Learn what a captive portal is, how it works, and why you should have one.
It’s hard to imagine that only a couple of years ago, we had to pay for internet access at hotels, restaurants, or coffee shops. And places like cinemas or shops didn’t even offer customers the ability to go online.
Today, free WiFi access is the norm. It’s also a great marketing tool for increasing retention, repeat purchases, and collecting reviews.
But providing your customers with such access can be quite confusing. And one of the challenging aspects is the idea of captive portals.
In this guide, I will explain what a captive portal is and its role in your WiFi marketing strategy.
So, let’s start at the very beginning…
What is a Captive Portal?
A captive portal is a webpage that anyone trying to access public or free WiFi needs to see and interact with before accessing such a network.
I appreciate that this definition of a captive portal is a bit of a mouthful, so let me explain it with an example.
Think of the last time you connected to free WiFi at a restaurant or a coffee shop.
You most likely didn’t just select the network from a list of available ones and get connected immediately. Most likely, you had to go through at least some steps to access that network:
- You likely had to provide your email address or log in through your social media account.
- Perhaps you needed to accept some T&Cs and privacy policies.
- And you may also have seen some information and promotions from the company.
A lot of these interactions happened through a captive portal.
But, and this is where things may get a little confusing, the captive portal isn’t the login page you’ve seen (like the one pictured above.)
That is called a splash page.
The captive portal is the mechanism behind it.
So, when we use the term captive portal, we refer to the system that intercepts people as they try to log into the network and provides access based on certain criteria.
To achieve this objective and log people in, the captive portal displays a splash page.
This is an essential aspect of the process to understand.
You see, most of the time, when customers use the term – captive portal – they refer to the aspect of the process that they see on screens – a page on which they log into the network.
But the actual captive portal is behind it, and only uses the splash page to communicate and interact with them.
So, in a nutshell:
- A captive portal is the mechanism that runs the process. Your customers do not see it when accessing the guest WiFi. But it is the captive portal that makes the process possible.
- A splash page is the actual page that customers see when accessing the network. This is what they experience as the physical manifestation of the process. However, the process itself is run by the captive portal.
Why use a captive portal?
First and foremost, a captive portal is a system that allows you to provide free internet access to customers.
But captive portals offer other benefits, too.
Provide seamless WiFi experience to customers.
Thanks to a captive portal, you can provide a simple way for customers to access the internet at your hotel, restaurant, or bar.
What I mean by that is that the captive portal will make it easy for customers to log into your guest WiFi. They won’t have to do anything to set up the connection; just log in and they’re in.
Similarly, the captive portal will recognize if someone is a returning visitor and will display log in screen for them, allowing them to access the network fast.
Help you capture leads and build your marketing list.
Customers will have to log in to the captive portal to access the network. This means that the portal can help you generate new leads, collect their contact details, and forward that data to your other marketing tools (e.g., email marketing software, etc.)
What’s more, captive portals like MyPlace offer advanced user analytics, so that you can combine customers’ details with behavioral data to create even more focused marketing campaigns.
Control the bandwidth and limit guest WiFi usage if needed.
In theory, you’d want every customer to be able to connect to your network. However, in practice, there might be situations where you might need to limit guest WiFi usage.
For example, you might be close to reaching your bandwidth quota. Or you might be experiencing low bandwidth and want to limit the number of devices accessing the network.
A captive portal gives you complete control over how many devices can use the network at a time, helping you to control the bandwidth and usage.
Collect customer feedback with various surveys, like NPS.
FACT: Collecting customer feedback is one of the most beneficial strategies for any business. It’s how you can identify what’s working and which areas of the business would do with some improvement.
But the challenge is that it’s hard to simply ask customers for feedback when you’re going through the bustle of a normal day.
Luckily, that’s where a captive portal could help, too. With a captive portal, you can display surveys, like NPS or CSAT, directly on the splash page, asking customers to provide their feedback.
Show notifications and promotions.
You can display notifications and promotions on the splash page through the captive portal.
For example, you can include information about today’s specials at the hotel’s restaurant on the splash page to entice more people to dine there. You can also notify patrons about special offers to generate more repeat business. You can promote upcoming events or simply include an important announcement.
In other words, with a captive portal, you can connect with and promote your business to every customer accessing your guest WiFi.
Ask for reviews and star ratings.
Finally, you can also use a captive portal to entice customers to leave review of your business on Google, Yelp or other platforms. Like with the other benefits, this also happens on a splash page.
Who needs a captive portal?
By its nature, a captive portal is required in any instance where a business wants to provide customers with access to the internet from its premises.
Most commonly, captive portals are used by businesses such as:
- Hotels
- Restaurants
- Coffee shops
- Bars
- Venues and conference spaces
- Airports
- Shopping centres
- Bars
- Pubs
- Public spaces like museums
- Cinemas
- Gyms
- Hospitals
- and more.
How does a captive portal work?
I called the captive portal a mechanism, and I think it would make sense to see how such a system works.
A quick note – The process is quite technical but I tried to explain it in the simplest terms possible. That said, I couldn’t avoid using technical terms and jargon. However, whenever applicable, I tried to explain them as well as possible.
The process starts when a person begins to connect to a network.
Usually, this means that they’ve arrived at your location, pulled out their smartphone, and searched for your free WiFi.
Once their action has been detected, the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol assigns an Internet Protocol host and an address (IP) to their visit.
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a system that automatically assigns IP addresses to devices on a network. I like to think of it as an automatic address system for devices on the internet.
This address, in turn, lets the customer’s device communicate with the portal, which then redirects them to a login or terms page before granting full internet access.
At the same time, the firewall, or a gateway, prevents their access to the Internet.
This is because they need to log in or sign up before accessing your guest WiFi, of course.
To do so, the captive portal redirects the user to a web page that opens in their browser.
This is the splash page we’ve talked about already. The splash page is where the person registers for the network, accepts your T&C’s, and performs any other action that you require them to.
Once they finish that, they can access the network and use your guest WiFi.
How to Set Up a Captive Portal
We’ve covered quite a lot of information about what a captive portal is, how it works, and what are it’s elements, including the splash page.
So, as the last part of this guide, let’s review what sort of hardware and software do you need to create a captive portal for your location.
And as a matter of fact, you only need three elements to do so:
#1. Router/Access Point
A router or access point in a captive portal is a device that connects the customer’s device – phone, laptop, etc. to the internet.
When they try to connect to a network, the router/access point directs the device to the splash page, where they log in, accept terms, or enter a code.
The router/access point manages this connection and ensures only authorized users can use the network, enhancing security and controlling access.
#2. Captive Portal Software
As I’m sure its name suggests, this software manages the captive portal for you.
When your customers join a network, the captive portal software ensures only authorized users access the internet, tracks user activity for security, and can display custom messages or ads.
It runs on the network’s server or router, handling user authentication and providing a secure, controlled way to grant internet access.
Example of a captive portal software
MyPlace (disclaimer – this is my tool) is a dedicated captive portal software that helps brick-and-mortar businesses – restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, bars, and many others – manage guest access to their WiFi networks.
Access is managed by a captive portal, where WiFi users are required to enter registration information to gain access.
Thanks to MyPlace, venues can capture valuable email and marketing data on their customer, giving them an incredible opportunity to remarket and/or upsell to the customer after they have left the physical location.
In addition to primary email data, MyPlace incorporates behavioral and geo data to provide additional context.
Finally, MyPlace integrates directly with many email marketing platforms, such as Mailchimp or Klaviyo, allowing venues to add collected emails to their mailing lists.
#3. Splash page customization tool
The final element is software that allows you to create and customize splash pages.
And in short, splash page software creates and manages the first webpage your customers see when connecting to a public Wi-Fi network.
This page can show login options, advertisements, terms of service, or other information and helps businesses communicate with users, collect data, and ensure users agree to specific terms before accessing the Internet.
The software runs on the network’s server or router, making it easy to customize and control the user experience on public networks.
NOTE: MyPlace also creates splash pages for you, so you don’t need a separate tool for that.
And that’s it…
That’s all there is to know about captive portals. All that’s left for you is to start setting up your captive portal and a splash page and launch your WiFi marketing campaign.
Good luck!
