WI FI Extender Not Logging On

[accomplice]

Our Ubiquiti WiFi extender (a Rocket M2) would occasionally connect to some APs, but then have an intermittent connection.

I attempted to debug by watching the network traffic and observed incoming ARP requests that were not being acknowledged (or if they were acknowledged, it wasn't showing up in the packet capture). After a minute or so of unrequited ARPs, the AP disconnected our router. Then, after a timeout, the cycle was repeated.

This is a problem, but rather than complain about it I looked for work-arounds. Whenever I find myself on a network with intermittent connectivity now, I initiate gratuitous ARPs and we remain connected.

[FabioC]

Before despairing, try a couple of simple remedies...

I battled with my WiFi extender for a while, different brand than yours, but same problem, the MacBook is recalcitrant to show the "captive portal", which is the page that contains the login prompt, so you can never make it work.

I happen to work on captive portals in my profession, and I can understand why it happens. The ultimate solution (one that works 100% of the time), would be to convince the manufacturer of the extender to add a web server running on it, with a browser that would display the captive portal. In my case, I tried my best with the manufacturer, but they were not willing to do anything (I found it strange, since it would make their product better, but that was reality).

So, when it happens, try the following (this is not going to work all the time, but 80% of the times, it will).

1. On your MacBook, try to open a site like CNN - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos using Safari and see what happens. Many times, the captive portal shows up!

2. If that fails, clear the Safari cache (history as well, if cache is not enough), and try again.

3. If that fails too, have a clean download of a different browser on your Mac (Chrome or Firefox), open that, and try with it (clean the cache for good measure). Once you can access the captive portal and log in, then you can switch back to your favorite Safari.

4. If that fails, there are other things that can be done, but they depend on the service provider that you are connecting to. If you are trying Comcast/Xfinity, which is one of the most recalcitrant to show the captive portal, it helps to run their Hotspot finder app.

[Brewgyver]

Originally Posted by JDavison

Make sure you’re not initially going to a site that is using SSL, in other words, a site that starts with “https”. Many sites will redirect you to their SSL site automatically, for example, if you type in Google it will redirect you to https://www.google.com. I run into this issue a lot. I typically use ESPN: The Worldwide Leader in Sports and then the WiFi router will send me to the login page where I can enter my WiFi password.

+1 on that. purple.com is a good one, too. But odds are, if the signal received is that weak, there's a good chance local AP doesn't see your signal at all, hence no handshake.

Have you talked to the local provider's tech support?

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by JDavison

Make sure you’re not initially going to a site that is using SSL, in other words, a site that starts with “https”. Many sites will redirect you to their SSL site automatically, for example, if you type in Google it will redirect you to https://www.google.com. I run into this issue a lot. I typically use ESPN: The Worldwide Leader in Sports and then the WiFi router will send me to the login page where I can enter my WiFi password.

He won't have a choice about https. Most sites will 301 redirect, so there is no way to ever access the http site only the secure site.

I have had the same problem as the OP. Sometimes even the window will pop up, but then it can't load because it says it cannot connect to the server etc.. Just seems to be the nature of these type of connections.

[Qayaq]

Same as Escapaide or hit the home button..

[cpca2000]

Hi,

I would start out with checking that you are getting an IP address from the Station that you are connecting to if so type the gateway address you get into a browser and see if the captive portal responds with the login page you are trying to get to. You could also run a ping to that address and check the latency as well as if you are getting dropped packets.

[FabioC]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

He won't have a choice about https. Most sites will 301 redirect, so there is no way to ever access the http site only the secure site.

I have had the same problem as the OP. Sometimes even the window will pop up, but then it can't load because it says it cannot connect to the server etc.. Just seems to be the nature of these type of connections.

Yes, do not try to redirect out of a site that uses https, just connect to a site that has only http.

CNN - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos, ESPN: The Worldwide Leader in Sports, purple, and many, many others (or your own domain, if you have one) are good candidates.