Setup a Guest Network

This how to will explain how to setup a guest network using the captive portal. Guest Networks are widely used to allow guests controlled internet access at hotels, RV Parks or businesses.

Note

For the example we expect the GUESTNET interface to be connected with your actual guest network switch or access point. This tutorial does not explain how to setup a wireless network.

Businesses

Businesses usually want to share internet access with their guest and show them a landing page with a welcome message and some usage guidelines (policy). At the same time it is important to make sure guests won’t be able to access the company’s local network and limit the maximum internet usage.

Hotels and RV Parks

Hotels and RV parks usually utilize a captive portal to allow guests (paid) access to internet for a limited duration. Guests need to login using a voucher they can either buy or obtain for free at the reception. OPNsense has built-in support for vouchers and can easily create them on the fly. With this example we will show you how to setup the Guest Network for this purpose and setup a reception account for creating new vouchers.

Advanced

The Captive portal can also be combined with the category based web filtering of the proxy. This tutorial will explain how to combine both features.

Prerequisites

We will start configuration with a fresh OPNsense install, updated to the latest patch level (16.1.5_1 in our example). You will need a system with a minimum of 3 ports (LAN/WAN/GUESTNET) for this tutorial.

Good to know

As the Hotel/RV Parks setup is almost identical to the business setup we will start with that and after finishing add/change the specifics to match the Hotel Guest setup.

Step 1 - Configure Interface

For the Guest Network we will add a new interface. Go to Interfaces ‣ Assignments And use the + to add a new interface. Press Save. The new interface will be called OPT1, click on [OPT1] in the left menu to change its settings.

Select Enable Interface and fill in the following data for our example:

Description	GUESTNET	A descriptive name for the interface
Block Private networks	unselected
Block bogon networks	unselected
IPv4 Configuration Type	Static IPv4	Set a static IPv4 address for the example
IPv6 configuration Type	None
MAC address	(Leave Blank)
MTU	(Leave Blank)
MSS	(Leave Blank)
Speed and duplex	Default	You may also select the speed when known
Static IPv4 address	192.168.200.1/24	We will use this segment for our guests
IPv4 Upstream Gateway	Default

Press Save and then Apply changes.

Step 2 - Configure DHCP Server

Go to Services ‣ DHCPv4 ‣ [GUESTNET].

Fill in the following to setup the DHCP server for our guest net (leave everything

else on its default setting):

Enable	Checked	Enable the DCHP server on GUESTNET
Range	192.168.200.100 to 192.168.200.200	Serve IPs from this range
DNS servers	192.168.200.1	Supply a DNS with the lease
Gateway	192.168.200.1	Supply a gateway with the lease

Click Save.

Step 3 - Add Firewall Rules

Go to Firewall ‣ Rules to add a new rule.

Now add the following rules (in order of prevalence):

Allow DNS

Allow the guests access to the DNS forwarder. Rule content (leave all other options default):

Action	Pass	Allow this traffic
Interface	GUESTNET	The GuestNet Interface
Protocol	TCP/UDP
Source	GUESTNET net
Destination	GUESTNET address
Destination port range	DNS/DNS	from DNS to DNS
Category	GuestNet Basic Rules	Category used for grouping rules
Description	Allow DNS

Click Save.

Allow Captive Portal Login

Action	Pass	Allow this traffic
Interface	GUESTNET	The GuestNet Interface
Protocol	TCP
Source	GUESTNET net
Destination	GUESTNET address
Destination port range	8000/10000	(other) used for the cp zones
Category	GuestNet Basic Rules	Category used for grouping rules
Description	Allow Captive Portal Login

Click Save.

Block Local Networks

Action	Block	Block this traffic
Interface	GUESTNET	The GuestNet Interface
Protocol	any
Source	GUESTNET net
Destination	LAN net
Category	GuestNet Basic Rules	Category used for grouping rules
Description	Block Local Networks

Click Save.

Action	Block	Block this traffic
Interface	GUESTNET	The GuestNet Interface
Protocol	any
Source	GUESTNET net
Destination	GUESTNET address
Category	GuestNet Basic Rules	Category used for grouping rules
Description	Block Firewall Access

Click Save.

Note

These rules are used to block access to our local LAN network and firewall access from the Guests. If you have multiple local networks then you need to block each of them with multiple rules or use a bigger subnet to cover them all.

Allow Guest Networks

Action	Pass	Allow this traffic
Interface	GUESTNET	The GuestNet Interface
Protocol	any
Source	GUESTNET net
Destination	any
Destination port range	any
Category	GuestNet Basic Rules	Category used for grouping rules
Description	Allow Guest Network

Click Save and then Apply changes

Your rules should look similar to the screenshot below:

Step 4 - Create Captive Portal

Go to Services ‣ Captive Portal ‣ Administration

To add a new Zone press the + in the lower right corner of the form.

Note

When using multiple interfaces with the captive portal then each interface can have its own zone or multiple interfaces can share a zone.

For the Business setup we will start with the following settings:

Enabled	Checked
Interfaces	GUESTNET	Remove the default and add GUESTNET
Authenticate using	(blank)	Remove any default setting
Idle timeout	0	Disable Idle Timeout
Hard timeout	0	No hard timeout
Concurrent user logins	Unchecked	A user may only login once
SSL certificate	none	Use plain http
Hostname	(leave blank)	Used for redirecting login page
Allowed addresses	(leave blank)
Custom template	none	Use default template
Description	Guest Network	Choose a description for the zone

Save and the Apply

Step 5 - Create Template

The template feature is one of the most powerful features of OPNsense’s Captive Portal solution and it’s very easy to work with.

Let’s create a custom landing page, to do so click on the tab Templates and click on the download icon in the lower right corner ( ).

Now download the default template, we will use this to create our own. Unpack the template zip file, you should have something similar to this:

Most files of the template can be modified, but some are default and may not be changes. Upon upload any changes to the files listed in exclude.list will be ignored. Currently these include the bootstrap JavaScript and some fonts.

With the captive portal enabled the default screen looks like:

Let’s change this default with a new logo and a welcome message, to this:

To do so use your favourite editor and open the index.html file to make the changes.

Let’s make the following changes to the template:

1. Change the logo to company-logo.png

2. Remove the navigation bar on the top

3. Remove the height and width from the <img> tag

4. Add a welcome text

5. Make a link to the company website

Find the following part:

<header class="page-head">
<nav class="navbar navbar-default" >
    <div class="container-fluid">
        <div class="navbar-header">
            <a class="navbar-brand" href="#">
                <img class="brand-logo" src="images/default-logo.png" height="30" width="150">
            </a>
        </div>
    </div>
</nav>
</header>

And change to:

<header class="page-head">
    <div align="center">
      <a href="#">
          <img class="brand-logo" src="images/company-logo.png">
      </a>
      <h1>Welcome to My Company Guest Network.</h1>
      <h2>Feel free to use the guest network for profesional usage</h2>
      <h3>See our website for more details: <a href="https://www.opnsense.org">My Company</a></h3>
    </div>
</header>

Copy the company logo to the image directory. Now zip the template directory and upload the new template by pressing the + on the Template tab.

Download the example Template (full)

Enter a Template Name, for this example we use Company. Hit Upload ( )

To enable the captive portal on the GUESTNET interface just click on Apply.

Step 6 - Limit Guests Bandwidth

For our example we will reserve 10 Mbps down and 1 Mbps Up for the Guest Network’s Internet Access. This bandwidth will be shared evenly between connected clients.

Note

With sharing evenly we mean that if 10 users at the same time try to use as much bandwidth as possible then everyone gets 1/10th. So in our example that would be 1 Mbps down stream (download). It is also possible to limit the traffic per user see also Setup Traffic Shaping

Go to: Firewall ‣ Shaper ‣ Pipes.

Create a pipe for the Download by pressing the + in the lower right corner of the form and enter the following details:

Enabled	Checked
bandwidth	10
bandwidth Metric	Mbit/s
mask	Destination
Description	pipe_10Mbps_down

Click Save changes. And add another pipe for the upload traffic.

Enabled	Checked
bandwidth	1
bandwidth Metric	Mbit/s
mask	Destination
Description	pipe_1Mbps_up

Click on Save changes.

Create the traffic shaper rules. Click on the tab Rules and press the + to do so.

First toggle the advanced mode (upper left corner of the form) and then fill in the following details (leave everything not specified on defaults):

sequence	(leave on default)
interface	WAN
interface 2	GUESTNET
direction	in
target	pipe_10Mbps_down
description	Limit Guests download to 10 Mbps

Click Save changes.

sequence	(leave on default)
interface	WAN
interface 2	GUESTNET
direction	out
target	pipe_1Mbps_up
description	Limit Guests upload to 1 Mbps

Click Save changes.

Now click on Apply to apply the changes.

Step 7 - Test Business GuestNet

Connect your PC or laptop to the Guest Network and start your favourite browser. Enter an address to browse to and you will be presented with the Login form we created with the template in the previous step. Click on login and start browsing.

To test your traffic shaper go to a speed test site such as http://www.speedtest.net/ After testing your result should be similar to this (if your internet connection has sufficient bandwidth).

Note

Keep in mind we have only one connected client in this test, so all reserved bandwidth will be available for our client.

Royal Hotel Example

From this point we will implement the Hotel/RV Park solution. You need to follow step 1-7 first and choose the template you like to use for your guests.

This example will be for our “Royal Hotel”.

Step 8 - Add Voucher Server

To add a Voucher Server go to: System ‣ Access ‣ Servers and click on Add server in the top right corner of the screen.

Fill in:

Descriptive name	Vouchers	The name for your voucher server
Type	Voucher

Click on Save.

Step 9 - Create Vouchers

Go back to the Captive portal and select Vouchers (Services ‣ Captive Portal ‣ Vouchers). Click on Create Vouchers in the lower right corner of the form.

Let’s create 1-day vouchers for our guests:

Enter the Validity (1 day), the number of Vouchers and a Groupname (Wi-Fi day pass, for example). For the example we create 10 vouchers. Click on Generate.

A file will be generated called Wi-Fi day pass.csv. The content of this file looks like this:

username,password,vouchergroup,validity
"IgJw@Pqf","MLi+Sb7Ak#","Wi-Fi day pass","86400"
"++?f[@i[","!m*)e(@;F,","Wi-Fi day pass","86400"
"bbtK9mBk","f/jCDL3:)b","Wi-Fi day pass","86400"
"iD%L[jLJ","I#FoZ#g!AY","Wi-Fi day pass","86400"
"+4bA\E[I","CNavt@0ck+","Wi-Fi day pass","86400"
"+,fg/\Sv","#22iIL-iQA","Wi-Fi day pass","86400"
":;Pc\N#s","Y\HuG9vAN$","Wi-Fi day pass","86400"
"00nLb=0Q","0*C_\_Nb_x","Wi-Fi day pass","86400"
"PA$J0YHF","kp!q%9;m)g","Wi-Fi day pass","86400"
"a,mCxbya","LcnCb#g/di","Wi-Fi day pass","86400"

The content are:

username	Username the guest needs to login with
password	Password the guest needs to login with
vouchergroup	The name of the group you created
validity	The time the voucher will be valid in seconds

Warning

For security reasons the plain text passwords for the vouchers are NOT stored on the firewall.

This file can be used for creating nice guest vouchers (on paper) by just merging the CSV data with Microsoft Word, LibreOffice or any other DTP/text editor.

Create something like this:

You can select a database to and remove it entirely. This way you can create a voucher database for the arrival date of guest per guest group (week, midweek, weekend, etc.) and delete the full database when the guests have left.

Note

When a voucher is activated the time will be used regardless of the user being logged in or out. For a “used time” solution use a Radius server look at Setup FreeRADIUS for accounting

Step 10 - Voucher Authentication

Enable the voucher authentication by changing the zone settings. Go to the tab Zones and select the Guest Network by clicking on the pencil icon right next to it.

Change Authenticate using from an empty field to Vouchers.

When done click Save changes and the Apply to apply the new settings.

Now users will see the login form as part of your template:

Check Sessions

To check the active sessions go to Services ‣ Captive Portal ‣ Sessions Our current session looks like this:

You can drop an active session by clicking on the trashcan.

Note

Notice the selection box at the upper right corner, with this you can select the right zone when you have configured more than one.

Check Voucher Status

You can check the validity and active status of a voucher by going to the voucher page of the captive portal (Services ‣ Captive Portal ‣ Vouchers) and select the correct database (Wi-Fi day pass in our example).

Note

The state valid means it is activated but still valid.

Advanced - Session popup

Let’s create a Session Popup so users can see some details about their session and Logout. For this feature we will use OPNsense’s built-in API calls.

In particular we will use the following API call (for zone id 0):

/api/captiveportal/access/status/0/

The response on this API call looks like this (for an active session):

{"userName":"IgJw@Pqf",
"macAddress":"10:dd:b1:bc:75:46",
"acc_session_timeout":14095,
"authenticated_via":"Vouchers",
"packets_out":2834,
"bytes_in":512869,
"last_accessed":1457527526,
"zoneid":0,
"sessionId":"npd5bd6SIVQeMfIbWBdong==","
startTime":1457526930.1719,
"bytes_out":1322351,
"ipAddress":"192.168.200.100",
"packets_in":3181,
"clientState":"AUTHORIZED"}

It would go a bit to far to explain standard HTML and JavaScript used for our simple popup, but a full demo template can be downloaded:

Download the example Template (with popup)

The demo includes a new file called session_popup.html with all the logic to show the time left on the voucher and a logout button. As well as a simple update to our index.html page to call the popup on a successful login. The latter looks like this (shown with a bit of context):

// redirect on successful login
if (data['clientState'] == 'AUTHORIZED') {
    window.open("session_popup.html","Session Status & Logout","width=400, height=400");

Advanced - CLI Session Status

OPNsense has a very powerful CLI that is particularly useful for debugging purposes. For this example we will use the cli to list the status off all active sessions.

Type the following on the cli prompt to do so (for zone id 0):

configctl captiveportal list_clients 0

The output will be something similar to this: