MAC Address-Prioritized Portal Authentication
MAC address-prioritized Portal authentication allows disconnected users who passed Portal authentication to access the network again within a certain period of time after the disconnection, without entering the user name and password, as long as they pass MAC address authentication. To use this function, you need to configure MAC address authentication and Portal authentication on the device, and enable MAC address-prioritized Portal authentication and configure the MAC address validity period on the authentication server. After users pass Portal authentication, they can access the network again through MAC address authentication within the MAC address validity period.
Authentication Process
On the network shown in Figure 1, when a client is to be authenticated for the first time, the access device sends the client's MAC address to the RADIUS server. However, authentication fails because the RADIUS server does not find the client's MAC address. Then Portal authentication is triggered for the client. After successful Portal authentication, the RADIUS server saves the client's MAC address. When the client attempts to connect to the wireless network after unexpected logout due to unstable wireless signals or switching between different signal coverage areas, the access device sends the client's MAC address to the RADIUS server for identity authentication.
- If the client's MAC address is stored on the RADIUS server, the RADIUS server verifies the user name and password (both are the client's MAC address) and authorizes the client. Then the client can access the network without entering the user name and password.
- If the client's MAC address has expired on the RADIUS server and the RADIUS server has deleted the client's MAC address, MAC address authentication fails. The access device then pushes the Portal authentication page to the client. The client user needs to enter the user name and password to pass identity authentication.
