Captive Portal
This document applies to: Coworking & Workplace
New members and reinstated members will pass through your Captive Portal to gain network access if your space has Meraki Wifi integration.
A Captive Portal will automatically give your members internet access at the correct Membership with their Proximity credentials. Any active member who is logged into your space has already passed through your Captive Portal and will be able to connect without passing through your Captive Portal again (unless their membership expires or fails to renew).
Helpful Definitions
Captive Portal: A system that redirects newly-connected members to a network login page.
The Walled Garden: Allows limited internet access for guests and members before passing through your Captive Portal. The walled garden allows access to only certain websites and web elements that allow a user to login.
The Splash Page: The actual login page for the Captive Portal system, similar to WiFI networks seen at coffee shops and hotels. Most users will experience a popup on their device prompting them to log in, immediately after connecting.
Troubleshooting
- Before logging in, older devices and secured corporate devices may run into challenges bringing up the Captive Portal, because internet or network traffic can be blocked.
- If a user cannot get network access, then the hardware or software of their device may not be detecting that it needs to sign in, or it can be blocking the Captive Portal from popping up.
- Members can attempt to navigate to letmeonline.com from any supported browser if they do not get the Captive Portal “pop up”. This site will either force the captive portal to pop up, change the screen to the captive portal, or take the user to letmeonline.com. If the user is taken to the captive portal, they'll need to log in and possibly upgrade their membership to include internet access. If the user is taken directly to the letmeonline.com, the user has internet access.
- You can check to see if a user successfully got past the captive portal by navigating to the member's account > Devices. If their device has been "seen" today, they have successfully gotten past the captive portal.
Once a member reaches your login page through the Captive Portal popup, or through their browser, they will log in. After logging in, they will have internet access for the duration of their membership (e.g., days, months) as long as the membership allows internet access.
The device and member will stay synced throughout the duration of their membership. You will be able to monitor when a member’s device was last seen on your network, right from your Member List > Select the member > Devices tab.