account have several devices online at the same time, and can I set the number per plan?
- Does the limit hold, so a 3-device plan doesn't quietly allow 6?
- After a power cut, do customers get locked out because old sessions still count as online?
- Do devices reconnect without the customer typing the password again?
- Can customers see, name and block their own devices?
- When a customer moves to a bigger plan, does the new device limit apply straight away?
Test it on a spare router before you sell it: sign in with several phones on one plan, then pull the power cable and try again. Our guide to choosing a RADIUS platform has more questions worth asking.
Explain it in one sentence
Customers don't need to know how any of this works. Tell them, on the receipt and on the login page, "Your plan covers up to 3 devices at the same time." Then tell them how to make room for a new phone: block an old device from their dashboard. That sentence saves more support calls than any manual.
How T-Net handles it
In T-Net you set the number of devices on each plan, from 1 to 5. Every device on the account can be online at the same time, the limit holds after a power cut, and each device reconnects on its own for 30 days. Customers see, rename and block their devices from their own dashboard. When a customer moves to a bigger plan, their extra devices can sign in straight away.
If you'd like to offer home plans like these on your network, tell us about it.