Group Policy Best Practices

Recommended Meraki group policy configurations for guest networks

Cisco Meraki
Documentation/Meraki Platform/Group Policy Best Practices

What is a Group Policy?

A Meraki Group Policy is a named set of network rules that can be applied to any device or IPSK identity on a network. Policies can control:

Bandwidth limits (upload & download)
Layer 3 & 7 firewall rules
Content filtering categories
VLAN assignment
Scheduled access windows
Bonjour forwarding

QuuPass attaches a group policy to each credential it issues. This lets you give different tiers of guests (e.g. standard visitors vs. event VIPs) different levels of network access without changing the SSID configuration.

How QuuPass Uses Group Policies

A
Mode A — IPSK without RADIUS

The group policy ID is embedded directly in the IPSK identity record that QuuPass creates via the Meraki API. Meraki applies the policy as soon as the device connects using that credential's passphrase.

B
Mode B — IPSK with RADIUS

The RADIUS Access-Accept response from QuuPass includes a Filter-Id attribute (RADIUS attribute 11) containing the group policy name. Meraki reads this attribute and applies the matching group policy to the session. The SSID must have RADIUS attribute for group policies set to Filter-Id.

Recommended Policy Configurations

The right group policies will vary by venue, but below are the configurations we recommend as a starting point for most guest deployments.

Standard Guest

Suitable for most visitor access
Download limit10 Mbps
Upload limit5 Mbps
Content filteringBlock adult & malware categories
FirewallBlock RFC 1918 (private) address ranges
VLANDedicated guest VLAN (isolates from internal network)

Event / VIP Guest

Higher bandwidth, same isolation
Download limit50 Mbps
Upload limit20 Mbps
Content filteringMalware / phishing only
FirewallBlock RFC 1918 address ranges
VLANSame dedicated guest VLAN

Best Practices

🔒

Always block internal network ranges

Add L3 firewall rules denying access to 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, and 192.168.0.0/16. Even if guests are on a separate VLAN, an explicit firewall rule prevents accidental routing between guest and corporate segments.

🏷️

Use clear, consistent naming

In Mode B, QuuPass sends the group policy name (not its ID) in the RADIUS Filter-Id attribute. The name must match exactly what is configured in Meraki Dashboard — including capitalisation and spacing. Use names like Guest-Standard or Guest-VIP and avoid special characters.

🌐

Assign a dedicated guest VLAN

Using a VLAN in the group policy places guest traffic on an isolated segment at Layer 2, making it easier to apply QoS and monitor usage independently from your core network.

📶

Set per-client bandwidth limits, not per-SSID

Bandwidth limits in a group policy apply per-client. Avoid relying solely on SSID-level limits, which cap the total throughput shared across all connected clients and are difficult to adjust without affecting everyone.

🕐

Use scheduling for time-restricted venues

Meraki group policies support per-day scheduling. For venues like conference centres or schools where access should be restricted outside opening hours, combine QuuPass credential expiry with Meraki's schedule feature for defence in depth.

📋

Keep at least one policy as a fallback

If QuuPass cannot match a RADIUS Filter-Id to a policy name it falls back to the default network policy. Make sure your default policy is restrictive — treat it as a "minimal access" state rather than assuming it will never be hit.

Creating a Group Policy in Meraki Dashboard

  1. 1In Meraki Dashboard, navigate to the network that contains your guest SSID
  2. 2Go to Network-wide → Group policies
  3. 3Click Add a group policy and give it a clear name (e.g. Guest-Standard)
  4. 4Configure bandwidth, firewall, content filtering, and VLAN settings as required
  5. 5Save the policy — it will now appear in the QuuPass portal selector during wizard setup