Wi-Fi curiosity

[N4Newbie]

At this very moment I am in a hotel in Bologna, Italy. The hotel has building-wide Wi-Fi access.

My Nexus 5 sees the network (which is unprotected, by the way) and will "save" the network but will not connect to it even though it says signal strength is excellent.

My Samsung Galaxy Tab II is a bit more helpful perhaps in that it tries to obtain an IP address and then says, "Network disabled because Internet connection is slow."

And yet, I often see people in the lobby using laptops presumably on Wi-Fi. Why are they getting this to work while I fail with two different devices?

"Avoid poor connections" is unchecked on the Nexus 5; I don't see a similar option on the Tab II.

 

[wizzrah]

At this very moment I am in a hotel in Bologna, Italy. The hotel has building-wide Wi-Fi access.

My Nexus 5 sees the network (which is unprotected, by the way) and will "save" the network but will not connect to it even though it says signal strength is excellent.

My Samsung Galaxy Tab II is a bit more helpful perhaps in that it tries to obtain an IP address and then says, "Network disabled because Internet connection is slow."

And yet, I often see people in the lobby using laptops presumably on Wi-Fi. Why are they getting this to work while I fail with two different devices?

"Avoid poor connections" is unchecked on the Nexus 5; I don't see a similar option on the Tab II.

Check to see if the wifi requires you to visit a page where you have to accept some terms and conditions. I see that a lot in areas where there is free wifi.

 

[dpham00]

Check to see if the wifi requires you to visit a page where you have to accept some terms and conditions. I see that a lot in areas where there is free wifi.

I have seen that too. Just open the browser and the required page usually pops up

dpham00, Android Central Moderator
Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk Pro

 

[N4Newbie]

Check to see if the wifi requires you to visit a page where you have to accept some terms and conditions. I see that a lot in areas where there is free wifi.

I know what you mean (both Rome and Bologna airports have Wi-Fi that works like that) but no, since I never get an IP address it would be impossible to get to that web page. In fact, neither device ever shows the wireless icon in the notification bar. Also, the hotel staff says I wouldn't need to do anything special.

It's not a huge deal since I have a local SIM card with data access; I just want to understand why the Wi-Fi isn't working. BTW, I am an IT professional who does this stuff for a living so I have a pretty good idea of what should work and how to make it so...

 

[N4Newbie]

I have this vague memory that android devices won't connect to unprotected Wi-Fi for security reasons. Not sure though if that is for real or just something I saw in a dream once.

 

[Chex313]

I have had this before, in Hotels in the States. Some device's just will not work with the Hotel login page. Not a fan of Hotel Wifi...Not secure and too slow.

There still may be a work around, but using a laptop is the easiest solution.

Oh and I connect to unprotected wifi spots at a few places where I download podcasts. No issues. Unprotected, but not Hotels spots.

 

[jj14x]

I have this vague memory that android devices won't connect to unprotected Wi-Fi for security reasons. Not sure though if that is for real or just something I saw in a dream once.

Must be a dream... it connects to unsecured networks without a problem

 

[N4Newbie]

Must be a dream... it connects to unsecured networks without a problem

Yeah, I've had a lot of strange dreams over the years.

I'm thinking it is just a really crappy network. I have seen people complain about it on hotel rating sites like TripAdvisor.com.