Captive Portal
What is Captive Portal?
Captive Portal is the name of the technology which uses web-based authentication to allow users on to a network. When you connect to either the 'UoM_WIFI' or 'University of Manchester' wireless networks you will be connected to the University network, however your usage will be restricted until you access the captive portal webpage and enter your credentials.
When connected to the Captive Portal wireless network, authenticated users are able to browse the web and connect to a variety of other University services.
Should you not be authenticated to use the Captive Portal wireless network (or simply do not wish to do so) you could make a VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection to gain access to the University network or, for visitors, use VPN to connect back to their home site.
For a University member the advantages of running the VPN are that it's quicker to connect, secure (between device and University network) and has fewer restrictions.
For a visitor the advantage of using the VPN is that they don't have to request University credentials before being able to access the network.
Security
The nature of any captive portal system is that it is 'Open', meaning that over-the-air network traffic is unencrypted and therefore insecure (anyone with a laptop can 'sniff' the traffic for passwords and other sensitive information). It is important for all users to be aware of data security and carry the responsibility of encrypting any sensitive data before sending.
- See the IT Security webpages for further details on data encryption
There are restrictions on what sort of connections can be made and services accessed via captive portal. As much as possible they are restricted to services which are encrypted and authenticated. Encryption stops sensitive data from being seen and authentication means that only the right people can use the network.
Additionally there is a 15 minute idle timeout of the captive portal - i.e. if you've not done anything for 15 minutes then you'll need to log back in. This is an important feature to ensure a basic level of security for the users and for the University.
- As a general rule, the use of VPN over the captive portal is more secure than using captive portal alone
- The eduroam service is even more secure, by its default nature
Connecting to the Captive Portal
- See the Knowledge Base article - How To: Connect to the wireless network (Captive Portal)