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Can't connect to 'Free Wi-fi' with an access page. Help!

S

slackermark

Lurker
I have recently left the Apple world (planned to ages ago but as long as everything still worked it was bareable as I'm a simple user). I recently acquired a Lenovo P8 a.k.a Tab 3 8 Plus (TB 8703F). It's seems great except one problem with accessing free (unsecured) WiFi controlled by an access page.
Normal secured WiFi fine: select the connection, enter the WPA2 password and away you go. But some free WiFi want you to login, i.e. it should connect but take you to a page where it wants some details, name, email and date of birth not uncommon particularly in a Pub. Trouble is is says I'm connected but doesn't take me to the login page so can't actually use it. On my phone (Lenovo P2) you select the same network it says 'connected, no internet' but also flashes up an Android Notification saying you need to login which, when you tap, takes you to the login page; put in your details and you're away. Not on the tablet, no notification and no means of getting to the login page as you have no functioning internet.
What am I missing? Looking through Settings I can see nothing obvious. The tablet came clean, a RoW spec.
I've asked the same question on the Lenovo forum but nothing, no help from either the community or Lenovo's so called help.... seems to me Lenovo don't care much about customer service once they have your money, shame as the tablet seems really good otherwise.
Has anyone had similar problems or knows a solution?
 
lunatic59 said:
Once you are connected on the tab, just open a browser and try to go to any external website. It should first redirect you to the login page.
Click to expand...

This is 100% true I've done it my-self on many occasions

but NOTE:
Browser not google app
 
Didn't do it last time but I will try again. I have the Google app (OK you say probably not going to work here) but I also have Chrome and Firefox and the login page doesn't come up on any of them. Should I download a different browser specifically for this and if so which one? Also does it need to be 'clean' i.e. no existing initial page? Thanks in advance. But still nice to know it should work just have to find the work around. I was assuming it was something to do with the necessary Android Notification being turned off but I'll chase the 'clean browser' route for a while. Like I said I can get on with the phone so not the end of the world just annoying. Cheers anyway. Any other suggestions please keep them coming. I will of course let you know when I have something that works consistently.
 
slackermark said:
Didn't do it last time but I will try again. I have the Google app (OK you say probably not going to work here) but I also have Chrome and Firefox and the login page doesn't come up on any of them. Should I download a different browser specifically for this and if so which one? Also does it need to be 'clean' i.e. no existing initial page? Thanks in advance. But still nice to know it should work just have to find the work around. I was assuming it was something to do with the necessary Android Notification being turned off but I'll chase the 'clean browser' route for a while. Like I said I can get on with the phone so not the end of the world just annoying. Cheers anyway. Any other suggestions please keep them coming. I will of course let you know when I have something that works consistently.
Click to expand...

open the browser and type into the addreass bar.
http://www.google.com

plz note http not https
 
The issue you're dealing with is referred to as a 'captive portal login', a sort of enhanced way to force a user to login into something like a public WiFi network. Essentially your tablet is connecting to this WiFi network, it's just that until you get past the captive portal login it won't allow you unfettered access to the Internet itself. Admittedly when compared to other operating systems Android appears to be somewhat lacking when dealing with captive portal logins. Read through the following to get a better background:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_portal#Implementation

So you might not want to focus too much on just which browser to use, the problem isn't necessarily a browser-specific issue but more a matter of getting the Android OS on your tablet to actually get past that captive portal login process. The browser is just what you interact with directly, but there are things the hardware and OS are also dealing with beneath the user interface. That said, different browser apps do have different options in their own settings menus. Try perusing through yours to see if anything stands out. The Chrome app, as an example, has a 'Data Saver' option buried in its Settings, that if enabled you might want to try disabling to see if that makes a difference.
As a more generic step for any browser, at the very least dump the browser cookies and wipe its cache to see if that allows the captive portal login page to pop up properly.

But browser issues aside, try deleting that WiFi network entry in your Settings >> Wi-Fi menu. If this particular portal login was based on ICMP, it could have had a time limit set up where if you don't sign in within xx minutes it just won't let you in. If the login was based on DNS, you might want to try using a DNS changer app like this one:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.burakgon.dnschanger
This might at least allow you get that portal login page to show up again.

Another thing to try is if there's a 'Reset default networks' option buried in your Settings menu. On one of my phones it's in Settings >>Wireless & networks >> Wi-Fi in the little gear icon in the top menubar.
A more drastic measure is the 'Network settings reset' option (not sure about your Lenovo tab but in my phone it's in Settings >> Wireless & networks >> More) Just keep in mind this is kinda/sorta like a Factory Reset just for network settings. It will clear all your saved WiFi networks, any Bluetooth pairings you've set up, pretty much anything you've changed in your networking settings.
Wish I could make more definitive suggestions but there's just too many variables involved in this particular issue. Again, unless you ask whomever set up router and the captive portal, a possible solution is more a matter of experimentation on your part.
 
svim said:
The issue you're dealing with is referred to as a 'captive portal login', a sort of enhanced way to force a user to login into something like a public WiFi network. Essentially your tablet is connecting to this WiFi network, it's just that until you get past the captive portal login it won't allow you unfettered access to the Internet itself. Admittedly when compared to other operating systems Android appears to be somewhat lacking when dealing with captive portal logins. Read through the following to get a better background:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_portal#Implementation

So you might not want to focus too much on just which browser to use, the problem isn't necessarily a browser-specific issue but more a matter of getting the Android OS on your tablet to actually get past that captive portal login process. The browser is just what you interact with directly, but there are things the hardware and OS are also dealing with beneath the user interface. That said, different browser apps do have different options in their own settings menus. Try perusing through yours to see if anything stands out. The Chrome app, as an example, has a 'Data Saver' option buried in its Settings, that if enabled you might want to try disabling to see if that makes a difference.
As a more generic step for any browser, at the very least dump the browser cookies and wipe its cache to see if that allows the captive portal login page to pop up properly.

But browser issues aside, try deleting that WiFi network entry in your Settings >> Wi-Fi menu. If this particular portal login was based on ICMP, it could have had a time limit set up where if you don't sign in within xx minutes it just won't let you in. If the login was based on DNS, you might want to try using a DNS changer app like this one:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.burakgon.dnschanger
This might at least allow you get that portal login page to show up again.

Another thing to try is if there's a 'Reset default networks' option buried in your Settings menu. On one of my phones it's in Settings >>Wireless & networks >> Wi-Fi in the little gear icon in the top menubar.
A more drastic measure is the 'Network settings reset' option (not sure about your Lenovo tab but in my phone it's in Settings >> Wireless & networks >> More) Just keep in mind this is kinda/sorta like a Factory Reset just for network settings. It will clear all your saved WiFi networks, any Bluetooth pairings you've set up, pretty much anything you've changed in your networking settings.
Wish I could make more definitive suggestions but there's just too many variables involved in this particular issue. Again, unless you ask whomever set up router and the captive portal, a possible solution is more a matter of experimentation on your part.
Click to expand...

Very good info !
 
Well I'm in guys, thank you for the help. Trouble is I don't know exactly what did the trick. I did go 'Settings', 'Apps', 'Google Play services', 'storage' then clear everything (manage space and the clear cache; maybe a sledgehammer but it's worked for me with other android 'quirks') and then tapped the Chrome app and up came the login page. I'm in which is fine...... now need to find another site/pub with similar 'captive portal login' to be sure. Thanks again.
 
Last edited:
FYI. Tried a few other 'free WiFi' places with the captive portal and got access on all of them though not always completely straight forward. It rarely goes straight to the login page when I try to access the internet but what does work is either select the Chrome App and type www.google.com into the search or when that fails close the Chrome app, go Settings, apps, Google, storage, clear cache then select the Google app and the type www.google.com. like I say, not perfect, no idea why but I have something that seems to work every time and now I know how to do it, the extra few seconds it takes is no real hassle. Cheers all, thanks again.
 
I've got a few theories on this.

slackermark said:
It rarely goes straight to the login page when I try to access the internet but what does work is either select the Chrome App and type www.google.com into the search
Click to expand...

What is your default home page for your browser(s)? If it's a frequently visited site with static content, then your browser may actually trying to read the browser cache than actually trying to access the internet, so your device never hits the redirect page request from the router.

slackermark said:
when that fails close the Chrome app, go Settings, apps, Google, storage, clear cache then select the Google app and the type www.google.com.
Click to expand...

This supports the above theory. I also thought that many places are setup with mostly default settings which mean that if they use the same public WiFi setup and they use the common 192.168.x.x or 10.1.x.x subnets then it could be that the login pages are also named the same and again your browser might try to use a cached version. Since clearing the cache tends to fix the issue, then again, it's possible.
 
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