Airports, coffee shops, and hotels are the most popular places to find them, but any type of business can benefit from using a captive portal.Its an elegant solution for both heightened security and marketing.Captive Portal Benefits Typically, a captive portal presents the user with terms of service, which they must agree to before accessing your businesss Wi-Fi hotspot.
In some cases, the captive portal might require a password (which you can give to verified customers, for instance, on their coffee receipt). Guest Wifi Captive Portal Free You FromMeasures like this help free you from liability in the event of illegal or otherwise destructive online behavior, while similar security features keep company assets safe. Using a captive portal also gives you increased control over your bandwidth, offering customizable time limits for how long each user can stay connected to your network. On the commercial end, captive portals present an excellent opportunity for seamless marketingthey facilitates user engagement at a critical point during their Internet experience, and is a very powerful medium that can be used for a range of business needs. Use a captive portal to have users fill out a survey, view a sponsored advertisement, or highlight current promotions. Setting Up a Captive Portal The process of setting up your Wi-Fi hotspots captive portal varies depending on your businesss network setup. It looks a little something like this: Enable a captive portal for your network. Youll usually find this option under a captive portal heading on your access points setup menu, or under global configuration. If your access point does not support the captive portal feature, youll need to upgrade. Customize the portals settings under a sub-menu such as Portal Profiles or Portal Settings. From here, youll typically be able to: a) name your portal; b) choose to password-protect your portal, under an Authentication or similar option; and c) opt to redirect the portal to an existing Web page, if youd rather not create a custom page. Under the captive portal menus Splash screen, Web customization, or similar option, you can choose exactly what your customers see when they attempt to access your Wi-Fi hotspot. Guest Wifi Captive Portal Series Of FormsThis part of the process is key to making an impressionyoull usually fill in a series of forms to determine aspects such as: a) custom logo images; b) background, font styles, and colors; c) login instructions for the user; d) username and password labels; e) a detailed terms of use policy and f) messages that confirm your customers successful login. Choose Association, Profile Association, or the equivalent option from the captive portal menu to associate your portal with a wireless radio band and SSID (Service Set Identifier). Choosing different radio bands restricts the customers bandwidth access to a particular band of a dual- or tri-band access point (such as a 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band), while selecting an SSID profile allows customers to visit your hotspot as a guest (choose the None option from the profile drop-down menu to allow guests). Tip: Choosing a dual- or tri-band access point helps avoid network interference, making for a faster, smoother online experience for your users. Now use a laptop, smartphone, tablet, or other Wi-Fi-enabled device to connect to your businesss hotspot and check out your new captive portal. Enter the username and password that you specified during setup, and agree to the terms of use. After a bit of eye-catching advertising, you should be sailing the smooth Wi-Fi seas, just as your happy (and now extra brand-conscious) customers will be in no time. LINKSYS, MAX-STREAM and PERFORMANCE PERFECTED are trademarks registered andor owned by Belkin International, Inc.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |