The Dashboard offers the capability to host a sign-on Captive Portal that utilizes one or more external RADIUS servers for user authentication. As network usage scenarios today often require identity authentication, simultaneous access by multiple users can greatly increase the time needed for system operations and fault tolerance. In most network configurations, users automatically switch to another RADIUS server only when one server becomes unreachable. As a result, a high volume of authentication requests directed to a single server in a short period can lead to inefficient resource utilization, increased response times, and ultimately, a decline in network performance and reliability.
This document explains when and how these RADIUS servers are contacted and the behavior of the Dashboard if it fails to connect to any of the configured servers. For illustration purposes, let’s assume there are three RADIUS servers set up for authentication, named radius1.example.com, radius2.example.com, and radius3.example.com, listed in that order. In the following examples, we’ll refer to them as servers 1, 2, and 3.
Round Robin Order
When configuring security authentication, the second or third RADIUS server can be enabled for load balancing to significantly minimize the risk of server overload or failure. EnGenius RADIUS Load Balancing uses a proprietary algorithm combined with Round-Robin logic to distribute authentication requests evenly across the network.
For example, the first authentication request will follow the order of servers 1, 2, and 3. For the next request, the order will be adjusted to 2, 3, and 1, followed by 3, 1, and 2 for the following request, and then back to 1, 2, and 3. This approach ensures that all configured servers handle a roughly equal number of requests on average, preventing any single server from becoming a bottleneck and improving overall network stability and performance.
Go to Configure > Access Point > SSID List > SSID detail > Captive Portal > Custom RADIUS
If RADIUS Load Balancing is disabled, authentication sessions will always be directed to server 1 by default. If server 1 fails, the system will switch to server 2, and finally, to server 3 if both previous servers are unavailable.
RADIUS Accounting
If Accounting Load Balance are configured, the same retry logic used for RADIUS authentication requests will be applied.
When a failed login occurs on the Captive Portal, an error message will refer to a link