Overview

Portal authentication helps control access to the Internet. It is also called "Web authentication." A website implementing portal authentication is called a portal website.

With portal authentication, an access device redirects all users to the portal authentication page. All users can access the free services provided on the portal website; but to access the Internet, a user must pass portal authentication.

A user can access a known portal website and enter a username and password for authentication. This authentication mode is called active authentication. There is another authentication mode, forced authentication, in which the access device forces a user who is trying to access the Internet through Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to log on to a portal website for authentication.

The portal feature provides the flexibility for Internet service providers (ISPs) to manage services. A portal website can, for example, present advertisements and deliver community and personalized services. In this way, broadband network providers, equipment vendors, and content service providers form an industrial ecological system.