Please don't be toocruel... and "switch to Aruba!" really won't help me :) And there is ZERO interest in social Wi-Fi here.
I run a large Cisco WLAN, and the native guest access functionality has never been suitable for our straightforward needs. So, for years, we've used a Bluesocket gateway on a dedicated guest VLAN/SSID to accomplish the following:
- Anyone with our 802.1x credentials can sponsor a guest using either guest email address or 10-digit mobile phone number
- Any guest can self-sponsor, but only with 10 digit mobile phone number that gets the password texted to them
- We control data rate, session durations, firewall rules etc in the Bluesocket for guests
- When we need a place to stick oddball wireless devices (like Google Glass) that can't do 802.1x we give them a MAC exception in the Bluesocket
This all works great, and is what works for us. I know there are many other options out there for guest access/MAC exceptions (we also use Twillio on Meraki sites for texting/self sponsor) but I'd love to find an exact replacement for Bluesocket that replicates all the same functionality from a single appliance that could drop in instead of Bluesocket. Adtran bought Bluesocket, and I don't care for their response, support, or direction. Amigopod had me intrigued at one point, but not sure how the Aruba integration may have changed it.
So my question is this: is anything in the Aruba line a potential single-box guest acess portal apliance for non-Aruba networks, as described above?
Thanks,
Lee Badman