Jean can join the open Wi-Fi network at her nearby coffee shop without entering a password or logging in. However, she is instantly directed to a website that solicits her email address. After providing it, she can browse the Internet without any further obstacles. What technology has Jean come across?

Jean has come across a captive portal. Captive portals redirect all traffic to a specific portal page, either to gather information or display the page itself. Once users fulfill the portal's requirements, they gain access to the Internet. This can be achieved by granting a new IP address or enabling access to the Internet for the connected IP address using a firewall rule or a similar approach. Pre-shared keys are used for authentication in wireless networks. Port security is used for wired networks, and WPA represents Wi-Fi Protected Access, such as WPA, WPA-2, and WPA-3.