Internet Cafe Guide

What to Consider Before Opening an Internet Cafe?

Internet cafe business is a very interesting business. Computer technology is evolving rapidly from day to day. Suppose you opened a cyber cafe business a year ago, computers that you bought at that time could be considered outdated. At present, broadband high-speed internet access is readily available everywhere and the rates are quite cheap. You only need to bring your own laptop or netbook if you want to access the Internet. What I see, internet cafes are no longer as they were introduced about ten years ago. However the internet cafe is still the choice for entrepreneurs as a business option. Most of them are from people interested in computer field. They get involved in internet cafes because of their interest in computers. Indeed you must have interest to last long in this business is full of many challenges in terms of competition, maintenance problems and customers variety. Nowadays, Internet caf customers are usually made up of youth aged 12 to 25 years. Why are they go to the Internet caf? Is it because they have no computer at home? Off course they have their own computer at home, but actually they have much more fun to use computers at cyber cafes. Among the main reasons is that they can socialize with friends, exchange ideas in reality world about virtual world and to play some multiplayer game through the network. Undeniably, if you intend to be involved in an internet cafe business, you have to think about how to attract young adults to the internet caf. However, they are quite picky with the computer specifications. Indeed so, because they require a good computer specifications to meet the requirements of the latest games. If the computer is outdated how could they play the latest games? Budget to buy the latest computer hardware should be included in your business plan. Do not be stingy and buy second hand or used computers. It only leads to failure of your business. How long do you

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expect the computer will be able to survive? Never mind if it did not last long but it also does not meet the needs of your customers. Game and software that should be installed in the computer must meet customers requirements. You need to make a survey to find out what popular software and games in your area. Every area has different requirements. Expenditure on software is a little higher than the price of hardware. This is indeed a burden for the internet caf entrepreneur, but it is not a barrier. About the games choices, you need old and latest games in your Internet caf. As an example, Counter Strike which is a ten years old game is still popular till today. Other games to consider are online games which have become more popular these years for example Last Chaos, Silkroad Online and many more. There are hundreds of online games you could choose at this time for your customers. It is really difficult to make a choice. Thats why you have to do a survey in your area. Internet access speed also must be considered carefully. Choose the fastest speed available in your area. It also is one of the factors to attract customers come your cyber cafe. There are many sorts of Internet usage by clients while in a cyber caf. Some of them like to play online game, while others are chatting on Facebook, download mp3 or watch videos on YouTube. All of these activities require a fast and stable internet connection. So choose wisely. As a conclusion, Internet caf business is indeed very interesting but it is also very challenging. Business planning should be made carefully. Customers, budget, applications, games and internet service quality are among the main things to consider before opening an internet caf so that your business will be able to compete in the coming years.

Basic Internet Cafe Requirement

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Some named it internet cafe or cyber cafe. There are many names for that type of business premise for example net cafe, internet shop. In Malaysia the most popular name is cybercafe. In Indonesia they call it Warnet and in South Korea its called PC Bang. Every internet cafe has its own and different requirement, but this is the basic requirement for every cyber cafes.

This is the most basic requirement for an Internet Cafe as a reference. However, every Internet Cafe or Gaming Center has their special requirement. Hardware needed 1. 20 x Client PCs 2. 1 x PC to control Clients a.k.a Server 3. 1 x 24 ports Switch (or Hub?) 4. 1 x Modem with built-in Router because it is easier to have modem with built-in router (broadband modem). 5. 1 x Printer any brand 6. 1 x Scanner any brand 7. 20 x USB extender (If only the USB ports are in the back) Client PCs x 20 units

Minimum specification required to run internet applications, office applications and games. It is important to have the same specification on all the clients system to minimum maintenance job. 1. Processor at least Pentium 4 2. 40 GB Hard Disk Drive 3. 256MB RAM Memory 4. Monitor 15 or 17 or 21! 5. Motherboard Good brand with integrated sound and VGA but separated AGP card is the best! 6. Keyboard & Mouse Any good brand keyboard and mouse with scroll. 7. Speaker or Headphone with Microphone 8. 100Mbps Network Card 9. CDRW Drive (optional) 10. Web Cam (optional)

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Server PC x 1 unit

Not so important, at least can run cyber cafe management software is good enough. But more number of clients means higher specification needed. 1. Processor at least Pentium 4 2. 20 40 GB Hard Disk Drive 3. 256MB RAM Memory 4. Monitor 15 5. Motherboard Good brand with integrated sound and VGA 6. Keyboard & Mouse Any good brand keyboard and mouse with scroll. 7. 100Mbps Network Card 8. CDRW Drive (optional) 9. Web Cam (optional) Software in Clients Most needed application by customers. It is important to have the same applications on all the clients system to minimum maintenance job. 1. Operating System Windows 98, Windows Me or Windows XP 2. Office Suite Ms Office or OpenOffice.org 3. Browser Internet Explorer, FireFox or Netscape Navigator 4. Adobe Reader 5. File Compressor Winzip or WinRar 6. QuickTime 7. Media Player WinAmp5 and Window Media Player 8. Messenger ICQ, Yahoo, MSN and AOL 9. Anti-Virus Norton AntiVirus or McAffee 10. CD Burning Utility Nero or Alcohol (optional) 11. Reboot Restoration Utility Deepfreeze or Norton GoBack, or Juzt Reboot card (optional). Although it is optional, I think it will reduce almost 95% of internet cafes maintenance. Think about it! Software in Server Preferably the same with clients, because it is easier to troubleshoot problem if something happen.

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1. Operating System Win98, WinMe or WinXP 2. Office Suite Ms Office or OpenOffice.org 3. Browser Internet Explorer, FireFox or Netscape Navigator 4. Adobe Reader 5. File Compressor Winzip or WinRar 6. QuickTime 7. Media Player WinAmp5 and Window Media Player 8. Messenger ICQ, Yahoo, MSN and AOL 9. Anti Virus Norton AntiVirus or McAffee 10. CD Burning Utility Nero or Alcohol (optional) 11. Internet Cafe Management Software CCAutoSoft Games to Choose These are the most wanted games in the Internet Cafe or Gaming Center. 1. Half-Life, Half-Life2 2. Conter Strike 3. Need For Speed Underground 1 & 2 4. Warcraft 3 5. Doom 3 6. Everquest2 7. Galaxy LightSpeed 8. Halo for PC 9. Star Wars Galaxies 10. Battlefield 1942 11. Secret Weapons and Vietnam 12. Rise of Nations 13. Home World 2 14. Soldier of Fortune 15. City of Heroes 16. Final Fantasy XI 17. Command and Conquer 18. Midtown Madness 1 & 2 19. Bass Fishing 20. House of the Dead 1 & 2

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(The article was written in 2005, so it has some outdated information)

Setting Up An Internet Cafe Part 1

Starting an internet cafe (or cyber cafe or gaming center or net cafe) is not as difficult as everybody thinks, but things might get quite messy if you are clueless. From today onward, I will show on how to setting up a cyber cafe in 20 x 20

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ft. premise.

The internet cafe (or cyber cafe or gaming center or net cafe) which I am going to set up is just a small cyber cafe which only has 10-20 units of computers for customers, 1 unit of managing computer and 1 Linux server for NAS (Network-Attach Storage), and can be used as web caching, proxy server etc.

This is just a basic and simple internet cafe just to shows on how setting up an internet cafe is done. In this article I will try to tell about electrical wiring planning, networking setup planning, suitable location for server, router, modem, scanner, printer and the counter.

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At the end of the article you should have the knowledge on how to set up or built your own internet cafe (or cyber cafe or gaming center or net cafe) yourself, or at least you are not clueless anymore even though you just pay for every single jobs.

Setting Up An Internet Cafe Part 2 Tables and Arrangement

When setting up an internet cafe layout, the most important thing might be the arrangement of the computers. That is including the arrangement of the tables where you want to put the computers on. The purpose of good arrangement is that the internet cafe will look neat and comfortable in the eyes of your customers. And you will be able to monitor the customers easily. In the image below, there are already 10 sets of computers on 5 tables in the 2020 ft. shop. Seems like it is a good arrangement, but it is not final. Of course, we can put more computers later.

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On the images, the tables used are not in standard dimension. I have to use a different measurement of tables to save some space so the customers will feel more comfortable. The width and height is the same as other computer table, but I use different depth.

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Standard Table

Computer table dimension used

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Standard computer table have 2.5 ft depth, but in this internet cafe shop I used computer table with 1.8 ft depth. If the standard depth is used, the arrangement in the most top image is not possible. But with the new measurement, it is easy and there is more space to utilize, such as to use bigger and comfortable chair seats.

Setting Up An Internet Cafe Part 3 Electrical Wiring

After decided the measurement of the tables, it is easier to plan the layout. Then, I put all the 20 computers in the shop plan. Try to find the best layout. After a few change here and there, finally I found that the layout as you can see from the images below, which is the best of I can think. Of course, this is just my opinion.

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After we finalizing the layout, then it time to think about the electrical wiring. Electrical wiring works should be done by licensed contractor, but you should know what the contractor have to do, such as how many sockets you want and where are they placed. There should be a sufficient number of socket outlets in the internet cafe area for all your needs. For safety and for your own convenient, it is best to have 2 electric sockets for each computer. One for the CPU and another is for the monitor. For the speakers, USB powered speakers should be used. But because of the high cost you might want to have just one electric socket for each computer. Make sure your computers power supply have power output for the monitor. In the future, when you have to replace the power supply, make sure you buy the right one, which have power output for the monitor.

Power supply with and without monitor's power output

Placement

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Electric socket placement

Another thing to consider is electric sockets placement. It might be dangerous to place the socket too low from the floor. It is dangerous for the customer and it is not so convenience. I think the best practice is to put the socket at the same height of the computer monitor and make sure it is placed behind the monitor.

If the computers are far away from the wall, consider to use a high quality extension socket. And for your properties and your own safety, do not connect multiple appliances to a single socket with a simple double adaptor or block socket adaptor. If necessary, use a multi-outlet safety plug board that has a builtin overload cutout feature.

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Beside electric socket for the computers, there should be sockets for modem, switch, printer, scanner etc.

Setting Up An Internet Cafe Part 4 Network Cable Wiring

Unlike other types of shop, internet cafe needs one more wiring other than electrical wiring which is network cable wiring. A good planning is needed to suite the location of every device in the internet cafe. Unlike electric wiring which only needs 3 to 6 cables in each electric wire casing to the switches, plug or sockets, network cable is exclusive one cable for each device. This is about Category 5 (Cat5/Cat5e) cable. Cat 5 is required for basic 10/100 functionality, you would want Cat 5e for gigabit (1000BaseT) operation and Cat 6 or higher gives you a measure of future proofing. If you do not want to work hard, there are many contractors who like to offer their services at a fair price and quality workmanship, but doing the job yourself is not as hard as you think. And its fun! (at least for me )

There is an old article I wrote about connecting all hardware in internet cafe. I wrote it in 2005, so it may have some outdated information. In this article I will show you how I planned to connect the entire computer to one switch and to the router/modem and finally to the internet as the image below.

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Network

How do we connect a computer to a switch? A computer can be connected to a switch by a network cable. Common network cable used is Cat5. Each end of the cable has a plug, called RJ45 connector or plug. You can make the network cables yourself if you want to cut down the cost of setting up your own internet cafe. It is not so difficult. You only need Cat5 cable, RJ45 connectors, crimping tools and a lot of patience. Of course you must know how to arrange the wires by their colors.

RJ45 + Cat5 cable + Crimping Tool = Network Cable

And this is the latest my internet cafe plan.

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One end of each cable from 14 computers will run through the ceiling via electrical casing n capping. For computers at the center, there is a permanent structure built for electrical and network wiring purpose. The casing is mounted on the structure then all the cables run through the casing to above the ceiling.

All rj45 plugs/cables from 14 computers run down from the ceiling through the casing and then are plugged into the switchs port. The others 6 computers connected to the switch by the cables run through casing mounted at the wall.

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Other then 20 computers for the clients, devices needed to be connected to the switch are modem with built-in router, computer at the counter, and perhaps a server ( I planned to put an Ubuntu server in the LAN for NAS (network-attach storage), squid cache server, proxy server and might be an intranet web server refer to Part 1). The switch I need is a 24 ports switch because I have 22 computers and 1 modem/router. So have only 1 extra port. Usually, there are 4 ports at the router/modem but one is used to connect to the switch. So overall I have 4 extra ports, which might be useful soon.

Recommended Reboot & Restore Software For Cyber Cafe

The reboot and restore application is very important for internet cafe. It could reduce more than 90% of maintenance job. I have already explained it in details in the previous article the need for reboot and restore software. Nowadays, there are many reboot and restore software available that you can use in your internet cafe. There are two types of methods of how the software works. One is to protect the whole hard disk. And two, protect only certain partitions. In the internet cafe situation, I really like to recommend you to use the second type of reboot and restore software. How the software works is really important to your customers. Why?

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Because as a customer, it really good if you could feel like you are using your own computer. Nowadays, everybody got at least one computer at home, and everybody is so used to how it feels. If you change the way on how the computer works, like how it display or how it is limited by certain program, they will feel annoyed. It is related to the reboot and restore software. The first type of restore software, do not let the customer to save anything in the computers hard disk. Some of the restore software only let the customer to save while in the session. After the computer is restarted, all the files will be deleted. Imagine, if you are a customer and using a computer to play games, how you could save your achievement or high stage or level with that type of protection? For example, you play Devil May Cry, after achieved the 4th stage you want to go home, so you save the game. You would come again tomorrow and continue the game. Unfortunately, when you come back tomorrow, the save file has gone. It is because of the reboot and restore program. What would you feel? Are you angry? Do you want to replay it again?? If there is another cyber cafe that let the customer save the game, what will you choose? Go to the other cyber cafe and play game there or stay at that cyber cafe? What will you choose? It is just common sense. Off course you will choose to go to the other cyber cafe. The other type of reboot and restore software, let the customer to save anything in the hard disk in certain partition. So, whether its are the games, documents or photos, customers could save it in a certain partition. With this type of restore software you could attract lines of regular customers. Off course there will be some negative side of it. When every file can be saved, there could be some files which infected with virus or there could be unwanted files in the hard disk. And even worse, too many files were save that make the hard disks partition almost full. What could you do? To avoid virus files, you could install a good anti-virus in every computer. You must install a good anti-virus no matter how your restore software works. It is for your own god, your internet cafe reputation and for your customer. About the second problem, the maintenance must be scheduled. The hard disks partition which is being used to save files need to be maintain once a month or every six months. To run an internet cafe, you cannot make it zero maintenance if you want to compete with other internet cafes. Nowadays, Internet cafe business is very challenging. Every shop will try hardest and the best way to maintain its customers.

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* There are some tips about an easy way to maintain that kind of partition which I would like to share in the next article. * I have tried several restore software, and there is only one that I would really recommend to internet cafe owner. It is Deep Freeze. No, I am not affiliate with Faronic in any way. I just found that Deep Freeze is very good and it let you choose which partition to freeze and which not.

Connecting All Hardwares in Internet Cafe

Just to give some ideas on how to build a local area network for an Internet cafe. This is not a complete guide. However it is good to give you a brief idea before you go even deeper in building a network.

All the hardware or devices need to be connected each other to the Local Area Networking (LAN), to enable them share one internet line to get connected to the Internet. This is a basic idea on how to connect all your hardware to the LAN. Connecting the Computers

All PCs have to connect to the switch/hub, which are merge as a LAN. A local area network (LAN) is a group of computers and associated devices that share a common communications line and typically share the resources of a single processor or server within a small geographic area (for example, within an office building).

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In this article I assume that all PCs have been completely installed with Windows 98 operating system and using static IP Address instead of dynamic IP (DHCP) for each system because CCAutoSoft cyber cafe management software currently only support static IP Address. Installing and Configuring Ethernet Adapter Card In order to enable each PC communicate with each other we have to install the networking protocol. Common ones used in a simple network are IPX/SPX and TCP/IP. To install, open Network Neighborhood properties, click Add button, Select Protocol and Add button, scroll down in the manufacturer list and select Microsoft, select IPX/SPX and click OK. The next one should be the same, but select TCP/IP instead. Once installed, select TCP/IP in the Network Neighborhood Properties window, click Properties button. Insert into TCP/IP Properties: The PCs IP Address, e.g. 192.168.1.2 -Each PC must have different IP Address e.g.: 192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.3, 192.168.1.4, 192.168.1.5 and so on. Gateway: 192.168.1.1 (modem/router IP Address) DNS: refer to your Internet Provider. In this case I use Malaysian TMNets DNS: 202.188.0.133 and 202.188.1.5 Click OK button, and restart PC. The computer will be ready to get connected once it is restarted. Do the same to other PC. Cabling/Wiring Commonly use cables are co-ax and cat5 with RJ-45 and BNC connector. Most of new NIC only support RJ-45 connector, so we use Cat5 (also called 10BaseT) cable. Other than RJ-45 connector and Cat5 cable, you also need a crimping tool. Measure the length from the client to the switch, perhaps a little bit longer. Cut the cable and crimp RJ-45 connector at both of the cable end. The next step is the easiest part, put one end of the cable into the clients NIC port and the other end at the switch/hubs port. You have to make another 20 cables if you have 20 units of clients with 1 unit of server. Connect all 20 PCs, PC Server and the modem/router to the hub/switch and connect a phone line to the modem/router. Configure the modem and router setting. There are many broadband modem with built it router out there. The configuration is off course different with each other. But the basic configuration is to set the router as the gateway. You also have to insert your dialing properties in the router, such as your username and password. Most of the modem can be configured through the web browser at any connected clients. For example, if the modem/routers IP Address is 192.168.1.1, just type http://192.168.1.1 in the web browser URLs box on any PC in the LAN.

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Sharing a Printer Usually, a printer is connected to the server PC, so the internet cafe staff can easily manage printing process whether from clients or by walk in customer. Configure network neighborhood properties of the server to share printer, this will let printer sharing with the LAN. After install the printer driver into the server, make it shared. Add printer at each client by browsing in the LAN and find shared printer at the server. Connecting A Scanner Scanner needs to be connected to a PC to operate. Connect it to a client if you prefer customers to use the scanner themselves, or connect it to the server if you want the cyber cafe staff to scan for your customers. Conclusion Now we have finished build a LAN with 20 units of PC, a printer and a scanner, which sharing single phone line to connect to the internet. This is just a brief idea on how to connect all hardware or devices in a cyber cafe. Of course, you may search the details explanation in the search engine or in later articles. (The article was written in 2005, so it has some outdated information) Related reference: Network Cable Wiring in Internet Cafe

The Need For Reboot And Restore Software/Hardware

The importance of reboot-and-restore application in internet cafe that could makes your life easier and your Internet cafe business a success. What is Reboot-And-Restore in PC system?

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Reboot-And-Restore is an action to restore a PC system to a state where it before, only by reboot it. PC need to be restored because of some factors such as having problems, virus, trojan, spyware, cleaning the history and refreshing the system. Normally, after the reboot-and-restore process, a PC should clean and fresh as it just has been finished setup (off course, depend on what state it have been configured before.). Currently, there are not many good reboot-and-restore applications in the market. I can only name two of its which is DeepFreeze and Norton GoBack. And in hardware category, I only found one that is JuztReboot. With DeepFreeze, you have the choice to freeze partition while Norton GoBack only could freeze one hard disk. But Norton GoBack run much faster and smoother than DeepFreeze which require more fast and high end desktop. On the other hand, you need to by JuztReboot card to use JuztReboot function. Symantecs Norton GoBack 4.0 allows you to easily undo PC problems. Restore your PC to a healthy state by going back minutes, hours, or even days (depending on available disk space). Also use Norton GoBack to restore files that have been deleted or modified, and to try new software safely. Deep Freeze is the standard in bulletproof disk protection. Deep Freeze instantly protects and preserves baseline computer configurations. No matter what changes a user makes to a workstation, simply restart to eradicate all changes and reset the computer to its original state right down to the last byte. Expensive computer assets are kept running at 100% capacity and technical support time is reduced or eliminated completely. The result is consistent trouble-free computing on a truly protected and parallel network, completely free of harmful viruses and unwanted programs. How about Windows System Restore? Windows System Restore could be found on Windows XP and Windows Me. It only can restore Windows files and its registry. It cannot disinfect virus, trojan or spyware from the desktop. In fact, the virus may be accidentally backed up because of this feature. It is good enough to solve light error related to Windows application. However, it is safe to disable the System Restore if you are using DeepFreeze of Norton GoBack. System Restore is designed to automatically monitor and record changes made to the core Windows system files and to the registry. System Restore can then allow you to undo (or roll back) a change that caused instability in your system. This is accomplished by periodically recording a Restore Point (or System CheckPoint) that gives you the ability to roll your system back to the point in time when your computer was known to function properly. Why Need Reboot-And-Restore?

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State A: Just finished install and configure the Windows XP, MS Office and other application in a desktop PC. State B: Configure the reboot-and-restore application State C: Start uses the desktop PC. State D: After sometime (may be after an hour, a day, a week or a month), the desktop got some problems or sign of virus or may be a registry error. The problem could be repair by using the anti-virus (if it is a virus infection) or windows ScanReg (if it is a registry error). How about if the desktop still keeps showing the same problem again and again? So, it is an unrecoverable error in the desktop. The hard way to solve the problem is to reformat the hard disk and reinstall Windows and other application all over again. But fortunately, there is the reboot-and-restore application was installed. So just use the rebootand-restore application to restore to State C. It only needs a couple of seconds to finished, and after that the desktop is a new as it just formatted. But beware! All files created after the State C will be deleted, and modified files will return to before it is modified. Why Need Reboot-And-Restore in Internet Caf? As we can imagine from the above situation, the reboot-and-restore application could solve many everyday problems in the cyber caf. It could save hundreds of hours and money too. Every day, every PC in internet caf is used by many people. Some use to surf the internet, play games, type documents, save some documents to the diskette and thumb drive, and download files from the internet and some just one to destroy the desktop! All of these activities could create trouble to the internet caf business such as by spreading viruses, trojan or spyware to all desktop PCs in a matter of seconds and corrupted Windows. Sometimes, only one desktop PC infected by virus, but all PC in the whole internet caf cannot access the internet! So, how are we encountering the problems? Off course, use the reboot-and-restore application. Whenever a customer finish using a client, just restart the PC and the PC will back to the unproblematic state. Do you or your cyber caf staff want go to each desktop every time customers finished their session? How about if there are 50 desktops in the internet caf? Off course it is not. So, buy the right cyber caf management software, which have the function to restart the client in one click, or restart the client every time customers finish their sessions. Other advantage of using the reboot-and-restore application is the customers will not have any privacy issue. All of their work, documents, history and files in the desktop will be deleted automatically every time the desktop is rebooted. Conclusion

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As the conclusion, a reboot-and-restore application is a must have in an internet caf to save maintenance time, money and to keep trouble-free desktop PC. It is for you and your customers conveniences. (The article was written in 2005, so it has some outdated information)

Internet Cafe Common Mistakes

Know some mistakes you should avoid to make sure your internet cafe business a success and maximum your cafe internet business performance. There are some very common mistakes made by internet cafes owner which may bring down the business. As we might know, it is not easy to attract customer to come to your internet cafe, especially when you got so many competitors around within your area. It is easier for you to attract customer before you begin your internet cafe business. Before the opening, do some promotion like banners, flyers and in your advertising do not forget to state free surfing in the first and the second day. It will cause customers from other cyber cafes come to yours in the first two days. People want to know how the new cyber cafe is. Is it the same or different from other cyber cafes? Or maybe they just want to have free surfing! Whatever they think or whatever the purpose, do not spoilt it with common problem of internet cafes. Computer Crash The main major problem, which will certainly make your customer go away, is computer crash or hung or the infamous BSOD (blue screen of death). It is really frustrating for a customer if the computer they use got crash. They have to wait for reboot or have to use another PC. And how will you assure your customer that the other PC will not crash? If this problem is not solved, you will lose some customers. Make sure your computers were built by good brand of hardware. Even though the specification of those machines is up-to-date, the brand built is also important. Computer built by any cheap motherboard with sound and VGA built-in will definitely crash very often. The worst case is the computer cannot be used

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only after a month you start your business. You start with 30 units of PCs, but in the end of the month you have only 20 units left! You just start your business and suddenly you have to change 10 units of motherboards! The best is to use branded PC, such as Dell, Compaq, Hew let-Packard or if you got little budget, built your own PCs by branded items such as Intel motherboard and processor, good brand of memory and etc. Try to get the best product with your little budget, if can, increase your budget a little. If you cannot afford it, do not install the highest end of games or software. Do not use Windows XP. Do not install HalfLife2. Do not install Ms Office XP. But how you could compete with other internet cafes? Slow Computer Another problem which will make you loses your customers. When your computer is slow, you cannot install up-to-date software and games. You will make those PC crash often if you do that. Although you cannot afford to buy the fastest PC for your cyber cafe, you also should not buy slow PCs. Choose in the middle or a little bit higher than the middle. So you will not be leaved behind by your competitors. If your targeted customers are not gamers, than you will have any problem with slow computer. Install Windows XP, Firefox browser, mIRC and Ms Office is good enough. But slow computer still will make you lose in the competition. Smoke Do not allow smoking in your internet cafe. Smoking will only attract few customers, but avoid more customers. As always, smokers can get into non-smoker area, but non-smoker cannot. So we should choose the bigger number of customers. In the other hand, smoking will cause your internet cafe stinky and dusty. Not Enough Computers The number of computers also has major impact in your business performance. Imagine if your internet cafe is always 100% full. Customers have to wait for their turn. Of course, you will think this is a good sign for your business. But unfortunately, this sign will only bring your business down. In the future, people will always thinking your internet cafe is full so they will avoid you internet cafe and go to your competitors internet cafes. So, to solve this problem, you must make sure your internet cafe is always ready for more customers. Your customer will be very happy if there is always available PC for them when they come. Employee Problem If you have only 10 units of PCs, manage the internet cafe yourself. You will not able to pay your employee. If you got more than 30 units of PCs then it is right option to hire a worker to manage your

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internet cafe. You cannot handle it by yourself. Employee also can bring your business up or down, so you must be very choosy. Some of them may cheat the amount of money paid by the customers and give their friends to use the computer free of charge. The best solution for managing your employee is by using the best internet cafe management software. The software must be able to log activity of the employee and be able to detect any suspicious activity by the logged data. Bad Maintenance Keyboard and mouse are the most important hardware for your customers. Think. These two devices are the only things that are interacting with the customers, other than the monitor. Bad maintenance keyboard or mouse will only make your customer use it for five minutes and then run away. They want the best for what they touch and hold. A higher budget for keyboards and mouses is needed to make sure your customers satisfaction. As a conclusion, you can make sure you are leading the competition if you try your best to avoid those mistakes.

The Definition of Internet Cafe

It is better to know what are internet cafe, cyber cafe, cyber center, internet center and gaming center before we go anywhere. What is Cyber Cafe or Internet Cafe? Internet cafe or cyber cafe is a place where people can get connected to the Internet while eating or have a cup of coffee using publicly accessible computer. While the main activity in the cyber cafe is the Internet, such as email, newsgroup and web site surfing, other applications usually available are office suite to type document, spreadsheet, games, such as online games and other utilities such as printing service, scanning and digital photo service. Some internet cafes also sell computer accessories and

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computer related stuffs. People may have their food and drink at the computer table or at separate tables provide by the cafe. Modern cyber cafe also have wireless connection in their local area networking (LAN), where people can bring their own lap top and get connected to the Internet by paying a small fee. What is Cyber Center or Internet Center? Cyber center or Internet center is almost the same with cyber cafe or internet cafe. People can browse the Internet, playing games and typing document. The only different is cyber center or internet center do not sell food or beverage. They only concentrate in computers, not cafe. Other services usually available are printing, scanning, digital photo, CD and DVD burning. They also sell computer accessories. Because of the nature of their business, sometimes cyber center also sell computer and provide computer repair service. What is Gaming Center? Modern gaming center is more like a cyber cafe or cyber center. People can play online games or network games. People will come in groups so they can play network game and fight each other to find out who is the best. Some come in solo just to filling in their time. In the previous time, gaming center are full with kids but today adult also like to play game especially network and online games. In the gaming center, other than personal computer, PlayStations or Xbox are also used to play games. Although gaming centers are also connected to the Internet, people cannot browse the web site or use emails.

Why Do I Need A Cyber Cafe Billing Management Software

Why do you need the internet cafe software?

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Some call it as the cyber caf billing software. Some named it as cyber caf management software. Others call it cyber caf accounting software. It is all the same. Internet cafe timing software is just another name. A few years back, in the beginning of internet cafe business, we hardly find any software designed for especially for internet cafe. Off course, when there is no a cyber cafe management software, internet cafe using traditional method in keeping customer record. In my personal opinion, internet cafe business is one step forward from other type of businesses that do not need any advanced technology. If a restaurant can use cash machine, why cyber cafe cannot? So, if an internet cafe still using a simple calculator to calculate the bill, the business is one step behind other business. When a customer comes in, the internet cafe staff writes the customers name and the start time in a book. When they finish, search for his name on the book and calculate the usage charge by a calculator. How will your customer know whether the calculation is correct? How do they confident they are not being cheated? I have a friend who banned one cyber cafe in his entire life because he was asked to pay for what he did not use. He believed that he only use the computer in half an hour, but the staff shows him the book that he had used it for almost three hours! Isnt it ridiculous? Even though, your staff calculates it correct, but without the right software, customers will lose confident in your internet cafe. Without the software, if the customer makes the payment first, cyber cafe staff needs to make sure the customer will end the session on a right time. The staff has to tell the customer when the session is finished by go to the customer and tell them that the time was over, and it is not surprise that the staff always failed to do it on time. How can a staff do the work if you put twenty to forty units of computers in the internet cafe? As a result, you need to hire two or three staffs to do a simple job! Every internet cafe may have some experience with bad customers. How if a customer insist to leave the computer although the time was over? What will your staff do? How if somebody is using the computer without pay? How if a customer says that he already paid some amount, but your staff did not write it on the book? And there would be many more bad experiences faced and that is not including bad experience with your own staff. There are too many reasons why you need a cyber caf billing software (If only you are running the internet caf business). Most of the time cyber caf billing systems also have many other functions that will make thing easier to manage your internet caf.

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