How can I restrict users from accessing the Internet, but still connect to my router?

Question

I know I can secure my WiFi via MAC address restrictions and WPA encryption.

I have a WiFi router without access restrictions and an Internet connection. I want to configure the router so that it should allow any user to connect over WiFi, but until I permit them they won't be able to use the Internet or engage in any sort of communication with other clients.

I would essentially be an administrator and would allow the users to use my resources, just like we connect to our ISPs.

Is this possible? Is there any software or tools available to do this?

Answer 1

There are a couple of technologies that will allow this. One is 802.1x plus RADIUS, but that is more geared towards an enterprise situation. The other is a called Captive Portal. That is more like what you see at a McDonalds or Starbucks or airport before you can get on the wifi there. You can get routers with a captive portal system for guest access, and iirc dd-wrt supports this.

Answer 2

You can do this with a router that supports Hotspot features such as a Captive Portal.

The captive portal technique forces an HTTP client on a network to see a special web page (usually for authentication purposes) before using the Internet normally. A captive portal turns a Web browser into an authentication device

See the article for a list of captive portal software.

Answer 3

Because they'd need your permission, you'd need to be able to do something to some tool to enable the access when the person asks.

Either you can use some of the internet access control systems most wireless routers come with (specifying who can access the internet and when), or use turn the MAC address blocking on and off based on whether they have your permission or not.

I think the MAC address blocking is probably the easiest to apply. No extra tools needed. Just log into your router and disable the block on his MAC address when he asks.