Captive portal and Wi-Fi monetization, answered.
Straight answers to the questions Wi-Fi ISPs, hotels, cafés, schools and coworking spaces ask before moving their hotspot business onto Authnet.
Every answer, one place
What is a captive portal and how does Authnet handle it?
A captive portal is the login page a guest sees before they get internet access. With Authnet, that portal runs on your own branded subdomain, for example yourbusiness.authnetworks.com. When a customer connects to your Wi-Fi, the router redirects their browser to your portal, where they log in, buy a subscription, or redeem a voucher before being allowed online.
How does Wi-Fi monetization work?
Authnet turns your Wi-Fi network into a revenue channel. You define subscription plans and vouchers with your own price, quota, duration and device limits; customers pay through the captive portal, and access is activated automatically. Revenue, activation and payout analytics then land in your admin dashboard.
What is the difference between subscription plans and vouchers?
Subscription plans are the packages customers buy directly from your portal — time-based or volume-based, with their own quota and device limits. Vouchers are ready-made access codes you can sell or hand out; a customer redeems a voucher to activate a subscription instantly without an account.
How does Authnet enforce access with RADIUS?
Your edge router runs as a captive portal using WPA/WPA2-Enterprise and RADIUS authentication. When a device connects, the portal validates the subscription rules — quota, time, expiry and maximum devices — before granting access. When the subscription is exhausted or expires, access is blocked automatically.
Can customers pay before they have internet access?
Yes. Authnet can grant a short temporary connection specifically for checkout, so a guest who has reached their data or time limit can still open the portal and pay to renew or upgrade before being reconnected.
Does each business get its own portal and branding?
Yes. Every business registers its name and gets its own subdomain — for example yourbusiness.authnetworks.com — with its own colors, logo and layout. Each business runs its own customers, plans, payouts and analytics while sharing the Authnet platform.
What router hardware do I need?
You need a router that supports captive portal mode and RADIUS authentication. The admin dashboard guides you through onboarding it as a NAS device and applying the same deployment settings across locations.
What do my customers see when they connect?
A branded portal with your business identity. They log in with an email or phone, view available plans or redeem a voucher, pay when required, and their device gets online automatically once access rules are met.
Can I run several businesses with one account?
Yes. Authnet supports independent business workspaces, each with its own customers, plans, payouts and performance views — built for operators who run multiple Wi-Fi ISPs or coverage areas.
Dive deeper
Looking for industry-specific details? Explore how Authnet works for each kind of Wi-Fi business.
Still have questions?
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