Overview

Portal authentication controls user access to networks. Portal authenticates a user by the username and password the user enters on a portal authentication page. Therefore, portal authentication is also known as Web authentication. When portal authentication is deployed on a network, an access device redirects unauthenticated users to the website provided by a portal Web server. The users can access the resources on the website without authentication. If the users want to access other network resources, they must pass authentication on the website.

Portal authentication is classified into the following types:

• Active authentication—Users visit the authentication website provided by the portal Web server and enter their username and password for authentication.

• Forced authentication—Users are redirected to the portal authentication website for authentication when they visit other websites.

Portal authentication flexibly imposes access control on the access layer and vital data entries. It has the following advantages:

• Allows users to perform authentication through a Web browser without installing client software.

• Provides ISPs with diversified management choices and extended functions. For example, the ISPs can place advertisements, provide community services, and publish information on the authentication page.

• Supports multiple authentication modes. For example, re-DHCP authentication implements a flexible address assignment scheme and saves public IP addresses. Cross-subnet authentication can authenticate users who reside in a different subnet than the access device.

The device supports Portal 1.0, Portal 2.0, and Portal 3.0.