Building a Wide-area Linux-based Wireless Network, part 3

By: Eric Geier
Thursday, June 18, 2009 05:19:37 PM EST
URL: http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/6778/1/

Setting up the CoovaOM Captive Portal

Last month, we discovered an open source wireless mesh solution from Open-Mesh. In Part 1, we reviewed solution and configured the basic settings. In Part 2, we reviewed the captive portal options and set up the internal one. Now we're going to experiment with the CoovaOM captive portal. Then we'll touch on how to get Web filtering up on the mesh network. Finally, we'll install and test the system.

figure 1: CoovaOM settings page
figure 1: CoovaOM settings page

Setting up the CoovaOM Captive Portal

If you are wanting to better control and manage the hotspot, or charge for access, you can use the CoovaOM Captive Portal. Log into your Dashboard, select the SSID #1 tab and make sure CoovaOM is marked for the Captive Portal Option. Then before anything else, click the Update Network Settings button on the top to save the settings. Then before the new settings are pushed
to your mesh nodes, you should create a user account for yourself (discussed in next paragraph). Otherwise you'll have to connect to the private network to access the Internet again, to configure the remaining settings.

To set up CoovaOM, click the Configure CoovaOM button on the bottom. This takes you to their site. As you'll see, the control panel is already set up with your Open-Mesh account. First, click the My Network link on the left, click Users, and then click the new button to create an account for you to use.

There's a few ways to set up your hotspot. You can manually create user accounts and give out the login credentials for free, or require a in-person payment. Alternatively, you can sign up for the Payment Membership to require credit card payments via the splash screen before users get access. If manually creating accounts, you don't have to create one for each user; you can reuse them. Plus you can always offer a free service that has more limitations but doesn't require an account or payment, in addition to offering full account- or payment-based access. To configure these types of settings, click My Network > Settings.

Figure 1 shows an example of the Settings page.

To create user accounts, click My Network > Users. However, before adding user accounts, you might want to create additional User Access Policies, if you want to offer different levels of service.

Finally, you need to edit the default splash page, which is extremely basic, as Figure 2 shows. Click My Content > Hotspot Page. Change the page Title as you wish and select a template and/or modify each of the splash page sections. The splash page editing scheme can be confusing at first, but it makes it more customizable. Just take your time to understand the big picture before you start making changes.

figure 2: Editing the splash page
figure 2: Editing the splash page

Remember to include links, images, CSS files, or any other Internet content, you must add the site domain or IP address to the walled garden. This opens up all access to the particular domain. You might even add your own organization's domain. Therefore, any users (even those that don't signup or pay for access) can visit your site and discover more about you.

Setting up Web Filtering

Open-Mesh doesn't include a Web filter, however, you can use third-party solutions. For example, OpenDNS is free and very easy to set up on the router, and it applies to all the hotspot users. If users are paying for access in their apartment you might not want to filter the Internet, however, if offering free access or in a public area, you should consider filtering.

To use OpenDNS, go to their site, sign-up for an account, and configure the filtering settings. Then login to the Open-Mesh Dashboard, click the Advanced tab, and type in the OpenDNS IP (208.67.222.222) for the Alternate Nameserver IP. Then save the changes.

If the Internet connection for the mesh network is using a dynamic or changing IP address (which is the case for most residential and small business connections), you need to download the OpenDNS Updater. Install this utility on a computer that will be powered on most of the time, so when the Internet IP changes, OpenDNS will be notified and the filtering will continue to work.

Many routers include a dynamic DNS feature which does the updating, so you don't have to worry about leaving a computer on in order to keep the IP service updated. Even though the Open-Mesh routers don't support this, you might be able to use another router. For example, if you have a different router (maybe for private access) on the same Internet connection, you can probably use it instead
of having to download and install the updater utility. Log onto the web-based configuration utility and see if it has the feature, usually called Dynamic DNS and in the misc or advanced settings.

Install the Nodes, Test, and Enjoy

Now that you have everything configured the way you want it, you can install the mesh nodes. Keep the tips from Part 1 in mind and refer to the Open-Mesh guide for help on designing and installing your mesh network. Once everything is in place, be sure to test the network. Walk around with a laptop and check the connection from areas where users will be surfing. Plus you should check the Network Status details in your Dashboard for any problems. Finally, get the word out about your open source Wi-Fi mesh network, and enjoy.

Eric Geier is an author of many computing and networking books, including Home Networking All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies (Wiley 2008) and 100 Things You Need to Know about Microsoft Windows Vista (Que 2007).

Copyright Jupitermedia Corp. All Rights Reserved.