Ruckus Captive Portal/Guest Access & Smoothwall Transparent Proxy Issue

[MrJDH]

We’re currently having some issues when it comes to enabling our Ruckus captive portal page, for our student BYOD SSID. Or rather, issues with the captive portal working in harmony with our Smoothwall box.

 

At present, when client devices connect to the student SSID, they are configured for transparent proxy, as defined by an IP range within Smoothwall. All works completely fine, and users are able to browse the web without issue.

 

When we enable the captive portal, I am under the impression that when a client opens a browser, all traffic should be intercepted by the Ruckus Zone Director, before the user passes their credentials, and then being allowed through to the web as normal.

 

However, this is not the case(!), and instead of the captive portal page being displayed when a client initiates any HTTP traffic, the browser attempts to connect to our proxy/Smoothwall box. Now, if we then attempt to navigate to the IP of the Ruckus ZoneDirector, we are presented with the captive portal page, which accepts the credentials, and all is well.

 

Why isn’t the ZD intercepting traffic in the first instance? Is it due to the client attempting to call in to Smoothwall, for Smoothwall to mark the IP/device traffic for a transparent proxy?

 

Interestingly, when attempting this from something different than a Windows based device (an iPhone in this case), Safari attempts to navigate to our proxy server, before displaying the error ‘too many redirects’. Was hoping this may offer another clue. It seems as though the ZD and Smoothwall are in contention, and the Smoothwall box is winning at present.

 

Has anyone attempted the setup of a similar thing, and had issues?

 

Any replies appreciated.