Build a Secure Wireless Portal with Linux

Enterprise Networking Planet has a nice little article pointing out how to build a wireless authentication portal to allow authorized guests easy access to your public wireless network: Build a Secure Wireless Portal with Linux.

There are a number of specialized applications for building wireless portals. The grandmommy of them all is NoCatAuth. NoCatAuth was designed to simplify and control the administration of public wireless portals. NoCatAuth creates a "captive portal", which means users cannot enter your network until they follow a few steps on your NoCatAuth Web page. The lowest level of access is "Public." A login is not required; users who wish simply to connect without hassles can skip the login, and are then granted the fewest network resources. The "Co-op" and "Owner" classes of members are required to login and authenticate, and are granted more network privileges.