question on captive portal

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com hath wroth:

I'll assume that you're not authenticating users. What you're looking for is called "NoCatSplash" captive portal. It's usually implimented in the router although it can be done with an external server. All calls to port 80 go to this page until the user clicks "ok". See:

example setups. Many of the ready-to-run versions require a login and password. I've customized these to show "Type in AGREE" into the user box and blanked out the password to accept anything. Crude but effective.

Thanks for the reply. I looked at your info, and have a question/concern. This will be a wireless network for a very large public space. I am thinking along the lines of cisco aironet devices.

linksys routers. or am i missing something?

TIA,

R

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com hath wroth:

All the articles are based on alternative firmware for the Linksys WRT54G and WRT54GS routers. These are open source, run Linux, and can be modified to add features such as a splash screen for a hot spot. There are also firmware versions designed specifically to act as a hot spot that are most commonly based on these hardware platforms. There are also similar open source firmware for SBC (single board computers) such as:

(latest release adds captive portal) and many many others that I'm too lazy to dig out the URL's. You have much to chose from.

Cisco wireless is a different animal. What you see is what you get. No hacking. It's more powerful, better quality, higher prices, and more "corporate" than commodity wireless. I really have no clue how to do a splash screen and captive portal with Cisco hardware. You might ask in the Cisco forums and lists. Here's the Cisco instructions for their captive portal software:

this be a very big hammer for a simple problem.

"Methinks this be a very big hammer for a simple problem."

LOL, welcome to the world of Cisco!!

Thanks for all the help. I will investigate a little more with cisco.