Cannot Access Public Wifi

[snake1080]

I cannot access public wifi anymore. It was just in the past month or so when I COULD access public wifi, but over time, it started to be more of a hit and miss thing. Now, it has become completely unusable. In wifi it will show that it is connected, but when I try to go somewhere on the internet I just keep getting an error message.

The weird thing, is that when I'm at home using the wifi from my router, it functions just perfectly, but for some reason I now can't access public wifi, when just a short time ago I could. I've downloaded Malware Bytes which didn't make any difference, any ideas what's going wrong?

Blu Studio G with KitKat 4.4.2

 

[SpookDroid]

Are these networks that you need to sign into, like hotels, airports, or coffee shops (even the ones where you just have to acknowledge the ToS)? If so, the CaptivePortal Login or something might not be 'catching' it or not running. If you open a webpage that you visit often, this is very common. Try opening a site that you don't go to very often and that might trigger the login.

For me this tends to happen a lot with Chrome and not so much if the first time I open a webpage is through the stock browser. Also check you don't have any VPNs trying to connect automatically on public networks.

 

[snake1080]

Thanks for the reply. I don't know about these places having a captive portal as I can't even get that far, I try to go to some web address and it does nothing for a few seconds and then goes to the error screen. I'll try your trick of going to a new website I've never been to before. Where would I see if there are any VPN's trying to connect?

 

[SpookDroid]

You should see the VPN icon come up on the notification bar if that's what's happening.

 

[snake1080]

I tried a website that I've never been to, and it doesn't work, just eventually goes to the 'no internet' screen. There were no icons coming up on the notification bar so that doesn't seem to be the problem either. Do you think this has something to do with my phone running an older OS? Maybe time to upgrade?

 

[SpookDroid]

I don't think it's the OS but rather either hardware or a problem with the login portal. Have you tried it in Safe Mode? Using different browsers? Do you have connectivity on other apps (not just webpages)?
Try the steps outlined by Javier here, it might help.
https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=941000&p=6460713&viewfull=1#post6460713