iOS 16.5 and Public WiFi with Captive Portal

The portal issues appear to have been fixed on 16.6.

On older version to force the portal page try the following:

1. Make sure Carrier Data is turned off (LTE/5G)
2. Connect to the WIFI / WLAN
3. Open safari and go to the following "1.1.1.1"
4. You will get an question prompt asking you to continue without internet - hit yes
5. The Captive Poral Page will be forced

Please see the pic below to make it clearer that Hotspot is enabled by a Carrier on one SIM and not by the other Carrier in the same iPhone (Dual SIM).

Use these steps first

Restart the iPhone or iPad that provides Personal Hotspot and the other device that needs to connect to Personal Hotspot. Make sure that you have the latest version of iOS. On the iPhone or iPad that provides Personal Hotspot, go to Settings > General > Reset, then tap Reset Network Settings.

If Personal Hotspot is not working on your iPhone or iPad (Wi-Fi

Also, check the following

1. Network coverage and stability
2. Data Balance
3. On your windows (See if WiFi Auto Joins is enabled)
4. Also, check if you have any stronger WiFi signal around your computer.

Ask the Carrier to change the SIM if nothing works.

I'm seeing the same thing since updating to iOS 16.5. The connection will show "no internet" for a while. It takes about 50 seconds, and then a captive portal will pop up. Before updating to 16.5, the captive portal would display right away when trying to connect to a public network using a portal. I can verify it's not the network/portal causing the issue by having a second iPhone on a previous OS connecting to the same public/guest network. It brings up the portal immediately for connecting. Seems to be something specific to iOS 16.5.

There can be several reasons why you might be having trouble connecting your iPhone to a public Wi-Fi network. Here are some common issues and their possible solutions:

1. Many public Wi-Fi networks use a captive portal, which is a web page that requires you to sign in or accept terms and conditions before gaining access to the internet. When connecting to a public Wi-Fi network, open a web browser and try to access any website. If the captive portal page doesn't automatically appear, you may need to manually enter the captive portal's address or follow any instructions provided.
2. Make sure you are within range of the public Wi-Fi network. If you're too far away, the signal strength might be weak, causing connection issues. Try moving closer to the Wi-Fi hotspot to improve the signal strength.
3. Public Wi-Fi networks can sometimes become overloaded with too many users, which can result in slow or unreliable connections. If the network is congested, you may experience difficulties connecting or maintaining a stable connection. In such cases, consider connecting to a different network or trying again later when the network usage is lower.
4. Double-check that you are entering the correct password for the public Wi-Fi network. If you're unsure, try asking someone from the location or establishment offering the Wi-Fi for the correct password.
5. Public Wi-Fi networks often have certain security measures in place, such as requiring a VPN connection or specific security protocols. Ensure that your iPhone's settings match the requirements of the network you're trying to connect to. For example, some networks may require WPA2 or WPA3 security, while others may only support older protocols like WEP.
6. Sometimes, the problem may lie with the Wi-Fi network itself. It could be experiencing technical difficulties, such as router malfunctions or network outages. In such cases, there isn't much you can do except wait for the network to be restored or try connecting to a different network.

If you've tried the above steps and are still unable to connect, it may be helpful to contact the network administrator or the establishment providing the public Wi-Fi for further assistance.

This seems to be a known issue with the new iOS update Until Apple releases a fix, the below workaround will work. You can try opening a browser and any non-HTTPS URL like airport.us to bring the captive portal.

Hope it helps.

This is still happening with IpadOS 17.2 - the iPad will associate to the WiFi correctly, and obtain a DHCP lease, but because it can’t ping something on the internet from behind the captive portal, safari will never get the memo that it’s connected and it won’t even attempt to load the captive portal page.

I am sure that somewhere this design made sense to be “helpful” to end users, but it’s mildly infuriating when it only gets in the way of trying to connect. Meanwhile, I’m connected and able to access the captive portal from my iPhone sitting a few inches away. So this seems to be an iPad-specific problem. Disabling private MAC doesn’t help.

it’s also highly annoying when it tries to be “helpful” in this manner when connecting to a WiFi network that has no intention of providing internet, such as for IOT and device control.

at the very least, give the user the ability to turn this nonsense off. Or let us identify networks that require captive portals or that don’t provide internet.

Did you try: Connect to Wi-Fi on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Hotspot that the user is referencing is a technical term used in Networking called Hotspot-Wispr or captive portal. Its not to share Mobile Data over local hotspot.