This article explains the functioning of the Mini, Edge Extender, and 3rd party WiFi devices.
Part 1: How the technology works
The Mini
The Mini does not require any public/static IP address or forwarded port, the network traffic is tunneled through a VPN so it does not interfere with the local network. The Mini requires TCP and UDP outgoing communication to the internet.
The Mini requires a source of internet access and requests an IP address via DHCP. The Mini can be connected to the upstream internet through either ethernet port, it does not matter which one you plug it in to.
The Edge Extender
The Edge Extender also requires an internet connection which works via DHCP, it uses this in order to upgrade the software on startup. Unlike the Mini, the Edge Extender must be connected through a specific port - namely the port which is on your right as you face the extender from the back.
The Edge Extender also must be on the same LAN as the Mini and with broadcast capability because the Mini sends out periodic beacon messages through each of its ports. The Edge Extender (once updated) listens for these messages and then initiates a connection to the Mini.
The Edge Extender uses a TCP connection for control with the Mini but uses a GRE tunnel to forward the wifi traffic back to the Mini.
3rd Party Wifi Devices
Routie's captive portal works with 3rd party wifi devices, but does not have all of the features of the Edge Extender, but it provides the captive portal technology with VPN.
When using 3rd party wifi devices, you must have an isolated network for guest wifi. This could be a VLAN or a physically segregated LAN.
In order to use the Mini with 3rd party wifi devices, you must first enable “Port2 Captive” and then connect the 2nd port of the Mini to the network containing the 3rd party wifi devices.
Features supported with 3rd party wifi devices:
- Captive portal
- Info collection
- Bandwidth utilization limits
- VPN routing
Features supported when using Edge Extenders:
- All of the above features
- Configurable access point name
- Intelligent channel selection
- Staff Network
- Per-device central monitoring
- Automatic network isolation - no need to setup VLANs
Part 2: Installation Process
- Connect the Mini to a source of electrical power
- Connect either ethernet port on the Mini to a network port with a source of internet service (DHCP)
- Press the power button on the Mini to start it up - you will see it become “online” on the Routie dashboard.
- If you have one or more Edge Extenders then connect each Edge Extender to the same LAN as the Mini
- Remember to use the correct port on each Edge Extender
- The Edge Extenders are powered using Power over Ethernet, they can be powered from the provided PoE power brick, or using any 48v 802.3af/at standard PoE switch
- Check for the Edge Extenders having started up on the wifi tab of the dashboard
- Connect to the guest wifi access point as emitted from the Edge Extenders and verify that you can see the captive portal
- If you are using 3rd party wifi devices to provide your captive portal internet:
- Enable Port2 Captive on the Mini (you can do this by opening a support ticket with Routie).
- Ensure that the 3rd party wifi devices are bridging wifi traffic to the guest wifi LAN/VLAN (if you are upgrading an existing captive portal solution, this is probably already the case).
- Run an ethernet cable from the 2nd port of the Mini to a switch port on the guest wifi LAN/VLAN
- Which physical socket you use on the Mini does not matter as the primary and secondary port are detected at runtime.
- If you use a VLAN for guest wifi, you should attach the 2nd port of the Mini to a port on your managed switch which you attach to the guest wifi VLAN as an untagged port.
- Disable any other source of internet / DHCP from the LAN/VLAN with the 3rd party wifi devices, the Routie Mini provides the DHCP.
- Connect to the guest wifi access poin