HSG delivers complete set of software modules in a single box (see HSG overview)

• • HotSpot Access Controller.. This module includes firewall, DHCP, bandwidth controll features for each hotspot instance.

  • Captive Portal. This is also called login page or landing page in many context, and it defines the login portal that users will see after they hook on to the network via either wireless or LAN connection before further access is granted.

  • User Access Manager/RADIUS. HSG has built-in RADIUS server installed, with local storage space for storing user accounts and access records etc. mbox RADIUS can be used to authenticate users for captive portal access (login portal). See more details on mbox RADIUS.

  • Wireless controller (MACC). HSG has a built-in MAP cloud controller (MACC) to manage light-weight mbox Access Points (MAP) for central policy management, wireless load balancing, radio management, roaming and monitoring etc.

There're 5 major steps in a typical HSG configuration:

• Configure base network settings. Configure base settings to get started with HSG. eg, interface, route, and firewall-snat rules, etc. The base network settings are no different from normal CMG configurations, except the DHCP is scope configured in hotspot instance configuration. Refer to a typical mbox with base network settings.

• Configure RADIUS settings. This is to define how mbox local RADIUS server authenticates users via captive portals. HSG supports many options to authenticate users (see details).

• Configure hotspot instances (access controller). This config defines how we want to intercept user traffic for different SSID/LAN networks, apply respective landing pages, authenticate users, and enforce respective access policies for each authenticated users.

• Configure captive portals. We can have different captive portals for different hotspot instances. mbox HSG comes with a huge set of ready templates to cater for different requirement scenarios. We can choose one of the desired template as a base for each portal, and the portal customization is done through a web-based CMS. HSG hotspot access controller (or hotspot instance) can also be configured to point to an external portal URL if the portal contents are hosted externally.

• Configure MACC. This is optional and only required if the local wireless AP are using mbox Access Points (MAP).

SAMPLE: attached below is a sample config. WAN is eth0, LAN is eth1 connected to a switch or AP directly.