Forcing first page

Oct 03, 2007 1 Replies

Just a question I've been pondering every since I visited a hotel over the summer...



How do you force a first page on a wireless network?



For example, Joe connects to a Hotel wireless network...before he can reach the internet, he is presented with a front page where he must agree to TOS and click to continue...



How can you force the viewing of that first page on a wireless network? I'm not talking about an "in-house" robust network (with a proxy server), but can this be done from the router?



Can you set up a web server as part of the WAN that forces the showing of that first page?



I've seen it done a dozen times, but I can't figure it out.


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linkery hath wroth:

It's a feature of the router firmware called a "splash page". For example:

If the initial page requires a user response, it's somewhat more complex. If all they need to do is click "approve", then it can be done with just NoCatSplash. However, if it asks for a login or password, it usually comes from an external RADIUS or SQL server.

The mechanism is simple. Whenever you request a web page from the web server, it checks if your IP, MAC, session, or login has approval or authorization. If you do, you get your desired web page. If not, you always get the same pre-defines web page (which incidentally can be in the router, or externally on the web or nearby file server.

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