This week on the channel +878K views this week

Data Slayer's farmers-market hotspot finds one customer: himself

A Raspberry Pi, Starlink and a chain of HaLow nodes turn spare bandwidth into a working paid Wi-Fi experiment.

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Data Slayer Story of November 6, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.

This Hotspot Pays for Itself

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5:22A commercial router's paid-access feature runs into payment-processing and HTTPS errors during testing.
12:30Meshlink uses a Raspberry Pi 5, an external Wi-Fi antenna and an upstream router.
20:00The operator can customize the login portal and set payment tiers.
28:38The first farmers-market test reveals signal drop-off before the network covers the site.
40:40Firas helps plan a Wi-Fi HaLow backhaul chain to extend coverage across the market.
52:08With no paying customers, Data Slayer buys access himself to verify the complete payment and networking pipeline.

Building the hotspot turns out to be easier than finding someone willing to pay for it. Data Slayer's only new upload, "This Hotspot Pays for Itself", follows his open-source meshlink project from router experiments to two Sundays at a Florida farmers market. It has passed half a million views.

The premise is straightforward: a Raspberry Pi 5 shares an internet connection through a login portal, with free and paid tiers chosen by whoever runs it. Getting there is less tidy. A commercial router's payment feature produces errors, and the first market outing exposes a coverage problem. RF engineer Firas helps him work out a chain of Wi-Fi HaLow nodes to extend the network across the site.

On the return visit, Amelia connects successfully. The networking works, but the customers don't materialize. Data Slayer makes the test purchase himself from a park bench. "Unfortunately, the customer was me," he says. That distinction between a functioning system and a functioning business gives the ambitious title its rather human counterweight.

Viewers are digging into the practicalities: separate secure access for vendors, shorter payment options and whether internet-provider contracts allow resale. The video explicitly tells would-be operators to obtain permission or use a plan that permits it. Others suggest making the login page more entertaining, right down to a miniature Tetris game.

The channel added 4,000 subscribers over the week, half its gain across the past month, although daily views are currently below their usual level. Among nearby tech channels, Zack Shutt is having a particularly large viewing week; Anthony Gugliotta and Luke Miani have unchanged subscriber counts.

The new hotspot experiment is Data Slayer's busiest video right now. February's "The Internet, Reinvented." also keeps drawing views with its demonstration of Reticulum connecting different radio technologies, alongside "How to Become Your Own ISP" and its drone-mounted relay. The market experiment adds a different test to that open-network ambition: not just whether people can connect, but whether they will pay.

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Where next?

Also in Technology reviews and gadgetsVideo taking off 15x its usual first dayTechLinked's "Uh, Google?" asks why school search needs GeminiRiley Murdock turns a school-account restriction into a pointed opening monologue, with viewers requesting more of his narration.Channel: TechLinked · Story of November 6, 2026

A different discovery todayVideo taking off 43x its usual first dayJimmy Kimmel answers Trump's midterm defense: "You're like dog hair"A White House statement attacking his monologues becomes part of the next one, alongside ballroom marble and an "I DID #2" sticker.Channel: Jimmy Kimmel Live · Story of November 6, 2026

What viewers say

making a special extra secure network for the vendors is a good idea for charging money for wifi access
@YesterturdTVSee it on YouTube
make the login of your wifi router do something fun, that would get more and more people connecting to it , like a mini tetris game or something
@nevzatisiktan4677See it on YouTube
I am so lost and beneath understanding this but it is so captivating watching you work.
@tcgphanaticSee it on YouTube

2 more comments

Thanks for sharing this as well as all of your content. It is hard to find the line between being profitable and being true to the open source ideals. I'm glad you enjoy this work and sharing it. Im interested in trying this out as well.
@dlightning2510See it on YouTube
"Make it secure!"
@Yogi-n2oSee it on YouTube

Public comments from the video's page on YouTube

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The videos drawing views on Data Slayer right now

The Internet, Reinvented.4,227,290 views

How to Become Your Own ISP1,369,076 views

The facts

Channel: Data Slayer
Subscribers: 548,000 ▲ 4,000 this week
Channel views, last 7 days: 877,826
Videos published this week: 1
Video published: October 30, 2026
Video views so far: 527,017
Views on its first day: 136,169

The numbers

Here is how Data Slayer's week looks across views, subscribers and active uploads.

views gained this week: this channel and similar channels

11,384,253

1,533,199

877,826

771,683

656,769

537,936

405,438

279,205

131,586

subscribers

548,000

▲ 4,000 in the last 7 days

total views

87,054,987

views per day

68,439

typical day: 90,315

first-day views of each video posted this week

This Hotspot Pays for Itself

136,169

subscribers: this channel and similar channels

580,000

571,000

570,000

553,000

548,000

548,000

545,000

541,000

534,000

As of November 6, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.

💡 Test your knowledge

Which single-board computer powers Data Slayer's meshlink hotspot?