Adding or Editing a PGW

To add a PGW, select the data tab, press the context properties button of the domain in which to insert a PGW and select “ Add gateway”. While, to modify a PGW, always in the data tab, press the context button on the PGW and select “ Edit”. In both cases a page appears that allows you to manage the contents of the following fields

General Data

It is important to enter the GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude fields) eventually also derived in automatic way from the address. They are used to display the map of the gateways.

Field	Description
ID	ID of the record. Auto-assigned Identifier of the record. It can be used to use the API or external integrations. It is displayed during the editing phase of existing data and not during the insertion of a new record.
Created on	Date and time of creation of the gateway.
Gateway name	Name assigned to the gateway.
Address	Address where the gateway is installed. Serve per calcolare le coordinate GPS.
ZIP	ZIP code.
City	City where the gateway is installed.
Country	Country where the gateway is installed.
Phone	Telephone number of the person in charge.
Mobile phone	Mobile number of the person in charge.
Active logs	Enable the registration of the logs for the gateway. Visible only if you log in with administrator credentials.
Internet Connection IP Address or DynDNS Name	Defines the IP address or DynDNS name that HSNM has to use to reach the gateway. Mandatory if you enable the syslog filter in System Settings, or you need to allow disconnecting users from the back-end by selecting the “ Connected Devices” page or if you allow disconnecting the device from the front-end of the user profile App. Editable only if the user has permission to administrate the gateway’s data.
Hardware type	Hardware type. Visible only if you log in using the administrator credentials.
Gateway RouterOS version	RouterOS version It is displayed only if you log in using the administrator credentials.
Uptime	Gateway uptime.
Maximum Number of Users	The maximum number of users connected to the gateway. Once this number is reached, other users will no longer be able to connect unless there are disconnections. To indicate that the number of users is not limited, edit a zero value.It is used to create a multi-tenant system.If in the reseller and/or in the manager, you have specified a maximum value of users, then the minimum value in this field is equal to five. The maximum value that you can edit depends on the “Maximum Number of Users per Gateway” defined in the reseller or manager, on the concurrent users defined in the “Maximum Number of Users” of the manager or reseller and on how many gateways you have already inserted. To avoid stressing the system, the count of the current number of connected users is not done at every access to the Welcome Portal but every minute. In some special cases and on systems with lots of users, it may happen that the maximum number of defined users is exceeded.Editable only if the user has permission to administrate the gateway’s data.
Template Color Scheme	Color scheme to use for the selected template. If you enable the “Use default” option, it will use the color you set in the domain.
Advertising	Defines the type of advertising, derived from “ Advertising Campaigns”, that can be displayed to users. Possible values are: Enable: enables the inclusion of advertising. Only for the campaigns on this gateway: enables the inclusion of advertising only for specific campaigns for this gateway (you must have defined the gateway field). Disable: it does not display advertising. Editable only if the user has permission to administrate the data of the gateway and if you have not disabled the advertising in the domain. If in the domain you have defined not to display the advertising, the value of this field is not considered.
Surveys, Quizzes and Tests	Enables the request for surveys, quizzes or tests. Possible values are: Use domain settings Enable, one at a time. It enables the request to fill in surveys but a maximum of one at a time. Enable, all those provided. If the current context requires filling in multiple surveys, it requests all of them. No surveys are required. Editable only if the user has permission to administrate the data of the domain.

Web Management or/and Access to the APIs

It allows you to specify parameters to access the admin interfaced and APIs of specific gateway types (such as MikroTik, Ubiquiti, etc.).:

Option	Description
URL or IP to Access	URL or IP address to access the gateway configuration (or/and API) via the web, complete with protocol and port if applicable. The field is required when the hardware type selected is “Ubiquiti UniFi Network Server/Dream Machine”. E.g. https://GatewayDomainOrIP:GatewayPort.
Username	Username to access the gateway configuration via the APIs. The field is required when the hardware type selected is “Ubiquiti UniFi Network Server/Dream Machine”.
Password	Password to access the gateway configuration via the APIs.

Geolocation

Allows defining the parameters for the gateway’s geolocation and tracking.

Field	Description
Latitude	GPS coordinates where the gateway is installed: latitude. The display of the gateways’ maps automatically fills in this field, if not already filled, based on the address.
Longitude	GPS coordinates where the gateway is installed: longitude. The display of the gateways’ maps automatically fills in this field, if not already filled, based on the address.

Activation Scheduler

Using the parameters in this section, you can set the times and the months of the gateway activation.
You can then create systems functioning based on the opening hours, days or months.

Field	Description
Timezone	Defines the timezone of the gateway. The value entered affects the gateway’s activation times and the calculation of the speed modulation of products of guests. Using this value, it is possible to parameterise international gateways with different time zones than the one set in the system, reseller or manager. If you select “Use default”, it will consider the Timezone defined in the manager.
Operating Hours	Defines the operating hours of the gateway. The gateway will be active during the highlighted hours. Timetables depend on the time zone associated with the selected Timezone.
Operating Days	Defines the operating days of the gateway. The gateway will be active on the highlighted days.
Operating Months	Defines the operating months of the gateway. The gateway will be active during the months that are highlighted, partially active in the months not highlighted or disabled in the months that are not highlighted. The gateway can be partially active in the non-highlighted months if in the manager or reseller has been defined a percentage in the “Reduce the Maximum Number of Users of the Gateway to” field. If the percentage is equal to zero, the system is disabled in the months that are not highlighted. With these options, it is then possible to define seasons or gateways with seasonal peaks.

Syslog

Field	Description
Activate Logs	Enable the registration of logs for the gateway. To enable this feature, it is necessary that the IP address of the connection must be static, i.e. it does not change for each ADSL reconnection of the manager. If it changes, the logs will not be registered because the IP is not recognized. The possible options are: Disabled: the logs for this gateway are not saved; Enabled: SysLog data are saved in a general file; Enabled with saving in a separate file: SysLog data are saved in a separate file so that it can be easily identified. Editable only if the system user has permission to manage the data of the gateway.
Server Syslog	Define the server to send the data to. The possible options are: Internal: Data is processed directly by the device. Remote: If you enable this option, you can specify the IP address and the port to send the data to. Visible only if you have selected “Enabled” or “Enabled with separate recording” in “Activate Logs”.
IP Address	IP address to send the data to. Visible only if you have selected “Remote” in “Server Syslog”.
Port	Remote port to send data to. Visible only if you have selected “Remote” in “Server Syslog”.

Options

Field	Description
Maximum Number of Users	Maximum number of users connected to the gateway. Once this number is reached, other users will no longer be able to connect unless there are disconnections. To indicate that the number of users is not limited, edit a zero value. It is used to create a multi-tenant system. If in the reseller and/or in the manager, you have specified a maximum value of users, then the minimum value in this field is equal to five. The maximum value that you can edit depends: on the “Maximum Number of Users per Gateway” defined in the reseller and/or in the manager, on the concurrent users defined in the “Maximum Number of Users” in the manager or reseller and on how many gateways you have already inserted. To not stress the system, the count of the current number of connected users is not done at every access to the Welcome Portal but every minute. In some special cases and on systems with lots of users, it may happen that the maximum number of defined users is exceeded. Editable only if the user has permissions to manage the data of the gateway.
Enable Notification	Enables sending notifications for gateway monitoring. Available for MikroTik and Cradlepoint gateway-type only.
Show Wizard	Show a notification on the dashboard inviting the user to run the initial setup wizard to configure the gateway. The value will be automatically disabled when the wizard runs and completes.
Gateway Blocked	If enabled, it blocks the logins to all users of the gateway. Available only if the user has permissions to manage the data of the gateway.
Notes for the Gateway	Enter possible notes for the gateway. Available only if the user has permission to manage the data of the gateway.

Family DNS

Field	Description
Use the Family DNS Service	If activated, it uses the Family DNS service as DNS server for the gateway users. Its use: Reduces name resolution times; Captures statistics on the domains used; Activates blacklists at the general level by the gateway or by the PPPoE user Warning! The device must be reachable at the IP defined in the “IP Address” field of the “Network” panel on port 53. In the presence of a firewall, port 53 must therefore be open. You can activate the service at the PPPoE user level only if you have activated it in advance in the “System Settings”. Only available for HGW-type gateways.
Force to Use the Family DNS	If enabled, all DNS traffic on port 53 will be forcefully redirected to the “Family DNS” no matter what DNSs are configured in the users’ devices. Only available for MikroTik gateways. For non-MikroTtik gateways, you need to enter the IP(s) of the «Alias» in the DNS as indicated in the backend interface. If you wish to achieve the same effect as this option on non-MikroTik gateways, you will need to create the appropriate rules in the gateway’s firewall (if available).
IPs Not Submitted to Forcing	IP addresses, separated by comma or enter, to exclude from forced DNS traffic redirection. It may be helpful if you want to activate DNS traffic forcing for all PPPoE users, but some of them want to use a different DNS. Visible only if “Force to Use the Family DNS” is enabled. Available for MikroTik-type gateways only.

Blacklists

Only available on GWH (Hotspot) gateways only.

Field

Description

Category Groups to Block

Combining the pressing of the various buttons makes it possible to select or deselect the categories of domains to block automatically.

Category Name

List of the available blacklist categories.
For each category, there is a combo box allowing the following options to be chosen:

No: does not enable the blacklist;
Yes: enables the blacklist;
Use default: this option depends on what is defined in “System Settings” for the same category.

If a user requests a domain belonging to an enabled category, the domain will not be resolved, and the value ‘NXDOMAIN’ (Non-existent Internet Domain Name) will be returned.

If a category is disabled in the “System Settings”, it cannot be enabled for the user.

The notes display the count of domains contained in the category.

Options

Field

Description

Domains Not to Block

List of domains, separated by comma or enter, that don’t have to be blocked even if they are on the blacklist.

Additional Domains to Block

List of custom add-on domains separated by comma or enter to block.

For example, if you specify a second-level domain “mydomain.com”, all top-level domains such as “service.mydomain.com” will be blocked. In the same way, if you specify a top-level domain such as “cn”, all domains with this extension will be blocked.

Gateway Configuration Fields

After you have entered and saved this information by pressing the button on the gateway properties in the sidebar and choosing “ Download Gateway Config Files“, you can download a .zip file containing all the files necessary to configure a PGW and compatible based on MikroTik RouterOS.

This section is displayed only if you enter using the administrator credentials.

Authentication Options

Field

Description

Authentication via MAC Address

Enables authentication via MAC address.
By enabling this option, you have the ability to create users with usernames and passwords equal to the MAC address of the device, skipping the Welcome Portal and the entire manual registration and authentication process.

Warning! Enable this option only if really necessary otherwise, it will send an authentication request at the WiFi connection of any device.

Not available for MikroTik-type gateways with PPPoE “Authentication Mode“.

Authenticate Users without Domain Name

Enables user authentication without the @NomeDominio suffix. In practice, the Real is automatically added by the PPPoE MikroTik NAS.

Available only for MikroTik-type gateways with PPPoE “Authentication Mode“.

WAN

Field	Description
Same network of the Platform	Enable it if the gateway is on the same network (physical and IP) of HSNM. If enabled, in the configuration script of the PGW, it will add the commands to define, in the DNS configuration, a static host that associates the domain name, defined in “ System Settings“, to the IP address (generally private) of HSNM.If not enabled and the PGW is on the same network in NAT with the platform, the PGW may fail to contact HSNM.
Interface	Select the WAN interface. The possible value is: Ether1.
Use a VLAN	Enables or disables the use of a VLAN for the WAN interface.
VLAN ID	ID for the VLAN. It allows numeric values between 2 and 4095. Visible only if “Uses VLAN” is enabled.
Uses DHCP client for the Wan	Enables or disables the DHCP client for the WAN interface. If enabled, in the configuration script of the PGW it will add the commands to define a DHCP client in the network interface of the PPPoE service that will be connected to the corporate network of the manager. If disabled, it will display the fields for the definition of IP address, subnet mask and gateway. These fields will be automatically added to the commands of the configuration script to define the IP address of the network interface of the PGW that will be connected to corporate network of the manager.
WAN IP address	IP address that you want to assign to the WAN interface. Visible only if “Use DHCP” is enabled.
WAN Network mask	Network mask that you want to assign to the WAN interface. Visible only if “Use DHCP” is enabled.
Wan Gateway	IP address of the PGW for the WAN interface. It should coincide with the private IP address assigned to the router of the internet connection of the manager. Visible only if “Use DHCP” is enabled.

PPPoE Interface

Field	Description
Add EtherX to the PPPoE Bridge	If enabled, it adds the etherX of the to the bridge in order to activate the PPPoE service also on the ethernet. To be activated only if the gateway you are configuring has X or more network adapters.
IP Address	IP address to assign to the interface Ether1 on which you will activate the PPPoE service.
Network Mask	Enter the network mask that you want to assign to the interface Ether1 on which you will activate the PPPoE service.
DNS IP Addresses	Enter the IP addresses of the DNS servers (separated by commas) that you want to assign to the PGW. It is very important that the inserted DNS is operating, otherwise the users accessing the service may have problems viewing pages.
DHCP Lease Time	Specify the lease time (in hours) for assigning the IP address to the connected devices.

PPPoE Network

Field	Description
Keep-Alive timeout	Defines the Keep-Alive timeout to check the reachability of the routers. If routers are no longer reachable, for example for the loss of the connection, after the define time, they are automatically disconnected. Warning! Disconnection can be also caused by the Timeout for Idle and the Session Timeout defined in the product policies. If “Not Defined”, the router remains connected even if no longer reached by the HSNM. Any disconnection will be caused by the values defined in the product policies (“Session Timeout” and “Timeout for Idle”) or in the products (time and/or traffic credit or expiration).
IP Address	IP address of the gateway interface (Ether2).
Network Mask	Network mask of the gateway interface (Ether2).
DNS IP Addresses	Enter the IP addresses of the DNS servers (separated by commas) that you want to be assigned to the PGW. It is very important that the DNS entered are functional.
DHCP Lease Time	Defines the Lease Time, expressed in hours, for the IP address assigment of the connected devices. Warning! Set a value equal to or greater than the maximum idle time defined in the product policies used in the domain.
Use VLAN	Enable or disable the usage of a VLAN for the bridge interface.
VLAN ID	ID for the VLAN. The allowed numerical values are between 2 and 4095. Visible only if “Use a VLAN” is enabled.

VPN

Field	Description
Use VPN	Enable or disable the VPN configuration in the gateway. It can be useful if you want that, the hotspots managed by HSNM are on the same IP network of HSNM, so you can e.g. activate the sending of LOGs also for hotspots connected to xDSL connection with dynamic IP. Available options are: No: VPN not activated Yes, use PPTP: Set up a PPTP VPN. Yes, use SSTP: Set up a SSTP VPN. Yes, use L2TP: Set up a L2TP VPN.
	The host name or IP address of the VPN server to which the gateway will connect. Displayed only if “Use VPN” is enabled.
Username	The username for the VPN connection. Displayed only if “Use VPN” is enabled.
Password	Password for the VPN connection. Displayed only if “Use VPN” is enabled.
Secret	The secret for the VPN (optional). Displayed only if “Use VPN” is enabled with “Yes, use L2TP”.

Scheduler

Field	Description
Monitoring Interval	Defines the interval (in minutes) for monitoring the status of the gateway. The minimum value is 1 minute.

MikroTik Router OS

Field

Description

Save the Data Rate

Saves the data rate of users, reading them from PPPoE MikroTik server. In this way, you will be able to display the “Ethernet Data Rate (Last 24 Hours)” graph for the user.

The data rate of users is read directly from MikroTik routers by connecting through the RouterOS APIs to the IP address of the WAN or to the IP address of the internet connection declared in the data of the gateway.

Custom Commands

Custom commands in addition to the standard ones to be included in the script generated for configuring the PGW.

Web Management or/and Access to the APIs

It allows you to specify parameters to access the admin interfaced and APIs of specific gateway types (such as MikroTik, Ubiquiti, etc.):

Option

Description

URL or IP to Access

URL or IP address to access the gateway configuration (or/and API) via the web, complete with protocol and port if applicable.

E.g. https://GatewayDomainOrIP:GatewayPort.

Options

Field

Description

Upgrade Config

If enabled, updates, reconfigures and automatically reboots the gateway (this feature is only available for the gateway configured from version 2.0.137 and later ones).
After the update, the check is disabled in order to perform the update only once.

Warning! If the data entered are incorrect, the gateway may not be accessible any longer!

Command Bar

In the upper-righ corner of the command bar, if you are editing a gateway, the following buttons are displayed:

Button

Description

Upload Configuration

It allows you to perform the automatic configuration of the MikroTik gateway type.

For further information, please refer to the “Upload MikroTik Configuration” paragraph described below.

Visible only if you have chosen MikroTik as hardware type.

Upload MikroTik Configuration

Thanks to this feature it is possible to configure in a simple and automatic way the MikroTik gateway type.

When pressing the “Upload Configuration” button in the command bar, the following fields will be displayed:

Field	Description
IP Address Assigned to the Gateway	IP address assigned to the gateway. In order to upload the configuration, it must be reachable from the system. If you have not assigned it yet, log in to the router using WinBox and assign one in the IP/Addresses session
Username to Log In	Username to log in the MikroTik gateway.
Password to Log In	Password to log in the MikroTik gateway. On new devices, the password is empty

By pressing the “Run” button, the gateway configuration will be performed.

At the end of the operation, a confirmation message or any will appear. If the upload has been successfully performed, the gateway will be automatically restarted.