iPad not working at our hotel, due to cookies or summat???

John Roberts

Well-known member
UKGSer Subscriber
Joined
Mar 4, 2005
Messages
6,753
Reaction score
113
Location
North Wales
Mine works fine, but hers gets no further than 'Unable to display portal' while trying to connect to WiFi after correctly entering password (which is her email address) and ticking the Terms & conditions box. The guy in reception couldn't help, but said something about cookies and security blocking the connection to Wi-Fi.

It's always worked in hotels with no problems in the past.

We would be very grateful for any help.

TIA :)
 
Have you tried turning it off and then back on again. This seems to be the default suggested solution by the so called IT help lines!
 
Have you tried turning it off and then back on again. This seems to be the default suggested solution by the so called IT help lines!
Yes, a dozen times and it doesn't help, so it's got to be serious then! :eek: God, I hate computers when the bastards stop working. Spawns of the devil, I tell ee. :mad:
 
Some progress, well, I suppose. Before I go any further, a quick reminder that I'm writing this on my own iPad, the problem is on my wife’s iPad, OK? I'm now connected to the internet, via the hotel's WiFi, but when I do a search on Safari it brings up a warning: “This connection is not private” and also warns that the website (the website I tried to connect to was bbc news which seems innocuous enough to me) might be impersonating "www.google.co.uk" to steal my personal or financial information and that I should close the page.

I didn't have this shit when I connected my own iPad nor my iPhone, so what's going on? :nenau
 
First world problem. Can't you just let your wife borrow your iPad to do her internet stuff, then go the the bar together and have some drinks and dinner?
 
Try deleting the browsing history, that should remove any previously accepted cookies, then try reconnecting. If there's no joy with that try a different browser.
 
you've taken ipads when your away ... :blast

thats the last thing i take, enjoy your time away, i doubt there's nothing more important that requires a daily dose of electrons

if you must take it pre load some films or a book ..

i'm virtually uncontactable when i go away ;)
 
you've taken ipads when your away ... :blast

thats the last thing i take, enjoy your time away, i doubt there's nothing more important that requires a daily dose of electrons

if you must take it pre load some films or a book ..

i'm virtually uncontactable when i go away ;)

He's not you though is he
 
This is often down to how Apple handles authentication into wireless networks. When you just connect to a network, it puts you in what's called "captive" mode where it doesn't allow you to visit any other websites prior to authenticating into the network. [I am skipping a fair bit of technical detail here, but trying to explain what may be relevant to you.] "Authenticating" may well be just pimping out your personal data or putting in the room number to access free internet. It sometimes goes wrong and gets stuck in infinite loops, then you get artefacts like security issues as the hotel wifi is trying to redirect you to the autentication page, partially succeeds and thinks that "bbc.co.uk", for example is "hotel.website.whatever". Safari chucks a security warning thinking that your traffic has been hijacked.

What I usually do to get around this is go into settings / WiFi find the hotel wifi and "forget" it. Once that is done, I sometimes also close tabs in Safari and close the Safari app. I then re-try joining the Wifi and leave it a while after joining to pop up the "captive" window and allow me to re authenticate. This may be transparent and sometime syou may see a blank window with word "success" in impossibly small font on the top.

Good luck.
 
Thank you all, I finally gave up. It worked fine with WiFi in cafes and then at another hotel we stayed at (as did mine), but the management took little interest in our plight. In my ignorance I couldn't really insist that they tried to sort it, but I won't be going back there for sure.
Thanks anyway. :beerjug:
 
If it happens again then you will need some sort of accelerant and an ignition source. Cremate the ipad and get her an Android device.

Alternatively, invest in a decent phone contract so you can make it a hotspot, thereby eliminating the need to share a dodgy hotel wifi connection with the hoi polloi.
 
If it happens again then you will need some sort of accelerant and an ignition source. Cremate the ipad and get her an Android device.

Alternatively, invest in a decent phone contract so you can make it a hotspot, thereby eliminating the need to share a dodgy hotel wifi connection with the hoi polloi.
An appealing solution! :D You're pretty sure the problem lies with her iPad then? As we're back home now it's no longer a problem really, I'm just asking (if you have a minute) because I'm interested, that's all. :)
 
Are you 100% sure she was connecting to the same network (there are usually multiple in hotels)?

Are the ipads on the same iOS?

Otherwise follow what abraxas explained above.
I’ve experienced some issue when authenticating on public wi-fi before (as he explains) on various devices.
 
from my experience, when you pay for wifi at the hotels, in your room, it connects one or two items only. So If you have your phone and your iPad connected, the wife is knackered. She would have to pay for her own wifi. It should work in communal areas like the hotel reception, so pop downstairs and see if you can log on there
 
from my experience, when you pay for wifi at the hotels, in your room, it connects one or two items only. So If you have your phone and your iPad connected, the wife is knackered. She would have to pay for her own wifi. It should work in communal areas like the hotel reception, so pop downstairs and see if you can log on there
Hmm, sounds feasible, but we've been back a week now so can't check. We did stay a couple of nights at another hotel on the way back without any of this shit, so I do think it must have been an issue with that one hotel. Still, it's something to remember if we get this issue somewhere else, so thank you for the suggestion.
:beerjug:
 
Had same problem few days ago. Go into settings and close all the apps you do not actually need. Maybe keep only Safari and Mail open. You'll be astonished when you look how much is open that you don't need.
 
in certain hotels i have had a similar issue where if i have had two devices connected a third would not until one of the other two has been logged off, and the same with just one device connected i was unable to log on with another one until the first had been logged off.
 
I’ve used this iPad all over the world, rarely with any issues, but twice this week I’ve struggled with hotel WiFi, when my wife has not. The strange thing is it’s been the same issue with my iPhone. My wife has an older iPhone that hasn’t been to as many ‘Strange’ WiFi’s. I was thinking I might clean out the list of previous connections.
 
I find a hard boot often sorts out any iPad problems.
Press in, and hold, top left thumbnail button.
Then press slide to power off.
Next for full hard reboot, press in, and hold, top left thumbnail button.
 


Back
Top Bottom