Hi,

I'm trying to set up timed access for users on one of our customers network. They currently have 1 access point and a 2860 router, but they will be upgrading to 6 access points and keeping the same router.

I have successfully added a time limit to a device on the current access point, but this doesn't appear to be centralised.

The customer wants to have a 1 hour time limit on connections for their staff over a 24 hour period, but I have a feeling if they change access points then they will in essence have a 'fresh hour' on that access point? Is there a way to centralise it so that the hour is on the network no matter which access point they are connected to? Or will this happen naturally?

Thanks.

The customer wants to have a 1 hour time limit on connections for their staff over a 24 hour period, but I have a feeling if they change access points then they will in essence have a 'fresh hour' on that access point? Is there a way to centralise it so that the hour is on the network no matter which access point they are connected to? Or will this happen naturally?

Correct, unless it's managed by the router, the clients could move from one access point to the other to get extra time.

The User Management feature of the router is ideal for this. Or if you have a 2862, the Hotspot Web Portal's Quota feature is a little easier to use and is also very good for setting 1 hour usage and blocking reconnect until the next day.

With the 2860's User Management you can set up a time quota for each user, which can automatically reset the timer each day.
To use that, set the router's Firewall mode to "User Based" in [User Management] > [General Setup]. Set up a user account for each user with a time quota set. Set up a schedule item for midnight and set that as the quota reset time like so:



You can make exemptions from the User Management login by creating firewall filter rules with the source IP addresses / subnets you want to allow past the user login function.