Cannot connect to Wifi Network

[sach70]

Using iPhone 6S with iOS - 10.3.2
I am working on a remote site in Madagascar and whereas I have always been able to connect to the company wifi network I am no longer able to do so. Since the previous time I was here there has been the update to iOS 10.3.2 but I can not say for certain that the update is the cause for my problems.

The company uses a 'Portal Captive' wifi network where, for network security, each user is provided a username and password. To join the network is "open" and there is no wifi password. When I try and connect my phone tells me it is an un-secure network (as there is no password) and I am not able to connect to it at all.

In the room I have a dedicated wifi router and I was able to get permission for the IT department to change the setup to require a password. After resetting my network settings I managed to connect to this router for a few hours. However, after disconnecting from it I am no again not able to connect. I have 'forgotten' the network and finally reset my network settings and done a hard-reboot of my device. No luck. It will simply not connect. Although, since there is a password on this specific router, it no longer shows me that it is an unsafe network. It will simply not connect and all I get is the spinning 'connecting' indicator on the left of the network name.

Is there a way I can force my device to connect to an 'unsafe' network? (although it is not an unsafe network).

Any advice will be appreciated. As this is a remote site 3G is not great and extremely expensive.

PS: I have gone through all the steps shown in other posts but cannot find anything that shows how to connect to a network deemed 'unsafe'.

 

[daflake]

Have you tried resetting the network settings? It is possible that there is something corrupt.

 

[sach70]

daflake, yes I did. Several times in fact. That way I managed to connect to the router with password for a while.

I guess the next step will be to reset my phone, something that I would prefer to avoid at the moment..

 

[daflake]

daflake, yes I did. Several times in fact. That way I managed to connect to the router with password for a while.

I guess the next step will be to reset my phone, something that I would prefer to avoid at the moment..

Sorry, you did say that. Do you have any VPN software installed? If not, I am not sure what the issues is and you may have to do a fresh install.

 

[sach70]

Sorry, you did say that. Do you have any VPN software installed? If not, I am not sure what the issues is and you may have to do a fresh install.

Nope daflake, no VPN. Yes I have a sinking feeling that I might have to do a fresh install...
Problem is if I still cannot connect to the wifi after at I am going to have loads 'outdated' of Apps. Updating over 3G here won't be doable. At least I have a iTunes backup!

Unfortunately there are no 'other' networks to try and connect to to establish whether it is a wifi issue on my phone or simply the networks causing the problems...
Thanks for the replies daflake!

 

[jetsam]

Are you getting three bars of Wi-Fi strength? I assume you are, given you are in the same room as the router, but I thought I'd ask anyhow.

An observation I've made over time is that it seems to take a stronger signal to complete the handshake than it does to maintain the connection. My gut sense, given your description above, is that the Wi-Fi radio in your phone is dying. I hope I'm wrong, given your remote location.

 

[sach70]

Are you getting three bars of Wi-Fi strength? I assume you are, given you are in the same room as the router, but I thought I'd ask anyhow.

An observation I've made over time is that it seems to take a stronger signal to complete the handshake than it does to maintain the connection. My gut sense, given your description above, is that the Wi-Fi radio in your phone is dying. I hope I'm wrong, given your remote location.

Jetsam, yes getting full signal, no problem there. The phone tries to connect but the 'wheel of (death)' just keeps spinning. I do hope that you're feeling is not correct I must say. As it is, the phone is about two-three months old as I received a new one when my old phone's connector malfunctioned.

Guess I will have to either reset it to factory settings and see whether that resolves the issue or wait until I am home again. At least I still have 3G.
Thanks for the reply jetsam.

 

[jpn]

hi

i have a similar problem. on iOS iPhone and on macOS MacBook air.

on mac can see the the wifi network. can connect to it (even gives full wifi bars).
after initial wifi network connection and safari ties to connect to a website home page, the brewer does switch to a network page that you can enter your id and password.
connection is made and internet is ok to use
but, if i lose that connection by closing my MacBook air i can not get safari to again give a log in page to enter again my id and password.

on the mac, what i have to do to get a log in prompt again is very convoluted and sometimes does not work:
1. System Pref / Network / Advanced / delete any reference to that network that may be remembered
2. in same Network advanced tab / Renew DHCP lease
3. 8 out of 10 times i can force a login prompt but emphatically not all the time

on iOS the same problem happens.
and relatively same solution:
Wifi / network name / Forget network
Wifi / network name / Renew lease

not being able to get a prompt on a mac device: this used to be a big problem when asia (where i live and work) was pretty much a windows world and it really frequently happened 8 or 10 years ago. but not now.
the current problem i have only started at this place when they changed their log in prompt/password setup.
so its pretty much confirmed that whatever way they changed it is the problem.
i have to assume it works better on windows machines since NO ONE would put up with this.
it has to be some kind of prompt message that apple's (probably standards based protocols) is not picking up on.

here is what i think causes this:
the network admin has incorrectly set up his controls, especially the lease time for addresses.
once he allocates an address to your device, but you lose your connection or wake up in the morning and try to access the net, its not letting you back in.

if anyone can give me a better workaround i am all ears...

fortunately here 3G is not so bad. so i can download email on my iPhone.
but, bad luck is that the carrier's implementation of Personal Hotspot does not work in order to share the 3G connection on the mac.