Frequently Asked Questions

No. Band-Fans runs entirely on your local WiFi network. Fans connect directly to your computer or hardware bundle — no internet is needed at the venue. An internet connection is only used to sync show data to your band-fans.com account after the show, and that step is optional.

No. Fans connect through their phone's web browser by scanning a QR code. There's nothing to install, no account to create, and no friction. Any smartphone with a browser and a camera will work.

Any modern smartphone browser works — Safari on iPhone, Chrome on Android, Firefox, and others. Band-Fans uses standard web technologies with no special requirements.

Yes. Band-Fans is free to download and use. If it's valuable to you, a donation helps keep development going — but there's no requirement. A paid tier is planned for the future with optional extra features.

It depends on your WiFi setup. A typical home router handles 20–50 fans comfortably. A dedicated router built for higher capacity (like the one in the hardware bundle) can handle 100 or more. Fan engagement is lightweight — mostly small text updates — so the bandwidth demand is low.

Yes, but with caveats. Venue WiFi is often congested, has firewalls that can block local connections, or may isolate devices from each other. For a reliable show, a dedicated router is strongly recommended. A phone hotspot also works well for smaller shows.

Connected fans will lose their connection and need to reconnect. The admin app and all show data are unaffected — everything is stored locally. Fans just scan the QR code again when WiFi comes back.

Yes. Once Band-Fans is running, the admin interface is accessible from any browser on the same network. You're not locked to the computer running the app. The concept is one or more band member would have a tablet near them to view the Fan interaction live. OR one large screen that all members in the band can view.

Fans can request any song from your song list. If you want the Fans to be able to request a song not in the list, you can set up a Poll to collect their request. The poll results show instently on the bands interface so you can see them in real time.

Yes. You can create yes/no, multiple choice, or free-text polls from the admin interface at any time during the show. Results are visible in real time.

Band-Fans provides links to your payment accounts (Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, etc.) that fans can tap directly from the fan interface. Tips go straight to you — Band-Fans doesn't handle or take a cut of any payments.

Fan engagement stats are available in your show history on the dashboard. Fans are anonymous by default — they can optionally enter a name when they connect.

No. Band-Fans runs on any Mac or Windows computer you already own. The hardware bundle is an optional add-on for bands who want a dedicated, always-ready setup without worrying about using their personal laptop.

The bundle uses a compact mini computer pre-configured with Band-Fans. Contact us for current hardware details — we configure each bundle specifically for your band.

Yes. Band-Fans runs on any Mac or Windows computer. If you want to build your own setup, download the app and run it on whatever hardware you have. A Raspberry Pi running the server headlessly is also an option we're exploring — see the hardware page for more.

Show data (setlists, request counts, fan counts, poll results) is stored locally on your computer. It's only uploaded to band-fans.com if you have an account and choose to sync. Fan names are optional and anonymous by default.

All your show data lives on your local computer in a SQLite database file. You keep it. Nothing is deleted when you stop syncing or close your account.

No. The app works fully offline without an account. An account gives you a public profile page, show history on the web, and your API key for syncing data — all optional.