Start free

Guest Wi-Fi

Guest network sign-in page: MikroTik, UniFi, click-through, guest contacts in the customer base, consents and stats

10 min read Admin panel demo
On this page 18

Guest Wi-Fi with sign-in through your venue page

A guest joins your network, opens your venue page and enters a phone number or email address. After they accept the terms, the portal hands control to the router to grant internet access. The contact is used in your customer directory; newsletter consent is requested separately.

What you need to get started#

Prepare Purpose
Access to app settings and the relevant location Enable the extension and configure its sign-in page
The “Guest Wi-Fi” extension and an eligible plan Connection availability is shown in the app store
A working guest network with internet access The portal does not configure your internet service connection
A router supporting an external captive portal It redirects guests to the sign-in page
Router administrator access Configure Hotspot, the portal address and allowed hosts
A phone for testing Follow the guest journey over Wi-Fi with mobile data turned off

MikroTik needs an existing Hotspot configuration. UniFi needs a controller address, site and API key or username and password. The portal server must be able to reach the controller: an address accessible only inside the venue is not enough.

Open guest Wi-Fi settings#

  1. Open App Store (/en/app-store) and find “Guest Wi-Fi”. If the extension is not connected yet, connect it from its card; follow the store prompt if your plan restricts access.
  2. Use “Configure” to open the connection window. Select the relevant location in its header.
  3. Turn on “Enable guest Wi-Fi”. The splash address, router selection and form settings appear.

Settings open over the store at /en/app-store?modal=ext-settings~guest-wifi. They apply to the selected location. Changes save automatically; the router configuration updates after a short delay.

Prepare the sign-in page#

Under “What to ask the guest for”, select the contact details to collect.

Field or switch What the guest sees
“Phone” A phone number field
“Email” An email field
“Phone or email” Both fields; either one is enough
“Ask for a name” An additional optional field
“Network name (SSID)” A network name on the splash page if the router does not supply one
“Greeting on the splash page” Your message above the form

Under “Consents”, set “Terms consent text” and, if needed, “Link to the terms (optional)”. Accepting the terms is required to continue. Leaving the text empty uses a default label in the guest's language.

For subscriptions, enable “Ask for newsletter opt-in” and optionally fill in “Opt-in text”. This checkbox is never preselected; declining newsletters does not prevent connection.

If the terms link uses a separate host, make it accessible before network sign-in. See Legal documents for document preparation.

Connect the router#

Under “Access point / router”, choose the appropriate option. Copy the “Splash page address” from the selected location's settings.

MikroTik Hotspot#

  1. Select “MikroTik Hotspot”. Enter “Hotspot guest login” and “Hotspot guest password”. These belong to a shared guest profile, not the router administrator account; empty fields use guest / guest.
  2. Wait for “Terminal snippet (.rsc)” to appear. Before applying it, save the current router configuration and check the Hotspot profile name: the snippet targets hsprof1. If your profile has another name, have your network administrator adjust the command.
  3. Use “Copy” to transfer the snippet into the router's New Terminal. It adds allowed hosts and a guest profile, and sets login-by=http-pap and the hotspot directory.
  4. Copy “login.html for the router” into a file named login.html and place it under Files → hotspot/, replacing the previous login file.
  5. Run the phone test described below.

The snippet does not build a network from scratch: it contains no WAN, DHCP, routing or wireless network name configuration. CHAP is not supported by this connection method. Do not blindly apply the snippet again: check the entries already created on the router.

UniFi (Ubiquiti)#

  1. Select “UniFi (Ubiquiti)” and fill in “Controller address”, “Site” and “Session length, minutes”.
  2. Set an “API key”, or “Controller login (if there is no API key)” and “Controller password”. The controller key and password are not shown on the guest page.
  3. Check “Self-signed certificate”: this switch allows connection without validating the controller certificate; use it only when appropriate for your setup.
  4. In the UniFi network's guest policy, specify an external portal and paste the splash address. Allow the hosts listed in the card before authentication.
  5. Test sign-in over the network: after the form, the server contacts the controller to authorise the guest device.

Session length applies to UniFi; if unset, it uses 240 minutes. This is not a shared timer for all routers.

If you have another router#

“Any router (click-through)” requires a compatible external portal. The option's name does not mean that every device is supported.

Set the splash address in the router's external portal settings and allow the hosts under “Open these hosts before login (walled garden)”. The router must supply a return address through link-login-only or base_grant_url. After the form, the portal redirects the browser to that address; there is no separate router API call in this mode.

If no return address is supplied, the portal shows its completion page. That alone does not grant internet access: the router's configuration determines access.

Test the guest journey#

  1. Turn off mobile data on the phone and join the guest network. The splash page should open with the venue name, greeting and selected fields.
  2. Enter a test contact. With “Phone or email”, fill in at least one field; the name is optional.
  3. Accept the terms. Select newsletter consent separately if you are testing subscriptions.
  4. Choose “Connect to Wi-Fi”. The portal hands control to the router or controller. Depending on the continuation address, the browser opens the page supplied by the router or “You are online” with an “Open menu” link.
  5. Open a website outside the list allowed before sign-in. This checks actual internet access, not just splash page availability.

The splash page works without JavaScript or external resource downloads so it can open in the phone's network sign-in window. Opening the splash address normally on a computer checks the form, but not the router connection.

Where to find contacts#

The contact is sent to “Customers”. A new contact creates a record; a recognised phone number or email allows a repeat visit to be recorded. Joining Wi-Fi does not create an order or increase revenue.

With separate consent and an email address, a newsletter subscriber is created with Wi-Fi as the source. Reconnecting does not reverse an earlier unsubscribe. See Email newsletters and Marketing campaigns for available messaging tools; access to their screens depends on your location's modules.

The visit journal does not contain a copy of the phone number or email; the device MAC address is stored there as a hash. This describes the visit journal, not an absence of contact details from the customer directory.

Read the statistics#

Open “Collected this month” in the same card. It shows the current month for the selected location.

Counter Meaning
“connections” Accepted sign-in forms recorded in the journal; repeat submissions count too
“new contacts” New customer records created during those submissions
“newsletter opt-ins” Consent selections during submissions, not unique email subscribers

Limitations#

  • The portal is not yet available on cenaly.ru; complete testing on a physical router is still pending.
  • Guests enter their own contact details. There is no SMS-code verification of phone ownership.
  • MikroTik Hotspot, UniFi and generic click-through modes are implemented; other equipment requires a separate compatibility check.
  • Changing SSID in the card changes the splash label, not the wireless network name on the router.
  • The card's statistics do not show active devices, speed or data usage.
  • There is no separate Wi-Fi guest export or ready-made “Wi-Fi guests” newsletter segment yet.

Troubleshooting#

Symptom Possible cause What to do
No available Wi-Fi card Your brand or plan does not support this connection Check the extension's requirements; the portal is not yet available on cenaly.ru
The page says the portal is not set up Wi-Fi is disabled or the address belongs to another location Check the switch and copy the splash address again
The splash page does not open on the guest network The portal host is blocked before sign-in, or the external portal is misconfigured Check the address and walled garden list; check the router's own internet connection
“Could not load the router configuration” Settings or the configuration request failed to load Wait for saving, then reopen the window; if it persists, give support the location and error time
The form reappears after fast autofill Protection against very fast submissions was triggered Fill in the form again and submit after a short pause
MikroTik returns to its own login form Guest credentials, profile or login mode do not match Check credentials, profile name, http-pap and hotspot/login.html; the return address must use the router's local address or local hostname
Internet disappears after configuring MikroTik Base network settings changed or Hotspot blocks access Ask your network administrator to compare WAN, DHCP, addresses, routes and access rules with the saved configuration; the portal snippet does not configure the base network
MikroTik does not appear in WinBox The current connection cannot reach router management Check power and the management network connection; use the known management address and do not reset the configuration just to set up the portal
UniFi denies access after the form The server cannot reach the controller, site/credentials are wrong, or the guest MAC was not supplied Check controller reachability from the cloud, parameters and external portal settings
“You are online” appears but there is no internet There is no working return to the router or it has not granted access Repeat the test over the guest network and check the router's access-granting mechanism
Opt-ins exist but there are no new email subscribers Only a phone was supplied, the address already exists or it previously unsubscribed Check the test email and separate consent; do not treat opt-ins as a subscriber count
A visit exists but the contact is missing Saving to the customer directory failed Give support the location and test time: successful sign-in does not guarantee every type of record was saved

Frequently asked questions#

Yes. Sign-in requires a contact and acceptance of network terms. Subscriptions are optional.

How do I rename the guest network?#

Change the SSID in the router's own settings. Then, if necessary, update “Network name (SSID)” in the card: it is a fallback label for the splash page.

No. That checks the form's appearance. Test internet access from a phone on the guest network with mobile data turned off.

What happens when I disable guest Wi-Fi in the card?#

The portal stops accepting new connections through its form. This does not turn off the wireless network or command the router to disconnect devices that are already authorised.

Business hardware & printing
Guest demo menu Start free