SMS Authentication
How to use SMS authentication to send time- or bandwidth-limited Wi-Fi access codes to users' cell phones.
Add a new Authentication System.
Click "Authentication" in the left sidebar, then click on the + icon to add a new authentication system.
Select SMS as the Authentication System type.
From the Authentication System Type menu, select "SMS".
Name your new SMS Authentication System.
Give your new SMS authentication system a name. This is the name that will appear in SputnikNet.
You can also give it a display name, which users will see on captive portals when multiple authentication systems are available.
Enter Esendex credentials.
Sputnik has partnered with Esendex Limited (www.esendex.us) to deliver SMS messages. (If there are other SMS message providers you prefer, please let us know).
Enter your Esendex username, password and account number.
If you're located in the UK, you can enter a number that the SMS messages will originate from. Other countries use the registered 5-digit phone number alias for Esendex (in the US it is 26335).
Finally enter the minimum number of digits you need for texting in your region. By default, this is set to 8.
Set time and bandwidth limits.
Unused Login Code Expiration is the number of minutes that a new SMS code is valid for first use. Please note: this value must be shorter than the "Unauthenticated Session Timeout" value (under ACCOUNT > Settings). Otherwise a session could timeout before the SMS code is used to authenticate, forcing the user to start over and re-enter their phone number into the captive portal. The default value is 5 minutes.
Used Login Code Expiration is the number of minutes after which an SMS code will expire. The default value is 120 minutes.
Time Limit is the amount of time of Wi-Fi access allowed by the SMS code. You can leave blank to disable time limits for the code. Its value should be set lower than the Activated Login Code Expiration, otherwise the client will be logged out before reaching the time limit. The default value is disabled.
Bandwidth Limit is the number of bytes of Wi-Fi access allowed by the SMS code (upload plus download). You can leave the field blank to disable bandwidth limits for the code. The default value is disabled.
Set blackout period (optional).
Blackout Period is the number of minutes after reaching a used login code expiration, or time or bandwidth limit, that a user must wait before being able to get a new SMS login code. The default value is 60 minutes.
Blackout Redirect URL is the web site users are redirected to while in the blackout period. NOTE: you must create a corresponding walled garden "allow" rule for the redirect URL, and any other sites you want users to be able to reach while in the blackout period (when, technically, they are unauthenticated).
Set SMS message limits.
SMS Limits are ways to control the number of SMS codes generated from your account. Since sending SMS message costs money, you may want to limit it with the following controls.
SMS Message Rate/Hour is the maximum number of SMS login codes that can be sent in an hour. In the unlikely event that a malicious user attempts to exploit the sending of SMS messages (which Esendex charges a transaction fee for) this setting provides a way to limit the liability. Set this field to 0 (or leave blank) to disable message rate limiting. The default value is disabled.
Lost Login Code Requests is the maximum times an active SMS login code can be re-sent to a phone number. The default value is 3 times.
Active Login Codes Per Device is the maximum number of active SMS login codes which can be requested from a given client device (for example, laptop, tablet or phone that needs an SMS code to log onto your Wi-Fi network). The default value is 3 times.
Customize the captive portal text.
Enter Phone text appears on the captive portal where users are asked to input their phone number.
Enter Code text appears on the captive portal where users are asked to input the SMS login code.
Resend Code text appears on the captive portal where users can request that the SMS login code be re-sent.
Edit network policies.
Click on Group Policies and click "Edit" by the all Group. (That group is for all users who authenticate through the SMS authentication system.)
Select network policies to be applied after authentication.
Select network policies that will be applied after the user authenticates via SMS, then click "Update Policies".
SMS setup is complete. Now apply the SMS authentication system to captive portals, and apply the portals to routers.
In order to enable the SMS authentication system, you need to apply it to one or more captive portals, and apply those captive portals to routers.
When users associate with the access point, they will be presented with the captive portal and will need to enter their phone number to receive a login code.
After setup: view phone numbers used to get access codes.
Click on "Phone Numbers" to view users' mobile phone numbers, when they were first used, most recently used, the number of codes they used, and their time and bandwidth usage totals. If you want to see all codes used by a particular phone number, click on the number under Codes Used.
View access codes.
Click on "Codes" to view detailed information about each SMS code used, including the requesting phone number; code value; client MAC; creation, activation and expiration times; node information, code status, and time and bandwidth totals.
View and edit client information.
A client in the SMS authentication system is a code, which corresponds to the MAC address that requested the code, and the mobile number that received it. From the client record you can set maximum upload and download rates for future sessions, and view all existing and prior sessions initiated by that client.