Case study · 04 Marketplace · Peer-to-peer infra

The world's first internet
resource marketplace.

DataFlow lets people buy & sell mobile data, internet bandwidth & Wi-Fi access instantly. Turn an unlimited plan into income — or get fast internet exactly when & where you need it most.

Location-based discovery, automatic hotspot, fair per-use billing, settled on the spot.

RoleFounder · full-stack
Year2024 — 2026
ModelTwo-sided marketplace
StatusIn active development
dataflow.app/

Buy & sell internet, instantly.

List spare data from your unlimited plan or buy fast internet from sellers nearby — paying only for what you actually use.

+ Nimal · 12 Mbps · A$0.04/MB
+ Ayomi · 24 Mbps · A$0.03/MB
Sam · offline
+ Priya · busy
Active sellers · live1,284Across 14 cities · last hour
Avg. price · per MBA$0.03~7× cheaper than telco roaming
Median connect time26secTap pin → connected → online
01 / The brief

Internet as a marketplace.

A billion people have unlimited mobile plans they never fully use. A billion more pay extortionate rates for the next gigabyte. DataFlow connects the two sides & settles the transaction in seconds.

DataFlow is infrastructure for the next layer of the internet — a way to monetise excess bandwidth & on-demand access for everyone else.

Three resources tradable on the platform: mobile data (share unlimited plans via secure hotspot), bandwidth (lend unused fibre throughput), and Wi-Fi access (sell guest-network slots at busy locations).

Discovery is location-first — buyers see only sellers within signal range. Pricing is set per seller, denominated per MB, with a small platform fee. Settlement is automatic at session close.

The marketplace is the easy half. The hard half is making the connection invisible — auto-provisioning hotspots, brokering captive-portal handshakes & metering accurately enough that buyers trust the bill.

Tech stack
React NativeNext.jsNode.jsPostgreSQLRedisWebRTCStripe ConnectMapbox GLHotspot APIsPostGIS
02 / The product

Two sides, one tap.

Sellers list a plan & earn passively while their phone sleeps. Buyers tap a pin on a map & connect to fast internet in seconds. Same app, two truly different surfaces.

For sellers

Your plan, your income.

List how much data & bandwidth you'll share, set your per-MB price. The app auto-creates a secure hotspot whenever a buyer connects. Earn automatically based on actual usage.

A$120Avg seller/mo
0Active effort
For buyers

Internet, on demand.

See available sellers on a map near you. Pay only for what you use with automatic session management. Perfect for airports, cafés, dead-zones & high-demand events.

26sMedian connect
Cheaper
03 / Inside the platform

Four surfaces, one marketplace.

Buyers, sellers & the platform itself each get their own dashboard — all powered by the same realtime session engine.

Auto-secured hotspot

Every seller's hotspot is generated per-session with rotating WPA3 credentials & isolated from the seller's own traffic. Buyers can't see anything but the open internet.

  • Per-session credentials via WebRTC + hotspot APIs
  • VLAN isolation on supported devices
  • Auto-disconnect on quota or timeout

Settled in seconds

Sessions close cleanly: usage is metered to the byte, the platform takes a small fee, and the rest hits the seller's Stripe Connect balance within minutes — no monthly batch run.

  • Per-MB billing denominated in AUD/USD/LKR
  • Stripe Connect for instant payout
  • Receipts emailed to both sides at close
04 / Feature set

Nine modules. One tap to connect.

Each feature earned its place by closing a gap real users hit in early testing — discovery, trust, billing, security & safety.

01
Map discovery

PostGIS-backed seller search by location, speed & price band.

02
Auto hotspot

Hotspot provisioned with rotating creds on every connect.

03
Live metering

Bytes tracked per session, displayed to both sides realtime.

04
Auto-stop

Buyer-set cap kills the session before bills get scary.

05
Per-use billing

Stripe Connect splits revenue at session close, no batch.

06
Ratings

Two-sided rating after every session; ⩾4.6 to keep listing.

07
Boost mode

Pay 1.5× for prioritised allocation in dense seller areas.

08
Wi-Fi relay

Sellers with home fibre can list a guest SSID just as easily.

09
Safety

ID-verified sellers, abuse flagging, encrypted handshake logs.

05 / In your pocket

Two phones, two roles.

Sellers carry a dark dashboard showing live earnings & active sessions. Buyers carry a light, map-first finder & payment app. Same backend, two different mental models.

Seller · earn while you sleep
9:41
Sharing now$142 · May
N
● Live · 2 buyers A$3.42earning
Auto-stop A$1014:38 elapsed
A
Ayomi I.
24 Mbps · 214 MB
+A$3.42
D
Devin K.
18 Mbps · 128 MB
+A$2.10
Daily
Earnings
Sessions
History
Me
9:41
ListingYour plan
N
Plan · Telstra unlimited
5G · 80 Mbps avg
Price per MB
A$0.03
Cheaper · A$0.02 — A$0.08 · Premium
Daily cap
2 GB~A$60 max
Quiet hours
11pm — 6am · paused
Update listing
Earnings
Listing
History
Me
Buyer · internet on demand
9:41
Within 200mFind fast
A
Ayomi · 24 Mbps
★ 4.9 · A$0.03/MB
120m
Priya · 32 Mbps
★ 4.7 · A$0.045/MB
180m
Connect to Ayomi →
Find
Connect
Wallet
Me
9:41
● ConnectedLive session
A
Spent so far A$3.42/$10 cap
114 MB used24 Mbps
Speed
24 Mbps⚡ fast
Quota · 114 / 200 MB
Auto-stop
at A$10.00edit
End session
Find
Session
Wallet
Me
01

List your resources

Set how much data & bandwidth you'll share, set a per-MB price & a daily cap. Your phone listens for buyers in the background.

02

Buyer finds you

A buyer nearby opens the map, sees your pin with price & rating, taps to request a connection — all from a phone in a café.

03

Auto-connect

The seller's hotspot is provisioned with fresh WPA3 credentials & an isolated VLAN. The buyer joins in under 30 seconds.

04

Meter, live

Bytes are counted on-device & on-platform; both sides see live spend & speed. Buyer's auto-stop kills the session at their cap.

05

Settle instantly

At session close, Stripe Connect splits the amount: small platform fee, the rest to the seller's balance. Both sides get a receipt.

06

Rate & repeat

Two-sided rating after every session. Strong sellers get prioritised in the map; consistent buyers unlock Boost-mode pricing.

Most of us pay for internet we never use. Most of us, at some point, desperately need internet we can't get. DataFlow is just routing one to the other.
Pasan W. · Founder & sole builder
06 / The outcomes

From idea to prototype.

A working two-sided prototype with end-to-end metering, settlement & auto-hotspot — built solo over weekends.

26s
Median connect
Tap a pin → joined hotspot → online.
7×
Cheaper
Than telco roaming, per MB.
3
Resource types
Mobile data · bandwidth · Wi-Fi.
100%
Solo built
From hotspot APIs to Stripe Connect.
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