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Enabling Captive Network Assistant

Home FortiNAC 9.4.0 Enabling Captive Network Assistant
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How it Works

How it Works

Launching the Portal

When a computer connects to the network, requests are sent to certain sites (depending upon the operating system). If the response is anything other than what is expected, it is assumed there is no internet connection. The captive portal automatically launches (presenting the FortiNAC’s portal) and the user is notified that they are in a Captive Network. Once the captive portal launches, the user enters information to register.

There are different captive portal detection solutions depending upon the operating system:

Microsoft and Android - Captive Portal Detection (uses full browser)

iOS and macOS - Captive Network Assistant (CNA) (uses mini browser)

Note the following:

  • When enabled, this feature is enabled for all portals. It cannot be enabled on a per portal basis.

  • This feature should not be used when using Endpoint Compliance Policies for MAC computers. Since macOS launches a mini browser, users cannot download items, such as the agent, from within the Captive Network Assistant.

  • Domains used to determine whether or not to launch the browser will differ (see Edit the Allowed Domains List). In addition, the end user experience can vary between vendor and operating systems.

  • This feature only runs a limited scope of Javascript, and HTML requests will not open a new browser window. Clicking a link while using this feature will result in the current browser window being replaced by the new browser window.

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How it Works

Launching the Portal

When a computer connects to the network, requests are sent to certain sites (depending upon the operating system). If the response is anything other than what is expected, it is assumed there is no internet connection. The captive portal automatically launches (presenting the FortiNAC’s portal) and the user is notified that they are in a Captive Network. Once the captive portal launches, the user enters information to register.

There are different captive portal detection solutions depending upon the operating system:

Microsoft and Android - Captive Portal Detection (uses full browser)

iOS and macOS - Captive Network Assistant (CNA) (uses mini browser)

Note the following:

  • When enabled, this feature is enabled for all portals. It cannot be enabled on a per portal basis.

  • This feature should not be used when using Endpoint Compliance Policies for MAC computers. Since macOS launches a mini browser, users cannot download items, such as the agent, from within the Captive Network Assistant.

  • Domains used to determine whether or not to launch the browser will differ (see Edit the Allowed Domains List). In addition, the end user experience can vary between vendor and operating systems.

  • This feature only runs a limited scope of Javascript, and HTML requests will not open a new browser window. Clicking a link while using this feature will result in the current browser window being replaced by the new browser window.

Previous
Next