Have you noticed that public places like airports, clinics, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls often have free Internet access?
Is it okay to access the Internet in public places like this? Won’t this affect our security?
It cannot be said that public networks like this do not affect our security. Because in some cases, due to the networks in public places, we can also see cases where users are used for illegal purposes.
Now let’s see what is captive portal?
Captive Portal is the most common method used to provide free wireless connections. Ok, imagine that you are going to eat at a restaurant. Then you will see that there is Free WIFI and ask for the username password and connect to the WIFI quickly.
When you consider this process, you will immediately think that there is nothing new in this, that it works just like connecting to our home router. But even if we don’t see it, a different process is happening inside. That means when you enter the restaurant’s WIFI password and go to connect, you will be taken to a landing page through the captive portal. After that you will get internet access.
Then if you look at the user authorization process of the captive portal, it is normally done according to the networks usage agreement or the acceptable use policy. Otherwise, the captive portal is designed to be able to access the pre-assigned user ID and password.
Now you understand that a captive portal is like a single network in a company’s organization. In places where there is free WIFI, the user authorization process is made very secure in this way because businesses need to maintain security.
What is captive portal login?
You now know that when trying to connect to a Free Wi-Fi network, you must first go to the captive-portal. After that you have to provide user’s log-in information. After giving these, if you are an authorized user, you will be able to get Free Wi-Fi access.
For a simple example, do you think that a guest who has just arrived at a hotel will log in to the captive-portal by providing the user’s log-in information to use Wi-Fi during his stay at the hotel. If the user’s log-in information you gave is correct, now you can get free internet.
Why is captive portal used?
Due to captive portal, companies and organizations like airports, clinics, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls have been able to promote their products.
In addition, because of the captive portal, network security and bandwidth management can be provided to users in places where public WIFI is used, such as airports, clinics, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, to get a better user experience.
Now let’s see how to set up a captive portal.
- First check your firmware up-to-date.
- Now log in to the web-based setup page to create the network’s access point.
- Next, enable the captive portal on your network. For that, go to the setup menu of the network’s access point, find captive portal or global configuration and click the enable option. If you can’t find the captive portal feature, you have to upgrade the access point model.
- Now create captive portal settings. Here you can give a name to the portal and protect your portal with a password. Also, when a user tries to use public WIFI, the web page can be redirected to the captive portal.
- Now customize the way customers want to view when they connect to your Wi-Fi network. Also decide how to access your Wi-Fi network.
- Now make your captive portal to be able to access the customers’ bandwidth with the wireless radio band. Also allow the SSID profile to guests.
- Now use a Wi-Fi enabled device and test the captive portal.
Now let’s see how to use the captive portal as a marketing tool and what are the benefits of the captive portal.
From the company side, you can promote your company and organization because of the captive portal. You may remember that we talked earlier that when a user accesses Free WIFI, they are taken to a captive portal through a landing page.
On this page, the relevant company can post advertisements about their products to the organization.
Also, through this landing page, your company can receive feedback related to the organization.
What is a captive portal?
A captive portal is a web page that you must interact with before accessing the internet on a public Wi-Fi network. It often requires login credentials, registration, or agreement to terms and conditions.
Why do I encounter captive portals?
Captive portals are used to manage user access, ensure security, enforce terms and conditions, and sometimes monetize public Wi-Fi networks.
How do I access the internet through a captive portal?
Connect to the network, wait for the redirect, enter the required information on the portal page, and complete the authentication process to access the internet.
What should I do if the captive portal doesn’t load?
Try entering an unencrypted URL in your browser, double-check your Wi-Fi connection, or restart your device.
Are captive portals secure?
Captive portals add a layer of security by controlling access to the network, but they do not encrypt your internet traffic. For secure browsing, consider using a VPN.