I wonder if someone can help clarify isolation with routed networks.

The diagram on page 24 of
http://www.packetfence.org/downloads/PacketFence/doc/PacketFence_Administration_Guide-3.5.1.pdf
shows a network where the "registration" and "isolation" networks are
routed.  However it is not clear how PF expects the network to be configured
such that user traffic is contained and redirected to the captive portal.

I can think of two possible ways how it could work:

(1) PF DNS returns the correct IP address for the page requested, but the
outbound traffic on the registration VLAN is forced via the PF server itself
and is captured via iptables rules.  Then PF returns a HTTP redirect to the
PF registration page.

AFAICS, to do this on a routed network would require VRFs deployed across
the network (or policy routing or IP-IP tunnels), so that traffic from the
remote registration network would be forced via the PF box but normal data
traffic follows a normal default route without putting PF inline.

(2) PF DNS returns a fake IP address for all hostnames. In this case,
applying ACLs would be sufficient to block traffic from the registration
VLAN to all IPs apart from the PF server itself. But there is a risk the
client will cache this fake IP once it is granted access.

Can someone tell me which of these models PF follows, or have I completely
misunderstood something here?

I'm afraid the diagram on page 4 is even more confusing. It shows a "WAN"
but no external Internet link. Does "WAN" actually mean "The Internet"? Or
are these four branch offices linked by a private WAN, in which case, where
is the egress?

Thanks in advance,

Brian.

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