Forcing A Login For Wireless Access

Hello,

I am having a problem searching for what I want to know.

We've been to airports and other hotspots where when we try to access the
Internet we are taken to a login screen which requires us to either pay for
access or login to get Internet access. Would someone be able to direct to
me an explanation of the networking involved in the process, and/or direct
me to software (open source, if possible) that would allow me to set up such
a network?

If you direct to me to the explanation of the process and some software that
I may need to set up this kind of network, that would be enough, and I would
appreciate your efforts very much.

Please do not feel the need to explain the setup to me in detail, but some
quick overview would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe Coppertone

Joe Crafton wrote:

> I am having a problem searching for what I want to know.
>
> We've been to airports and other hotspots where when we try to access the
> Internet we are taken to a login screen which requires us to either pay
> for
> access or login to get Internet access. Would someone be able to direct
> to me an explanation of the networking involved in the process, and/or
> direct me to software (open source, if possible) that would allow me to
> set up such a network?
>
> If you direct to me to the explanation of the process and some software
> that I may need to set up this kind of network, that would be enough, and
> I would appreciate your efforts very much.
>
> Please do not feel the need to explain the setup to me in detail, but some
> quick overview would be greatly appreciated.

The simple version is that the network gateway is set up such that when you
first connect any IP address resolves to the login screen. Once you've
successfully logged in, addresses resolve to the real addresses.

Google for "hotspot" software. Chillispot is the OSS software that comes to
mind. It's been installed with Sveasoft Alchemy on many WRT54Gs, but the
installation instructions I've found so far are awfully vague :-)
--
derek

Joe Crafton <webmaster@bestcraftersonline.com> wrote:
> We've been to airports and other hotspots where when we try to access the
> Internet we are taken to a login screen which requires us to either pay for
> access or login to get Internet access. Would someone be able to direct to
> me an explanation of the networking involved in the process, and/or direct
> me to software (open source, if possible) that would allow me to set up such
> a network?

The simplest is DNS redirection. You ask for www.google.com, and a DNS
server replies with an IP address. In the DNS-redirector scheme, it
returns its own IP address instead, and your PC displays a screen that
they want.

http://www.dnsredirector.com

The next level is regardless of what IP address you request, you get the
results from their server.

http://www.publicip.net/zonecd/how.php

Once you satisfy their login, which could be anything from "Hilton Garden
Hotels, acknowledge the Terms of Service", to paying by credit card, you
are supplied with a real DNS server, and your IP address requests go where
you think they are going.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

> We've been to airports and other hotspots where when we try to access the
> Internet we are taken to a login screen which requires us to either pay
> for
> access or login to get Internet access. Would someone be able to direct
> to
> me an explanation of the networking involved in the process, and/or direct
> me to software (open source, if possible) that would allow me to set up
> such
> a network?
>
> If you direct to me to the explanation of the process and some software
> that
> I may need to set up this kind of network, that would be enough, and I
> would
> appreciate your efforts very much.
>
> Please do not feel the need to explain the setup to me in detail, but some
> quick overview would be greatly appreciated.

Check out the www.nocat.net open source project.