Unable to connect to Wifi with captive portal

job_shredder69

Hey everyone,

I'm traveling right now and have been using public WiFi (like at airports and hotels), but I can't connect because the webview can't load the captive portal.

I noticed this thread, https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/23003-unable-to-connect-to-wifi, and it looks like we're having the same issues. Any ideas on how to fix this?

fid02

job_shredder69 can't load

What is the error message you are getting?

alfred

job_shredder69 Is the option for Internet connectivity checks enabled? (Settings > Network & internet > Internet connectivity checks)

fid02

job_shredder69 Try with Vanadium version 137.0.7151.115.0

job_shredder69

fid02 I'm getting net::ERR_BLOCKED_BY_PRIVATE_NETWORK_ACCESS_CHECKS. Connecting on my laptop works.

Spasiba

Do you use a VPN? For instance, Mullvad blocks the captive portal. I have not found a workaround, apart from disabling the VPN. Which is probably not what you want.

job_shredder69

Spasiba I'm not using a VPN.

fid02

Spasiba For instance, Mullvad blocks the captive portal.

That's not correct. Captive portals work fine on GrapheneOS with Mullvad. That GitHub issue concerns a desktop OS. If you have an issue with captive portals then you have likely disabled internet connectivity checks.

BaragonS

alfred I have the same problem as OP. I keep getting the same error net::ERR_BLOCKED_BY_PRIVATE_NETWORK_ACCESS_CHECKS when trying to connect to hotel network and to a restaurant network that requires users to login (e.g., providing room number and last name). I can say that this was not a problem before the last update as I stayed at the same hotel and visited the same restaurant five days ago. I tried all settings (no VPN) and nothing seems to work. My wife's phone can connect without any issues.

alfred

BaragonS Are the connectivity checks on or off? Is the captive portal page loading?

BaragonS

alfred They are on. I tried with the grapheneOS server and with the standard Google option without any luck. The captive portal loads in the hotel, I am asked for my room number and last name. Then I get the error page about failing the checks. For the restaurant it is different. It loads something, displays the error page and then closes.

job_shredder69

I never turned off connectivity checks. I have been using the default Graphene server, and also used Google server but no dice. The captive portal page automatically pops up when I "sign in" to the network, but fails to resolve.

What's weird is that mall WiFi works, but airports and hotels do not.

alfred

job_shredder69 Does the sign in page let you put the code or credentials in?

BaragonS job_shredder69 That is strange. Have either of you tried setting the MAC address randomization to per-network or use device MAC? That may be something to try. It is sounding like it isn't authenticating the device for some reason.

Something that helped me in the past is setting MAC randomization to per-network, signing in, then disconnecting and reconnecting to the WiFi. I think the issue in that case was with the network.

WestQuester

I had the same issue in a Marriott. Try to sign into the wifi captive portal page and get an error page with the net::ERR_BLOCKED_BY_PRIVATE_NETWORK_ACCESS_CHECKS error. I do not have a VPN enabled.

I was eventually able to get on by pulling down to refresh the page. This at least loaded the sign-on page. Then I signed in with my Marriott login but when I clicked submit, it went back to the error page.

At that point I pressed the three-dots menu and selected to use the network as is and it worked after that.

job_shredder69

WestQuester
Selecting network as is did not work.

fid02
Disabling local network access in Vanadium did not work either.

mrtoo

WestQuester I had the same issue this weekend with Marriott. I connected as is then navigated to marriottwifi.com. Then it connected me. I also set MAC as randomized per network. But I have not figured out LA Fitness.

fid02

Can you try to temporarily set this flag to "disabled" in Vanadium and see if that resolves the issue with captive portals? chrome://flags/#local-network-access-check
(You can paste that address into the address bar).

gos8086238

I have also started seeing net::ERR_BLOCKED_BY_PRIVATE_NETWORK_ACCESS_CHECKS recently with some captive portals.

As fid02 mentions, this may be due to recent Local Network Access changes applied to Vanadium, which are described in the recent release notes for versions 137.0.7151.72.1 and 137.0.7151.72.2. Vanadium opted in early to these features.

There is a Chrome blog post about the broader plan for these changes.

job_shredder69 tested with the flag disabled. Has anyone else tried to disable the flag?

Andromxda

I found a workaround: You need to disconnect any VPN, etc. and turn off the "Always-on VPN" and "Block connections without VPN" settings. When the captive portal pops up, tap on "Use this network as is". Then you can go ahead and open some HTTP site in Vanadium, I always just use http://captive.apple.com because it's easy to remember. Then you should be redirected to the captive portal, and you should be able to interact with it normally. Completing the captive portal should establish a normal, working connection.
After that you can turn your VPN back on. I would set the MAC address randomization to per-network for Hotsplots until this issue gets fixed. Otherwise you're gonna have to do this every time you reconnect.

GrapheneOS

This is resolved by Vanadium Config 101 or later for the WebView-based captive portal app. This wasn't reported directly to us until today for the captive portal app which is why it wasn't resolved earlier.

job_shredder69

GrapheneOS I updated the config to the latest version, and tried connecting at San Francisco Airport and still shows unable to resolve.

Actions I took:
I tried disabling local network access in chrome://flags
Clear Vanadium's cache
Restart device
Switched connectivity to Google's

https://imgbox.com/2JIqVWqd