Problems connecting to Public Hotspots?

[joshlalonde]

Hello,

This affects multiple devices, Apple and not, but I guess this is a good place to ask.

Whenever I sit down at a restaurant in Canada, I have to come to expect their Wi-Fi to be useless. I connect, and... nothing happens. No login page, nothing. While I was living in the states, everything worked out how it was supposed to be.

What gives? I think it has something to do with the configurations of the access points.

Anyways, There must be a way to configure my Mac to overcome this. I suspect that the means used by Canadian hotspots are 'crude', and have been blocked via Security updates on Apple's side. Some people suggested changing DNS settings, some suggested turning off the security features.

What's the best solution?

 

[r0k]

Hello,

This affects multiple devices, Apple and not, but I guess this is a good place to ask.

Whenever I sit down at a restaurant in Canada, I have to come to expect their Wi-Fi to be useless. I connect, and... nothing happens. No login page, nothing. While I was living in the states, everything worked out how it was supposed to be.

What gives? I think it has something to do with the configurations of the access points.

Anyways, There must be a way to configure my Mac to overcome this. I suspect that the means used by Canadian hotspots are 'crude', and have been blocked via Security updates on Apple's side. Some people suggested changing DNS settings, some suggested turning off the security features.

What's the best solution?

You didn't leave any VPN or proxies configured did you? Those things will often mess up free wifi login or terms and conditions pages.


I never had problems traveling in Ontario or Quebec and connecting to hotspots. If you have moved there, you have nothing to lose by "forgetting" all your network settings and starting over. If you plan to travel back and forth, then perhaps a more conservative approach is needed. Perhaps you could try a Tim Hortons and see if you can get logged on there. Some restaurants offer an 800# you can call to get help logging in. I remember Panera used to have a number posted back when I had devices that were so gimpy they couldn't "see" the login screen for one reason or another (in the days before I was using iThings).

 

[joshlalonde]

You didn't leave any VPN or proxies configured did you? Those things will often mess up free wifi login or terms and conditions pages.


I never had problems traveling in Ontario or Quebec and connecting to hotspots. If you have moved there, you have nothing to lose by "forgetting" all your network settings and starting over. If you plan to travel back and forth, then perhaps a more conservative approach is needed. Perhaps you could try a Tim Hortons and see if you can get logged on there. Some restaurants offer an 800# you can call to get help logging in. I remember Panera used to have a number posted back when I had devices that were so gimpy they couldn't "see" the login screen for one reason or another (in the days before I was using iThings).

Nope, no special configurations. I was lucky that I remembered that mcdonalds login page is 'mcd.datavalet.com'

 

[glenthompson]

Whose wifi are you trying to connect to? Are you getting an IP address from the DHCP server?

My only experience was a month ago when we were in Thunder Bay for the day. Restaurant had wifi and we had no issues connecting our iPads to it.

 

[joshlalonde]

Whose wifi are you trying to connect to? Are you getting an IP address from the DHCP server?

My only experience was a month ago when we were in Thunder Bay for the day. Restaurant had wifi and we had no issues connecting our iPads to it.

Yep, getting an IP address. I renewed my lease too.

It's about the part where you get re-directed.