I just smashed my head against the wall for the n-th time trying to get a captive portal to work on my computer/smartphone. Every time I connect to a network which requires a captive portal, I spend good half an hour trying to figure out why the login browser disappear and how to get it back. Since I am right now waiting for CERN’s server to refresh configuration and allowing me to connect to the network, I thought I would write down a few tips on how to get captive portals to work.

What is a captive portal?

A captive portal is a web page that is displayed to newly connected users before they are granted broader access to network resources. It is often used in public Wi-Fi networks, such as those found in airports, hotels, and coffee shops, to present terms of service or to require users to log in or pay for access.

How to get captive portals to work?

Just connect to one of these links: http://captive.apple.com/ neverssl.com

There are more! So far these are fine. Cheers