diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index cfe0cbfa..44a929d7 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ find_package(PCRE REQUIRED)
 find_package(Perl REQUIRED)
 find_package(Threads)
 find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)
+find_package(CURL REQUIRED)
 
 if(WIN32)
 	find_package(Iconv REQUIRED)
diff --git a/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/CMakeLists.txt b/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 94910cb3..ef517f2f 100644
--- a/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ include_directories(
     ${SWG_ENGINE_SOURCE_DIR}/server/library/serverKeyShare/include/public
     ${SWG_ENGINE_SOURCE_DIR}/server/library/serverNetworkMessages/include/public
     ${SWG_ENGINE_SOURCE_DIR}/server/library/serverUtility/include/public
-	${SWG_EXTERNALS_SOURCE_DIR}/ours/library/archive/include
+    ${SWG_EXTERNALS_SOURCE_DIR}/ours/library/archive/include
     ${SWG_EXTERNALS_SOURCE_DIR}/ours/library/localization/include
     ${SWG_EXTERNALS_SOURCE_DIR}/ours/library/localizationArchive/include/public
     ${SWG_EXTERNALS_SOURCE_DIR}/ours/library/singleton/include
@@ -110,6 +110,7 @@ include_directories(
     ${SWG_EXTERNALS_SOURCE_DIR}/3rd/library/platform/projects
     ${SWG_EXTERNALS_SOURCE_DIR}/3rd/library/platform/utils
     ${SWG_EXTERNALS_SOURCE_DIR}/3rd/library/udplibrary
+    ${CURL_INCLUDE_DIRS}
 )
 
 add_executable(LoginServer
@@ -150,5 +151,6 @@ target_link_libraries(LoginServer
     CommonAPI
     LoginAPI
     MonAPI2
+    ${CURL_LIBRARIES}
     ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS}
 )
diff --git a/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/shared/ClientConnection.cpp b/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/shared/ClientConnection.cpp
index 6fe81a51..32ffaa9f 100755
--- a/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/shared/ClientConnection.cpp
+++ b/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/shared/ClientConnection.cpp
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include "sharedNetworkMessages/LoginEnumCluster.h"
 
 #include <algorithm>
+#include <curl/curl.h>
 
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -168,6 +169,14 @@ void ClientConnection::onReceive(const Archive::ByteStream & message)
 }
 
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+static size_t WriteCallback(void *contents, size_t size, size_t nmemb, void *userp)
+{
+	((std::string*)userp)->append((char*)contents, size * nmemb);
+	return size * nmemb;
+}
+
+
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Stub routine for station API account validation.
 // Grab a challenge key from the list and send it back to the client.
@@ -202,7 +211,45 @@ void ClientConnection::validateClient(const std::string & id, const std::string
 		
 		LOG("LoginClientConnection", ("validateClient() for stationId (%lu) at IP (%s), id (%s) key (%s), skipping validating session", m_stationId, getRemoteAddress().c_str(), id.c_str(), key.c_str()));
 
-		LoginServer::getInstance().onValidateClient(suid, id, this, true, nullptr, 0xFFFFFFFF, 0xFFFFFFFF);
+		if (ConfigLoginServer::getUseExternalAuth() == true) 
+		{
+			CURL *curl;
+			std::string readBuffer;
+
+			curl = curl_easy_init();
+			if (curl)
+			{
+				std::string username(curl_easy_escape(curl, id.c_str(), id.length()));
+				std::string password(curl_easy_escape(curl, key.c_str(), key.length()));
+
+				curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, ("phpauthurl" + username + "&pw=" + password).c_str());
+				curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, WriteCallback);
+				curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEDATA, &readBuffer);
+
+				curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
+				curl_global_cleanup();
+
+				// where possible we'll use http status codes - later this will become json and this nonsense isn't necessary
+				if (readBuffer == "1") 
+				{				
+					LoginServer::getInstance().onValidateClient(suid, id, this, true, NULL, 0xFFFFFFFF, 0xFFFFFFFF);
+				}
+				else if (readBuffer == "2")
+				{				
+					ErrorMessage err("Login Failed", "You have been banned.");
+					this->send(err, true);
+				}
+				else
+				{
+					ErrorMessage err("Login Failed", "Invalid username or password.");
+					this->send(err, true);
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			LoginServer::getInstance().onValidateClient(suid, id, this, true, NULL, 0xFFFFFFFF, 0xFFFFFFFF);
+		}
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/shared/ConfigLoginServer.cpp b/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/shared/ConfigLoginServer.cpp
index 2de2a2fa..8cbaaccc 100755
--- a/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/shared/ConfigLoginServer.cpp
+++ b/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/shared/ConfigLoginServer.cpp
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ void ConfigLoginServer::install(void)
 	KEY_INT (populationLightThresholdPercent, 8);
 	KEY_INT (csToolPort, 10666);
 	KEY_BOOL(requireSecureLoginForCsTool, true);
+	KEY_BOOL(useExternalAuth, false);
 
 	int index = 0;
 	char const * result = 0;
diff --git a/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/shared/ConfigLoginServer.h b/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/shared/ConfigLoginServer.h
index 7bd94880..3badbf0a 100755
--- a/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/shared/ConfigLoginServer.h
+++ b/engine/server/application/LoginServer/src/shared/ConfigLoginServer.h
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ class ConfigLoginServer
 		int             csToolPort;
 		
 		bool		requireSecureLoginForCsTool;
+		bool		useExternalAuth;
 	};
 
 	static const uint16 getCentralServicePort();
@@ -126,6 +127,8 @@ class ConfigLoginServer
 	static int          getPopulationHeavyThresholdPercent();
 	static int          getPopulationMediumThresholdPercent();
 	static int          getPopulationLightThresholdPercent();
+	
+	static bool	    getUseExternalAuth();
 
 	// has character creation for this cluster been disabled through config option
 	static bool         isCharacterCreationDisabled(std::string const & cluster);
@@ -467,6 +470,11 @@ inline const int ConfigLoginServer::getCSToolPort()
 {
 	return data->csToolPort;
 }
+
+inline bool ConfigLoginServer::getUseExternalAuth()
+{
+	return data->useExternalAuth;
+}
 // ======================================================================
 
 #endif	// _ConfigLoginServer_H