Book Image

Learn pfSense 2.4

By : David Zientara
Book Image

Learn pfSense 2.4

By: David Zientara

Overview of this book

As computer networks become ubiquitous, it has become increasingly important to both secure and optimize our networks. pfSense, an open-source router/firewall, provides an easy, cost-effective way of achieving this – and this book explains how to install and configure pfSense in such a way that even a networking beginner can successfully deploy and use pfSense. This book begins by covering networking fundamentals, deployment scenarios, and hardware sizing guidelines, as well as how to install pfSense. The book then covers configuration of basic services such as DHCP, DNS, and captive portal and VLAN configuration. Careful consideration is given to the core firewall functionality of pfSense, and how to set up firewall rules and traffic shaping. Finally, the book covers the basics of VPNs, multi-WAN setups, routing and bridging, and how to perform diagnostics and troubleshooting on a network.
Table of Contents (14 chapters)

Captive Portal

If you are setting up a network in an environment where customers are going to have access to your wireless network, there is a good chance you are going to want to set up a captive portal for that network. A captive portal is a web page that is displayed when users access a network on which a captive portal has been enabled. Such a web page typically contains, at a minimum, the network terms of service, and getting past the captive portal may require acceptance of the terms of service, authentication, payment, or a combination of all three.

This chapter covers the basics of captive portal, and how to implement a captive portal in pfSense. The different methods of authentication will be covered, and we will also discuss how to troubleshoot captive portal issues.

Completing this chapter should provide the reader with an understanding of the following topics:

  • Captive...