Plain-English definitions of the terms behind captive portals, guest WiFi marketing, and data capture - written for venue owners, not network engineers.
A captive portal is a web page that public WiFi users see before being granted internet access - typically used to authenticate users, accept terms, and capture data such as email or social-login identity.
WiFi marketing is the practice of using a venue's guest WiFi network - typically via a captive portal - to capture customer data and deliver follow-up communications such as automated emails, SMS, review requests, and loyalty offers.
Guest WiFi is a public, internet-only WiFi network a business offers to customers, separate from its private back-office network, typically secured by a captive portal that requires sign-in.
WiFi data capture is the process of collecting customer information - typically name, email, mobile number or social-login identity - when a guest connects to a venue's WiFi via a captive portal.
WiFi email capture is the technique of collecting a guest's email address as a condition of free WiFi access, typically through a captive portal's sign-in form, so the venue can send marketing communications afterwards.
GDPR & guest WiFi refers to the UK and EU data-protection rules that apply when a venue captures personal data via a captive portal - requiring lawful basis, opt-in consent, an accessible privacy notice, audit trail, and the right to erasure.
A splash page is the branded web page a captive portal shows a guest when they connect to a venue's WiFi, presenting the sign-in form, terms of use, marketing opt-in, and any promotional content before internet access is granted.
Social WiFi is guest WiFi that lets visitors sign in with an existing social account such as Facebook or Google instead of filling in a form, giving the venue verified profile data in exchange for internet access.
Social login is an authentication method that lets a user sign in to a service with an existing account from a provider such as Facebook, Google, or Apple, using the OAuth 2.0 authorisation framework, instead of creating a new username and password.
Review automation is the practice of automatically sending customers a review request - usually by email or SMS a set time after their visit - using contact details captured at the venue, so online review volume grows without staff effort.
First-party data is customer information a business collects directly from its own audience with consent, through its own channels such as WiFi sign-ins, its website, bookings, or POS, as opposed to data bought from or shared by other companies.
Opt-in rate is the percentage of people who actively consent to receive marketing communications during a sign-up flow, such as ticking the unticked marketing checkbox on a WiFi splash page.
Repeat visit rate is the percentage of a venue's guests who return for at least one further visit within a given period, a core loyalty metric that guest WiFi can measure automatically by recognising returning sign-ins.
MAC address randomisation is a privacy feature, on by default in iOS 14+ and Android 10+, that presents a random per-network hardware address to WiFi networks instead of the device's permanent factory-assigned MAC address.
A Captive Network Assistant is the mini-browser that iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows open automatically when they detect a captive portal, triggered by a connectivity probe to a known URL that fails to return the expected response.
An SSID (Service Set Identifier) is the public name of a WiFi network - a label of up to 32 bytes that access points broadcast so nearby devices can find and join the network.
A VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) is a logical segmentation of a physical network, defined by IEEE 802.1Q, that isolates groups of devices - such as guest WiFi users and staff systems - from each other while sharing the same switches and cables.
An access point (AP) is a networking device that broadcasts one or more WiFi networks and bridges wireless devices onto a wired network, typically ceiling-mounted and powered over Ethernet in business deployments.
A WiFi hotspot is a physical location where people can access the internet over WiFi, provided through one or more access points, with access controlled by a captive portal, password, voucher, or paid plan.
RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) is a network protocol providing centralised authentication, authorisation, and accounting (AAA), defined in RFC 2865, and used by enterprise WiFi, VPNs, and captive portals to control network access.
A walled garden, in captive-portal networking, is the allow-list of domains and IP addresses an unauthenticated guest device can reach before signing in - typically the splash page itself plus any social-login, payment, or asset domains the portal needs.
Passpoint, also known as Hotspot 2.0, is a Wi-Fi Alliance certification based on IEEE 802.11u that lets devices discover, securely authenticate to, and roam between participating WiFi networks automatically, with no captive portal or manual sign-in.
PECR (the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003) is the UK law governing electronic marketing messages, cookies, and similar technologies, requiring prior opt-in consent before a business sends marketing emails or texts to individuals - including contacts captured via guest WiFi.
Email deliverability is the ability of a sender's messages to reach recipients' inboxes rather than spam folders or being rejected, determined by authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), sender reputation, list quality, and recipient engagement.
A welcome email is the automated first message sent to a new subscriber shortly after sign-up - in WiFi marketing, within minutes of a guest connecting to the venue's WiFi - and it typically achieves the highest open rate of any email a business sends.
A win-back campaign is an automated marketing flow that targets customers who have not visited or purchased for a defined period - commonly 60, 90, or 180 days - with a message or incentive designed to bring them back.
A customer data platform (CDP) is software that builds a persistent, unified database of individual customer profiles by combining data from multiple sources - such as WiFi sign-ins, POS transactions, bookings, and email engagement - and makes those profiles available to other marketing and analytics tools.
Footfall analytics is the measurement of how many people visit a physical location, when they visit, how long they stay, and how often they return, using sensors such as WiFi access points, cameras, or door counters.
Dwell time is the length of time a visitor spends at a location during a single visit, measured in WiFi analytics as the interval between a device first and last being seen on the network.
Paid WiFi is a guest WiFi model in which users buy internet access - by time block, data allowance, or speed tier - through a checkout on the captive portal, common in hotels, holiday parks, marinas, and events.
WiFi vouchers are single-use or time-limited access codes that a venue hands out - printed on receipts, room cards, or at the counter - which guests redeem on a captive portal to get online.
CaptiFi gives you a fully-branded captive portal, automated email + SMS follow-ups, Google review requests, and every integration included - with WiFi hardware included (refundable hold) and a 30-day free trial.