An idea that's been kicking around in my head is a widget with an e-ink display for hackerspaces, cafés, and other multi-user spaces that displays the a password-of-the-day along with a qrcode for easy login. Heck, include an NFC chip that hands out application/vnd.wfa.wsc objects as well.
I'm not sure how useful it would be beyond the cool factor, of course … the cafés in my area don't seem to change their wifi passwords often at all, so I assume they're not very concerned about leeching. The typical practice of printing it on a receipt or writing it on the board next to the soup-of-the-day is probably hard to beat.
I’d much rather use a captive portal than hunt for the 4” e-ink device hiding in a place of business.
They’re definitely not perfect though and you find some truly annoying configurations when you’re out in the world of public WiFi but for the most part it works.
You know, it's been a while since I've seen a captive portal in the wild, aside from airports and municipal wifi. Which pleases me, since, like other users here, I find them fairly annoying.
Comments
An idea that's been kicking around in my head is a widget with an e-ink display for hackerspaces, cafés, and other multi-user spaces that displays the a password-of-the-day along with a qrcode for easy login. Heck, include an NFC chip that hands out application/vnd.wfa.wsc objects as well.
I'm not sure how useful it would be beyond the cool factor, of course … the cafés in my area don't seem to change their wifi passwords often at all, so I assume they're not very concerned about leeching. The typical practice of printing it on a receipt or writing it on the board next to the soup-of-the-day is probably hard to beat.
Typically you’d just use a captive portal with sessions that time out. That’s sufficient to keep away all but the most determined leechers.
Unfortunately they are really annoying to use.
I’d much rather use a captive portal than hunt for the 4” e-ink device hiding in a place of business.
They’re definitely not perfect though and you find some truly annoying configurations when you’re out in the world of public WiFi but for the most part it works.
What have been your frustrations with them? I’ve found them dead easy to setup and implement
they are annoying for users. they are the reason sites like NeverSSL exist, for instance.
You know, it's been a while since I've seen a captive portal in the wild, aside from airports and municipal wifi. Which pleases me, since, like other users here, I find them fairly annoying.