Opportunities › Network management for home and small business WiFi › Proposed app
Hearthnet
Manage many WiFi access points from your own network, with or without internet
- Score
- 35
- confidence 44
- Evidence
- 5
- items on the page
- Rivals
- 2
- named in sources
- First version
- 60 d
- estimate
- Type
- Desktop app
- PWA: runs in the browser, installs on Mac and Windows
- Market since
- 2012
- Mature market · AI estimate
ScreensConcept
Desktop app: Network admins diagnose, configure channels, set passwords and review change history—detailed technical work done from a desk or control point. Sample screens on a computer, in the proposed brand. Their numbers are sample data.
Access points
Internet: down, still managed5 of 6 online
About this appAI proposal
Hearthnet is a WiFi management app for homes and small businesses with several access points. You set up names, passwords, channels and guest networks once, and every access point gets the same settings. The controller runs on a small device on your own network, so you can manage and repair things when the internet is down.
If you lose your admin password or the email behind your account, you can still get back in. Recovery works from the controller itself, using a printed recovery key and physical presence, not a mailbox you can no longer open.
It is built for people who now buy several cheap access points and configure them one by one, or who find cloud-tied controllers hard to debug. Hearthnet shows plain-language diagnostics and keeps a local record of changes so you can roll back.
- Tagline
- WiFi you can manage, even when everything else is down.
- Voice
- CalmPlainDependable
- Why this name
- A hearth is the dependable centre of a home. The name says the network stays warm and under your control, and it is easy to say.
In the first version
Members say which features they would use. It tells PWAS what people want; it changes no score.
Works with no internet
The controller and the app run on your local network. Adopt, configure and fix access points while the connection to your provider is down.
No member yet
Recovery without email
A printed recovery key and a physical reset on the controller restore admin access when the password and the email account are both gone.
No member yet
One setup, every access point
Set the network name, password, bands and guest WiFi once and push them to all access points in a group.
No member yet
Plain-language diagnostics
A checklist shows why an access point is offline: power, cable, address, or settings. Each step says what to try next.
No member yet
Brand identityAI proposal
Check the name against trademark registers before using it.
Palette
#1F6F6BPine Teal · primary#F6F1E7Warm Paper · surface#1F2A2ESlate Ink · text#D9822BEmber · accent#3B5B8CHarbor Blue · data
Typography
Aa
Hearthnet
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 0123456789
WiFi you can manage, even when everything else is down.
PricingAI proposal
The material gives no competitor prices, only a claim that UniFi is too expensive for many access points. These tiers are a starting point to test, not a market-based figure.
Home
Free
- 1 controller
- Up to 3 access points
- Local recovery and diagnostics
Plus
$4 a month
- 1 controller
- Up to 15 access points
- Change history and rollback
- Guest network scheduling
Small business
$12 a month
- Up to 3 controllers
- Up to 50 access points
- View-only staff accounts
- Email support
What it could be worthEstimate
What a software business making this much sells for today, from real deals. Pick a monthly revenue.
If it makes
Worth about
$194,000
Sale range $132,000 to $263,000
$120,000 a year in revenue
From 87 software businesses listed and sold on Empire Flippers in the last year, revenue vetted by the broker: they sell for about 19× their monthly revenue, most between 13× and 26×.
Measured on profit, the middle deal is 32× monthly net profit: about 2.7 years of profit.
An estimate, not an offer or financial advice. A real price depends on profit, growth, churn, how much of the work is the owner's, and the buyer.
How it would growAI proposal
How the product would reach new customers through its own use, and how the first ones would be found. A plan to test, not a result.
- Built-in loop
- No loop in the product. Hearthnet is used inside one home or business and produces nothing that outsiders see. It reaches customers through content, forums and installer word of mouth.
- Do they become customers?
- Guests on a guest network see no product. Test whether installers who set up networks for several clients adopt it and recommend it, and whether they will pay.
- First customers
- Home-lab enthusiasts and owners of small offices or shops with 3 to 10 access points, who already run or have left a cloud-managed controller.
- Where to reach them
- Hacker News and Reddit: Post a write-up on offline recovery and debugging in networking and home-lab communities, with a demo video.
- Local IT freelancers: Offer free Plus licences to freelancers who set up small business WiFi in exchange for feedback.
- First milestone
- Ten paying users managing at least 3 access points each, on two supported hardware models, within 90 days of launch.
Why people already pay for this
- Public claimUniFi is difficult to use when problems occur and lacks offline debugging capabilities and account recovery options
- Public claimUsers cannot recover access to UniFi systems when they forget passwords and lose access to the email account used for 2FA
- Public claimUniFi requires internet connectivity for operation
- Public claimThere is market demand for a better-designed network management platform
- Public claimUsers find UniFi products too expensive for deploying multiple access points
Tech stack
Every proposal builds on the same PWA base, installable from the browser on any phone or computer. Dashed boxes are what this app adds.
- AppNext.js and TypeScript
- PWAManifest and service worker
- UITailwind CSS
- Data and authSupabase Postgres
- PaymentsStripe
- EmailResend
- HostingVercel
- This app · Local controllerSmall service for a Raspberry Pi or mini PCRuns on the user's network so the app works without internet and recovery needs no cloud.
- This app · Access point firmwareAdapter for open router firmware such as OpenWrtLets cheap, common access points be adopted and configured without a vendor cloud.
RisksAI inference
- TechnicalSupporting many access point models is hard. The first version may work only with devices that can run open firmware, which shrinks the audience.
- TechnicalA PWA reaching a local controller needs trusted HTTPS on a private network and service worker behaviour that varies by browser, so setup may be fragile.
- CommercialUsers must buy or own a controller device and flash access points. Many homeowners may find that too much work compared with UniFi.
- RegulatoryRecovery that bypasses email must be secure. A stolen key or weak physical reset could expose a network, and a flaw would damage trust.
- CommercialThe only evidence is public claims from one forum. Willingness to pay for this, versus free open tools, is unproven.
Everything marked AI proposal or AI inference was written by a model from the evidence on the opportunity page. The proposed name must be checked against trademark registers before it is used.