Intro to WiFi network configuration

Cloud4Wi cloud platform connects with your existing WiFi infrastructure taking control of the guest WiFi experience.

Cloud4Wi is integrated with most of the WiFi vendors in the market and requires the minimum intervention and configuration of the WiFi infrastructure. To see the list of the support WiFi vendors and access to the step-by-step configuration guides visit this article "List of Supported access points and vendors" 

Architecture

Cloud4Wi platform is hosted in the cloud and interacts with the WiFi network by means of standard protocols such as the RADIUS protocol.

There many possible WiFi network topologies possible, from simple stand-alone access points to cloud-based managed systems (see Cisco Meraki) and solutions that require an on-premise or remote controller (for example, Cisco WLC). The way Coud4Wi interacts with the network in each of these cases strictly depends on the WiFi vendor interfaces and it is documented in the step-by-step user guides listed here.  

In general, Cloud4Wi platform needs to interact with the network nodes that control the access control functions (AAA / RADIUS client) and that perform the Captive Portal redirect. If there are firewalls between the WiFi network and the Cloud4Wi platform, it is necessary to allow certain IP Addresses to go thru the Firewall (the IP list will be provided by our team).

Walled Garden

In order to function properly, certain Cloud4wi capabilities require the configuration of the Walled Garden options. In particular, you need to add specific domains or IP addresses to the Walled Garde list to enable our CDNs and to support the Social Login.

Captive Portal Workflow

Here a simplified workflow that shows how the Cloud4Wi system handles the communication with the WiFi infrastructure to handle the guest WiFi access base don Captive Portals.

In case of some cloud-managed network, the workflow above differs slightly in some steps (for example involving the use of server-to-server APIs).

Common configuration parameters

Independently from the vendor and the configuration used, in order to use an access point you need to configure the following basic parameters:

• RADIUS IP address: the IP address of the RADIUS server, for authentication and accounting phases. It is strongly recommended to configure both the primary and the secondary RADIUS server.
• Shared secret: the secret key shared between the RADIUS client and server.
• Splash Page URL: the URL of the external login page where the end-user is redirected to.

Another important parameter is the Identifier. The platform uses this to identify the specific access point. You must set this value when creating the access point in the Cloud4Wi Dashboard. For further information see this article: How to add an access point.

Each product uses different conventions to set this parameter; in some cases, you can set this parameter manually, in other cases it is imposed by the device according to a well-known convention.

You must ensure this parameter is unique for your network (it is common to use the MAC address when the parameter can be manually set).

 

The default parameters are listed below. In case of any variation, you will receive the list of new parameters during the setup of the platform.

• Primary RADIUS Server (IP address): 54.247.117.188
• Secondary RADIUS Server (IP address): 79.125.111.180
• Shared secret: (it will be communicated by Cloud4Wi)
• Splash Page URL: https://splashportal.cloud4wi.com/

Other useful parameters:

• Authentication port: 1812
• Accounting port: 1813