Time Bound Wi-Fi Access

Time Bound Wi-Fi Access (Scheduled Wi-Fi)

Using the scheduled Wi-Fi access a user can configure the time controlled access to the internet and can control the Wi-Fi access for number of hours per day or per week. A user can selectively control one or all the SSID’s present in each radio. Using this feature parents can control/block the Wi-Fi access during night hours or any other particular time slot. SSID scheduling can also be used by small businesses like coffee shops which offer public Wi-Fi using R series of Wi-Fi gear.

The feature can be enable following below steps:

  • Scheduled SSID configuration
  • Setting System Time for scheduled Wi-Fi
  • Modify Scheduled Wi-Fi access policy

Scheduled SSID Configuration

R200 configuration

Navigate to “Administration->Scheduled tasks->Scheduled WiFi” and click on “Add” button.

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Update following parameters and press Apply button

  • Enable : Select Enable from drop down to activate the feature.
    SSID : Select the SSID which you want to control, if you want to block all SSID’s then select All 2.4G SSID.
  • Schedule Mode : Every Day or Every Week based on your requirement.
    WiFi Work Time: Select operating time of WiFi. If you want your Wi-Fi SSID active during day time. between mornings 07:30 to night 10:30 then select the same time slot as shown below.
  • Please apply the selected policy after doing all the changes.

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  • Wi-Fi schedule policy is created after Applying changes as shown below:

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R201 configuration

  • Navigate to “Administration->Scheduled tasks->Scheduled WiFi” and click on “Add” button.

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  • Update Enable, SSID, Schedule Mode and WiFi Work Time parameters as described in for cnPilot R200 and press Apply button.

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  • Again Press “Add” and select the SSID which you want to control in 5GHz, if you want to block all SSID’s then select “All 5G SSID”. Rest of the parameters can updated same as previous point.

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  • Two scheduled tasks have been created – one for 2.4 GHz and another for 5 GHz.Reboot the device after saving the changes.

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Configuring system time for scheduled Wi-Fi

One important parameter for scheduled Wi-Fi to work is the system time. cnPilot device should have the timing updates to apply the scheduled Policy.

  • Navigate to Administration ->Management ->Time/Date Settings and configure the time settings.
  • Select the Time Zone in “NTP Settings”. System can acquire time settings by NTP Server, Sync with Host option or by manual time configuration in “Current Time” option.
  • Configure the time settings and then save.

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  • Reboot the cnPilot R200/R201 after making all changes. After reboot you will notice that SSID’s are broadcasted only during the configured time slots.

Modifying the scheduled Wi-Fi access policy

  • Navigate to Administration->Schedules Tasks->Scheduled Wi-Fi and select the policy which you wish to modify.
  • Click Edit button and you will see the expanded form of the scheduled policy.

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  • You can now change the Policy from enable State to disable state, which means policy is disabled and time scheduling of SSID will not work. You can also change the SSID selection, Scheduled Mode and Wi-Fi Work Time.
  • Press “Apply” button after changing all the required values and then reboot the cnPilot R200/R201.F10.jpg

Scheduled SSID Configuration using cnMaestro

To push Wi-Fi scheduling template Navigate to cnMaestro Configure -> Select Device Type and Select Template from respective dropdowns and Select the Devices(s) to configure and press "Add to configuration" button. During this selection we can also select "Stop All Configuration on a Critical Error" and "Start Job Automatically" checkboxes also based on our requirement.

R200 Wi-Fi Scheduling Template Creation

To configure and push Wi-Fi scheduling from cnMaestro we can create template using the configuration syntax from cnPilot-R200 configuration file and can apply this template to all the AP’s where we want to configure the Wi-Fi scheduling.

To configure Template Navigate to cnMaestro Configure ->Templates->Add New Template.

In R200 we can use following template syntax:

DBID_DBASE_VERSION=2

scheduledWifiRules=1,1,0,0730,2230, ;

Explanation:

scheduledWifiRules=1(1=enable/0=disable),1(2.4GHz SSID 1),0(0=everyday/1=everyweek),0730(opentime,2230(closetime), ;

DBID_DBASE_VERSION=2

scheduledWifiRules=1,9,0,0730,2230, ;

Explanation:

scheduledWifiRules=1 (Enable),9 (all 2.4 GHz),1(Everyweek),0730 (opentime),2230(closetime),1(Monday) 6 (saturday);

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R201 Wi-Fi Scheduling Template Creation

To configure and push Wi-Fi scheduling from cnMaestro we can create template using the configuration syntax from cnPilot-R201 configuration file and can apply this template to all the AP’s where we want to configure the Wi-Fi scheduling.

To configure Template Navigate to cnMaestro Configure ->Templates->Add New Template.

In R201 we can use following template syntax:

DBID_DBASE_VERSION=2

scheduledWifiRules=1,1,0,0730,2230, ;1,5,0,0730,2230, ;

Explanation:

scheduledWifiRules=1(1=2.4G enable/0=2.4G disable),1(2.4G SSID 1),0(0=everyday/1=everyweek),0730(opentime),2230(closetime), ;1(1=5G enable/0=5G disable),10(all 5G SSID),0(everyday),0730(opentime),2230(closetime), ;

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