# Captive Portal

A captive portal presents a web page (also known as a ‘“splash page”) which requires action on the part of the user before network access is granted. The required action can be simply viewing and agreeing to an acceptable use policy, or entering a user ID and password which must be validated against a database of authorized users.

When a captive portal is enabled, all Internet traffic will be re-directed to a particular URL and a user is required to take specific actions before their traffic is able to pass through to the Internet. In this way, a service provider controls the initial Internet experience for their end customer can request the customer take a variety of actions:

1. accept a set of terms and conditions before being allowed onto the Internet.
2. fill out a survey.
3. purchase a billing plan
4. view an advertisement

EnGeniusCloud includes built-in captive portal functionality with features like pre-built templates for free click-through access and powerful external captive portal APIs, which can allow customers and partners to deploy and leverage their own captive portal and billing systems, enabling a limitless range of applications such as specialized coupons and user analytics.

{% hint style="info" %}
In order for the Captive Portal to function the EnGeniusCloud must be reachable at all times. Guests are redirected to the EnGeniusCloud to reach the guest portal, and the redirection will not be successful if Cloud APIs is not accessible.
{% endhint %}


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