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Help Can't Connect to Public Wi-Fi

S

SiempreTuna

Android Expert
Don't know if anyone else has this issue ..

Whenever I try to connect to a public WiFi network - e.g. at a customer site or an airport - I get the regular warnings about network security but whereas in the past I could eventually get to a login or welcome page in the browser, I now get transferred to some very dodgy looking advert for a 1.1.1.1 DNS 'service'.

I've tried using both Chrome and Firefox but in both, the 1.1.1.1 login page gets hijacked by this ad.

Anyone know what's happening?

Is this some sort of virus? It would be a strange virus but I've installed AVG and it didn't find anything.

Am I just being an eejit and missing some crucial step?

Any help gratefully received ..
 
Do you use a VPN normally on your phone? If so, try disabling it when trying to connect to a captive portal network.

Other things I could think of is if you use a proxy for wifi connections or you have a nefarious browser cookie out there.

Have you EVER been able to connect to public WiFi?
 
Thanks for your response.

I just checked and I don't have a VPN. I can't find where any proxy scripts would be set: would you know? I'm on the latest update of Android (8.1.0?).

Coincidentally, I just went to an airport and managed to log onto the public WiFi having failed to get to the Guest WiFi login page at a client site for the last 3 days. I have no idea what the difference is ..
 
that 1.1.1.1 login thing looks like a DNS spoof which is one of the ways captive portal works (or is supposed to). It could be part of their setup that takes you to an ad page if it can't resolve the login. I'm assuming you didn't see the 1.1.1.1 page when at the airport?
 
I didn't but I have seen it when trying to connect to public/guest WiFi in other places - which is why I thought it might be an Android issue.
 
Hmm, it might be some sort of goto page then when captive portal authentication fails.

Okay after a little searching I find that http://1.1.1.1 is often the redirect for captive portal login pages.

Is this the ad you're getting?

Screenshot_2018-04-11-17-02-33.png


That's what I get when i try to go to that URL on mobile data ... so try this next time. Before you connect to the guest network, go to settings>wifi>menu (three dots upper right)>advanced and make sure "Switch to mobile data when data when internet unavailable via wifi" is OFF.

I think what's happening is when you connect to the guest wifi you get the redirect too late to establish an internet connection before it switches back to mobile data, and then it tries to resolve that IP via the internet instead of the captive portal system.
 
Just wanted to point out that 1.1.1.1 is a public DNS released early this month by Cloudfare, it being one the handful of corporations that have evolved to essentially comprise a foundation for the Internet itself. It was a much touted release, joining the likes of already existing public DNS services like Quad9 (9.9.9.9), OpenDNS (208.67.220.220), and Google (8.8.8.8).

https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/what-is-1.1.1.1/

https://arstechnica.com/information...t-of-your-browser-history-with-encrypted-dns/

https://thehackernews.com/2018/04/fastest-dns-service.html
 
Thanks very much for your responses - much appreciated.

That is the ad I see. Good to know it's kosher, even if it's really, really irritating that it causes these issues.

I'll try your suggestion of turning off mobile data - sounds like a good call!
 
Yeah I've started using Cloudflare's new DNS on my home network - it's really quite snappy.

Unfortunately a lot of entities have been mis-using the 1.1.1.1 address for years. It wasn't assigned to anyone - yet also wasn't reserved for internal use and thus wasn't actually allowed to be used... but they did it anyway. Now that something responds on 1.1.1.1 I'm sure there are a bunch of captive portals that don't work correctly anymore.
 
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