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User profile for user: coryA
coryA Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Solved: Why captive portal won’t connect.

currently on Version 12.3.1 Monterey also tested on Sierra



When connecting to a public wifi that uses captive.portal.com to connect to the portal I got the following message.


”Could not connect”


safari can’t find server


safari can’t open page “https://captive.portal.com” because Safari can’t find the server “captive.portal.com”


Solution 1: Remove all hard coded DNS Servers from (System Preferences—-> Network ——-> Wifi Connection ——> Advanced ——> DNS)


Solution 2: Wipe all cookies and Website data from within the time you got the message.


Solution 3: Disconnect and reconnect to the wifi


Solution 4: Open a safari browser and navigate to the FQDN of the portal.

if it presents success you are now on, if it does not please see solution 1


hope that helps as the last existing thread did not do much for me.

MacBook Pro

Posted on Aug 15, 2022 9:16 AM

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User profile for user: coryA
coryA Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Posted on Aug 15, 2022 9:22 AM

A little history on what name resolution is, it is when a computer translates a number called an IP address to a name.

That is known as Domain Name Service but it referred to as a Domain Name Server (DNS) for short which usually is set to dynamic when completing a connection to a portal.


However static connections have no real domain resolution sitting behind a portal as they go nowhere.


That is why we need dynamic DNS setup which is mentioned in solution 1

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User profile for user: coryA
coryA Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Aug 15, 2022 9:22 AM in response to coryA

A little history on what name resolution is, it is when a computer translates a number called an IP address to a name.

That is known as Domain Name Service but it referred to as a Domain Name Server (DNS) for short which usually is set to dynamic when completing a connection to a portal.


However static connections have no real domain resolution sitting behind a portal as they go nowhere.


That is why we need dynamic DNS setup which is mentioned in solution 1

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Solved: Why captive portal won’t connect.

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