Description:

The European Commission wishes to promote Wi-Fi connectivity everywhere in Europe through WiFi4EU. Public spaces and buildings such as clinics, libraries or public buildings should offer fast Internet connections, which should available be to everybody, free of charge.
To use this service, a user registers once at one of the promoted hotspots and is then able to authenticate EU-wide without re-entering any credentials.
On the one hand, this will facilitate access to e-health and public services, and on the other, it will improve the competitiveness of the promoted region (e.g. offerings for tourists). Further information is available on the Internet.
This document describes how use the LANCOM Public Spot to configure and operate a Wi-Fi hotspot according to the "WiFi4EU" guidelines.

WiFi4EU is only supported by LCOS access Points. Access points with LCOS LX unfortunately don't support this feature!



Requirements:


  • Adapted HTML template for the LANCOM Public Spot login page. The template integrates various external resources of the WiFi4EU project such as images, but also scripts for counting users and for monitoring availability (known as “WiFI4EU Policy Enforcement Components”).

  • This HTML template is provided by LANCOM Systems, and it can be further adapted by you or it can be used as a template for a self-designed HTML template.
  • The template provided is shipped with an active test mode. This mode allows you use the Javascript console of your browser to check whether the external WiFi4EU resources and scripts have been integrated correctly. To disable the test mode and use the template for productive use, remove the line var selftestModus = true; in the HTML template.
  • For WiFi4EU it is mandatory to use an adapted template of this type. Further important information about using this template is available at the end of this article.


Procedure:

The configuration example below assumes that the LANCOM Public Spot operates on a single LANCOM access point.

The Public Spot network is separate from the main or management network and provides access solely to the Internet.

1.) Preparatory steps in the HTML template:

1.1) In the <head> of the HTML template for the portal page, a network identifier must be used as a variable instead of the placeholder.

The transmitted wifi4euNetworkIdentifier should be a string that corresponds to the unique identifier (UUID) of the WiFi4EU network specified in the installation report.

Example: var wifi4euNetworkIdentifier='123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426655440000';

Image showcasing a script configuration interface for a WiFi network, including network identifiers and language settings, with a self-test mode activated.


2.) Configuration of the LANCOM Public Spot for "WiFi4EU":
2.1) If necessary, configure the LANCOM Public Spot via the setup wizard.

2.2) You can configure every possible login variant for logging into the Public Spot. In this example the login with username and password is to be used.

Instructions on how to configure further Public Spot scenarios are available in this Knowledge Base document.

2.3) In LANconfig, open the configuration dialog of the LANCOM access point and change to Public Spot dialog.

2.4) Go to the tab Public Spot → Server and click on the drop-down menu Page table.
2.5) Select the item Login....
2.6) In the following dialog, enter the Page address (URL) as file://pbspot_template_login .
2.7) Go to the menu Access without authentication → Free networks.
Screenshot of a technical configuration interface for a network device, showing settings related to user authentication, wireless LAN management, firewall settings, and public spot appearance customization.
Image showing a partial view of a technical configuration interface with text regarding the option to specify additional webservers besides freely available ones.
2.8) Add a new entry and enter the name collection.wifi4eu.ec.europa.eu. This is needed to load a script which is refered to in the template before the Public Spot authentication.
Image of a partial user interface with unclear text possibly showing configuration or system settings.
2.9) Accept your entries with OK. Now close the configuration dialog of the LANCOM access point to write the changes back to the device.
2.10) In the following steps, the HTML template “wifi4eu.html” is loaded into the LANCOM access point. To do this, open the configuration of the LANCOM device in WEBconfig.
2.11) Switch to the menu item File management → Upload certificate or file.
2.12) From the drop-down menu, set the file type to Public Spot - Login page (*. html, *. htm).
2.13) Next to the File name field click on the Browse ... button and select the file “wifi4eu.html” for the login page.
2.14) Then click on Start upload. A message is displayed after a successful upload.
2.15) The upload completes the exercise.


3.) Carrying out a function test:

3.1) Activate the developer tools in your browser.

3.1) Connect to the SSID of the LANCOM Public Spot. The Wifi4EU login page will then be displayed.

3.2) Check whether the output contains error messages and correct them.

Information on implementation and troubleshooting can be found in the implementation guide of the European Commission - Directorate-General for IT at:

https://hadea.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021-09/cnect-2017-00250-00-11-en-ori-00_0.pdf

Screenshot showing a technical interface where the 'networkIdentifier' is confirmed as correctly installed with a 'type check' set to true.

 

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