Connect iPhone to public network?

[Spizz]

I’ve been trying to connect my iPhone to the public networks that once you join they present a pop up and require you accept a policy before you join but having no luck.

For example, on my MB Air I select the network for a hotel and a pop up comes up with room and surname. I enter and then I connect. At the airport, a pop up comes up and it says to accept the policy and good to go, no password or anything required.

But on the iPhone I connect to a free newtowrk, for example this Wi-Fi on a bus, and it doesn’t connect to the Wi-Fi in the first instance, it talks to it, then says No internet available, drops the connection, tries again a few seconds later and so it cycles.



I have disabled pop ups in Safari but just can’t get it sorted. I’m on a trip just now and it happened at the airport and hotel already, and now on the bus. Any ideas how to connect to these networks to save my mobile data? (Truphone eSim)?

 

[bwana]

I’ve been trying to connect my iPhone to the public networks that once you join they present a pop up and require you accept a policy before you join but having no luck.

For example, on my MB Air I select the network for a hotel and a pop up comes up with room and surname. I enter and then I connect. At the airport, a pop up comes up and it says to accept the policy and good to go, no password or anything required.

But on the iPhone I connect to a free newtowrk, for example this Wi-Fi on a bus, and it doesn’t connect to the Wi-Fi in the first instance, it talks to it, then says No internet available, drops the connection, tries again a few seconds later and so it cycles.

View attachment 1313062

I have disabled pop ups in Safari but just can’t get it sorted. I’m on a trip just now and it happened at the airport and hotel already, and now on the bus. Any ideas how to connect to these networks to save my mobile data? (Truphone eSim)?

Used mine on the trains recently just like it's supposed to work. Try forgetting the network and connecting again.

Took me ages to get MTNs data working again when I got back to SA - pretty sure it was Truphone messing me around.

 

[Spizz]

Used mine on the trains recently just like it's supposed to work. Try forgetting the network and connecting again.

Took me ages to get MTNs data working again when I got back to SA - pretty sure it was Truphone messing me around.

I tried forgetting and reconnecting but it’s a constant cycle. Only managed at Dubai airport last night by quickly opening a link I had to their portal in my history. Because t even then that was on the one time it actually connected to the Wi-Fi, normally it’s not even doing that?

Haven’t been travelling so much recently so no idea when this started but it used to work fine. Was the same on my trip to Scotland last week but I used the Truphone stuff quite okay. Now it’s just bugging me.

Vodacom worked okay on return to SA btw. Now I’m Melbourne and it’s become a flea in my ear.

 

[Sinbad]

I tried forgetting and reconnecting but it’s a constant cycle. Only managed at Dubai airport last night by quickly opening a link I had to their portal in my history. Because t even then that was on the one time it actually connected to the Wi-Fi, normally it’s not even doing that?

Haven’t been travelling so much recently so no idea when this started but it used to work fine. Was the same on my trip to Scotland last week but I used the Truphone stuff quite okay. Now it’s just bugging me.

Vodacom worked okay on return to SA btw. Now I’m Melbourne and it’s become a flea in my ear.

Is there some kind of adaptive networks setting you can turn off?

 

[bwana]

Haven’t been travelling so much recently so no idea when this started but it used to work fine. Was the same on my trip to Scotland last week but I used the Truphone stuff quite okay. Now it’s just bugging me.

Next time I'll buy a local sim card. Found myself wanting to make a normal phone call, but unable to do so, too many times.

 

[Spizz]

Not

Is there some kind of adaptive networks setting you can turn off?

Not that I can see. I was hoping someone might have an idea of a setting somewhere.

 

[Spizz]

Next time I'll buy a local sim card. Found myself wanting to make a normal phone call, but unable to do so, too many times.

I was hoping the Vodacom sim would use Truphone as the Wi-Fi network for Wi-Fi calling. Worked in Myanmar but not with Truphone for some reason.

 

[SauRoNZA]

You could try General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

You’ll lose all your saved PSK’s but it’s the only thing that may work.

If it doesn’t the problem is on their end.

 

[Spizz]

You could try General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

You’ll lose all your saved PSK’s but it’s the only thing that may work.

If it doesn’t the problem is on their end.

Yeah, I’m a bit lost with it. Got 20gb roaming data on Truphone so not so properly fussed just now, it’s just annoying me trying to figure it out. Might try reset when I’m home on a couple of weeks.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Yeah, I’m a bit lost with it. Got 20gb roaming data on Truphone so not so properly fussed just now, it’s just annoying me trying to figure it out. Might try reset when I’m home on a couple of weeks.

Actually before you do that just connect to it and then go in and say forget this network and then try again.

 

[Spizz]

Actually before you do that just connect to it and then go in and say forget this network and then try again.

That’s what I was doing endlessly in Dubai. Most times it would be like the screenshot and not connect to the network. Some times it would but the log in box would mostly not appear until I “forced it”.

 

[Spizz]

Fiddled about a bit more today and found a solution that worked in the hotel I'm in.

Selected the hotel network at Settings/Wi-Fi and got the usual not connecting to network and 'not connected to internet' message like the screenshot above. So I selected the info icon on the right hand side, switch 'auto join' and 'auto login' to off. Toggle Wi-Fi off and back on again, select the hotel wifi again and this time it joins the network instantly and the wifi icon shows at the top of the phone. But still the login page doesn't appear, so then I go to Safari and type captive.apple.com which instantly brings the login page up and I can sign in.

Seems like a schlep but it only takes a few seconds, and I've made a shortcut to the Apple address so can test tomorrow when I move to a different hotel.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Running some VPN software in your phone?

 

[Rickster]

Normally you are just meant to go to any random website and it should redirect you to their firewall portal asking you to login.

 

[Spizz]

Running some VPN software in your phone?

Nope.

Normally you are just meant to go to any random website and it should redirect you to their firewall portal asking you to login.

I’ve had that happen in the past but not always. But now the captive.apple.com address works every time. I moved to another hotel yesterday and followed the same steps except no need to toggle Wi-Fi off/on. When it doesn’t connect to the network first time like usual, that network then drops into the My Networks list and then I can select the info icon and turn off the auto join, open Safari and click on the captive.apple.com shortcut which immediately brings up the login box.

I think for initial connection to a new public network that it is just the auto-join I need to disable, not the auto-login as well, but I’ll check when at next hotel on Thursday.

So it’s the auto join that is apparently causing the issue. It never used to do this as I travelled a lot for work pre covid and was on a lot of these hotel and airport type networks with no problem. So I’d be interested to see whether anyone else has the same issues trying to join like this? Surely just can’t be me?

Edit: I have a vpn but it’s not activated as a rule, just for targeted things like downloading something from BBC etc.