Inexpensive, Reliable Captive Portal

linksys router captive-portal

11,297

Solution 1

I've had my eye on CoovaChilli for a while, it's an OpenWRT only fork of ChilliSpot which also runs on regular computers. Coova offers commercial support if you need it.

Solution 2

You should really consider pfsense which is a embedded distribution that does FW/Router and captive portal. It is extremely simple to use and works great.

11,297

Dave

I have been writing software on the .NET platform since about 2001. Since that time I've worked on lots of systems including web portals, asset management, ERP, CRM, content management, email, and SOA. I credit my love of research and the bleeding edge with four years at Microsoft Product Support, where I learned how to learn about technology. Today I work at the Risk Management Agency of the US Department of Agriculture, where we do amazing work with Agile and DevOps (yes, for the government!) I'm also writing a book about DevOps tools: DevOps Katas: Hands-On DevOps

Updated on September 17, 2022

Comments

Dave almost 2 years

I do some wifi hotspot installations, and a new client recently asked me if it would be possible to force users to his website when they first open their browsers. After some Googling I figured out that this is "captive portal". It's a free wifi hotspot, so my client doesn't need authentication, just wants users to hit his site first.

So, after much more Googling the cheapest solution I can find is DD-WRT and Wifidog. All you need (as far as I can tell) is a Linksys WRT54G. I'm comfortable flashing the firmware and setting it up. If I can make it work for this client I'm thinking about offering it as an option to future clients.

SO- has anyone ever set up captive portal this way? Is it reliable and easy to support, remotely and securely? If I set my customers up this way will I eventually end up with Linksys Bricks all over the place?
Dave about 15 years

Thanks!!! I love the interface and it looks like it has exactly what I need!
Dave about 15 years

Thanks Antoine- all the hardware I could find preinstalled with pfSense cost over US$500. What I could really use is a vendor that sells Linksys or some other cheaper units preconfigured with software that supports captive portal.
Antoine Benkemoun about 15 years

Well DD-WRT is definently not preconfigured as far as i know... You have to install it. Installating pfsense is really as easy as putting a CD into a CD drive and htting next :-)