Free mode

Free mode turns your captive portal into a “the internet is free right now” page for a while. The portal stops selling packages and offers one free package with a single button. You might use it after an outage, on a holiday or match day, as a gift, or when payments are temporarily unavailable.

You can turn on free mode:

For every router: Settings → Captive Portal Features → Free Mode — all routers.
For one router: from the router’s device page. On a MikroTik, open the Free Mode card, which takes you to the router’s free-mode page (/dashboard/devices/mikrotik/<id>/free-mode). On a Ruijie, click the Free Mode button in the page header.

A router with its own free mode on uses its own settings instead of the all-routers ones. The router page shows which one applies. For example: “ISP-wide free mode is on, so this router’s captive portal is already free.”

Turn on free mode

Create a free-mode package (first time only). The form asks for a Package name, Download (Mbps), Upload (Mbps), and how long each customer gets (Free for plus a Unit). Click Create package. A free-mode package is always kept disabled, so it is never on sale. Customers only see it while free mode is on. To make another one later, click New next to the package list.
Choose the Free-mode package to offer.
Pick a Theme: Gift, Compensation, Trial mode, Payments unavailable, Christmas, Match day, Holiday or Custom image. For Custom image, upload a PNG, JPG or WEBP (up to 5MB, and wide images work best).
Why is the internet free?: a short message for customers, e.g. “We had no power yesterday — enjoy free internet on us.”
Ends: optional. This is the date and time (in your ISP’s time zone) when free mode switches itself off. Leave it empty to keep free mode on until you turn it off.
Switch on Free mode on, check the Customer preview, and click Save free mode.

The badge next to the title shows On, Ended (the end time has passed) or Off.

What customers see

While free mode is on, customers on the affected routers see your theme, your message, and the free package’s length and speed, with a single button to get connected. No payment is needed. Package sales are paused on those routers until free mode ends.

When free mode ends

Turn free mode off (or let it reach its Ends time). The portal goes back to selling packages straight away. Customers who already claimed free time keep it until it expires, unless you evict them.

The Evict free users section on Settings → Captive Portal Features gives you two options:

Option	What happens
Evict free users automatically (Auto)	Once free mode is switched off or ends, each free session is ended shortly afterwards.
Evict free users (Manual)	Sends a disconnect to every session on a free-mode package, on every router, right now. A progress report shows sessions evicted, connects read, and how many were skipped.

Either way, customers who also hold a paid package stay connected.

Free mode vs. other options

To give back the time paid customers lost in an outage, use Compensation. It adds time to each customer’s own package instead of opening the portal to everyone.
To give free time to specific people, use Vouchers.
For a permanent “try before you buy” offer, use a Free Trial Package. See Packages.