Blog
Hotspot and captive portal
Guest Wi-Fi sign-in methods, portal design and user experience.
- Hotspot and captive portal4 min readThe hotspot on your phone and the hotspot in your business are not the same thingHotspot" means two different things: your phone's internet sharing and a business's guest Wi-Fi portal. The differences, when each applies, and what the law expects of a business.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal4 min readHow much does device remembering cut your SMS bill?7- and 30-day remembered-device windows, returning-guest assumptions and a worked credit calculation, including the MAC randomisation caveat.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal4 min readWhy phone verification is the durable pathLogin methods that depend on a third-party identity lookup are fragile. Why SMS codes, coupons, e-mail and registered users are durable methods that stay under your control.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal4 min readShared password, open network, WPA3-Enterprise: why none fits guestsThree common Wi-Fi setups fall short for guests: no identity, no record, or impractical onboarding. How a captive portal with an SMS code closes the gap.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal4 min readWhat should the post-login screen show? Survey, announcement, menu, redirect, and the "follow us" lockFour options for the guest Wi-Fi post-login screen: survey, announcement, menu, redirect address. When each works, and why a "follow us to continue" lock does harm.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal4 min readCoupon rules: single-use or group code, who handed it out, and what goes in the recordThe right decisions for guest Wi-Fi coupons: single-use versus group codes, validity, device count, what the coupon binds to in the record, the hand-out trail, batch generation and printing.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal4 min readHow to write a fair-use policy: a short template and where to show it on the portalA short, readable fair-use policy template for guest Wi-Fi, why each clause is there, where to show it on the portal, and the mistakes to avoid.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal4 min readWhen the quota runs out, cut off or slow down? Fair-use design for guest Wi-FiCut off a guest who hits the daily quota, or slow them down? The cost of each approach, a practical recipe using the box's speed, session, idle and quota settings, and how to announce it.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal4 min readIs Your Router's "Guest Network" Feature Enough?The guest network on home and office routers separates traffic but keeps no identity-bound, signed records. What it gives, what it lacks, and how the box fits alongside it.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal4 min readThe Code Never Arrived": Six Failure Points in SMS Verification and How to Fix ThemThe guest typed their number and no code came. Wrong number, provider rate limit, unapproved sender ID, empty credits, provider outage and foreign numbers: six causes, six fixes.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal4 min readThe Portal Keeps Reopening as Guests Roam Between APs: Why and How to Fix ItA guest logs in at the lobby, walks to the restaurant and gets the portal again. What a session is tied to, the single-SSID rule, 802.11k/r/v and the trouble with mixed AP brands.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal4 min readThe Portal Won't Open on iPhone: Why Guests Don't See the Login PageConnected to guest Wi-Fi but no login page appeared. How phones detect a portal, why HTTPS blocks it, what private Wi-Fi addresses do, and the one sentence to tell your guest.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal4 min readWhy we do not collect marketing data on guest Wi-FiPixels, social login and age or gender inference look attractive on guest Wi-Fi. Each one puts a burden on the business. What the box collects instead, and an honest trade-off.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal3 min readSMS-verified Wi-Fi sign-in: how it works end to endThe guest types a number, a code arrives, the internet opens. What happens in those seconds, and which settings break it?Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal2 min readWhy the Wi-Fi password on the wall is not enoughOne shared password is easy, but it creates three separate problems: you do not know who connected, the line cannot be shared fairly, and the password never changes.Read more
- Hotspot and captive portal3 min readWhat is a captive portal and how does it work?What is behind the sign-in page that opens when you join the Wi-Fi at a hotel or café? A step-by-step explanation, technical but readable.Read more
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