Tracking Total Usage Time Per MAC ID --> Client

[Chris10]

I'm working on a bid for a customer that wants to be able to track the amount of time their members are in their facility.  I recognize for several reasons why attempting to use network logs to do this may be silly, and this is a startup.  I know I need a router.  The router reports some data.

In theory, I've planned two separate member VLANS, and each VLAN will be supporting two different member types. 

So far - I know I'll be getting an MX68

I don't know if/when I will be purchasing one or more MR36 devices.  That depends on the behavior of the network in the space with the MX68 alone.

VLAN 1

user type 1 - 2-hour network limit then booted off (can be managed with Guest access)

user type 2 - 10-hour network per month

VLAN 2

user type 3 - 40-hour network limit per month

user type 4 - unlimited

Question:

I believe I can build reports based on logins by MAC address --> create client --> usage reports.

Is it possible to build a custom usage time report by start: login time, end: last seen + start: login time, end: last seen?  Or something similar?

I want to get a baseline of time logged into the network then plan the next steps from there.

Let me know if there is a more natural way, or this is just a bad idea. Also - FYI - the time limits for the members, not my concept.

Thanks

[Chris10 · Accepted solution]

I found documentation for the "duration" metric in the client dashboard.  I think that will do it.!

[PhilipDAth]

Although quite a bit of work, you could look at creating a custom splash page.

https://documentation.meraki.com/zGeneral_Administration/Cross-Platform_Content/Configuring_a_Custom... 

You'll know when the person logs on.  You get that request.  And you can return parameters like this:

GET['base_grant_url'] + "?continue_url=" + GET['user_continue_url'] + "&duration=3600" (to grant access for one hour).

Which lets you specify back to the Meraki system how long they can attach for.

This is most commonly used for WiFi, but I'm pretty sure an MX only solution supports all the same attributes. 

[PhilipDAth]

If you want to "take it up a notch" you can use a custom splash page with RADIUS (such as freeradius).

https://documentation.meraki.com/zGeneral_Administration/Cross-Platform_Content/Configuring_RADIUS_A... 

This lets you do things like assign custom VLANs and group policies.  This would let you do things like drop different people into different VLANs automatically, you could create group policies with different rules (access rules, bandwidth rules, etc) so they can get treated differently.

[Chris10]

That's exactly where I'm trying to go.  If I could present to the user how much time is left out of x hours when they log in that would be useful to know as a possibility.

[Chris10]

@PhilipDAth  Is it possible to change the parameter of the limit to total "duration" rather than in x time unit?  That's actually more important to understand than the last question.

[PhilipDAth]

>That's exactly where I'm trying to go.  If I could present to the user how much time is left out of x hours when they log in that would be useful to know as a possibility.

That would be up to your splash page to do.

[Chris10]

I see... "&duration=3600" 😉

thx