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How to stop the wifi pop-up window?

Lion 10.7.1:


When my MBP boots or wakes up, if its in range of a wireless network, I'll get a pop up browser window asking if I want to join it - even if my browser's not running. Being a pop-up, this isn't a full browser window and so doesn't contain my 1Password extension button, so its pretty annoying.


Is there a way to turn this pop-up window off?


Thx

MacBook Pro 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.7), 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3

Posted on Sep 5, 2011 1:38 AM

Reply
37 replies

Nov 21, 2011 8:46 AM in response to softwater

Hey, I'm replying to this directly under the post here since now we know. The solution (tested in OS X 10.7.1):

1) Open System/Library/CoreServices/

2) Zip Captive Network Assistant.app

3) Move the resulting Zip file to someplace convienient. (such as your documents folder or make a folder such as ~/System Components/ just in case a later update break it)

3) Delete the Captive Network Assistant.app


Now the dialog box will no longer pop up because the CNA will not be able ot be run. If someone knows a way to simply disable the triggering of this app on an account by account basis or a global basis, then post it here. Thanks.

Nov 24, 2011 10:30 AM in response to softwater

Hey,


I'm having the opposite problem. How can I force the captive network assistant if it doesn't appear when required? Safari just gives me the new stylized "you are not connected to the Internet" page, and the wifi icon in the taskbar just tells me Alert: No Internet Connection.


Bah! Abou 1/4 of the time the login window appears, but the rest o the time I'm left to working on my phone (like now).

Trying to log in to a Aruba-networks portal, if that helps

Oct 4, 2012 9:44 PM in response to Shahin

Shahin wrote:


And BTW, the issue is fixed in Mt. Lion.


No the issue persists in Mountain Lion and the solutions remains the same as that which Michael gave earlier. Rather than copying and moving the app, though, one could simply rename it and put an X in front of its name.


X Captive Network Assistant


That should stop it running and make it easy to reenable if you choose to at a later date (just rename it by removing the 'X ').

Oct 18, 2012 4:07 PM in response to softwater

Thanks for the tip....Just to add my 2 cents my main issue with the CNA is that it ***does not keep any cookies and remember login data***


The wireless network at my school will remember your login credentals for 7 days, but only if I login from my browser. It got really annoying having to retype my password every time I opened my computer when I didn't have to in 10.6

Oct 19, 2012 12:54 AM in response to Michael Ruiz2

Hi,


I am facing the same issue on my iphone. Whenever I switch on my iphone's wifi and it joins my home network (which requires a sign in via a browser), it automatically opens a login browser and goes to www.apple.com and there is no way to change the address. Then, when I close this browser, it automatically disconnects me from the wifi and if I reconnect, it puts me back onto the same browser. Basically, I have to use another device to login to WiFi and only after that, does the iphone connect up.


Any solutions??

Oct 19, 2012 9:16 AM in response to softwater

So this is the solution:


1. First go to

[Hard Disk] > System > Library > CoreServices > Captive Network Assistant.app

Click on the app once, and hit ‘return’ on your keyboard. This will make the name editable.

2. Hit the ‘left arrow’ key once to move the cursor to the beginning of the name and to unselect the text.

3. Type an ‘X’ (actually any letter will do, but I like ‘X’ so I can easily find the app later at the bottom of the list even if I forgot its exact name).

4. Hit ‘return’ on the keyboard. At this point, OS X will ask you to provide an Admin password as only Admin users are allowed to mess with files in the System directory. Type in your password and hit ‘OK’.

The name should now read ‘XCaptive Network Assistant.app’.

And that’s it! Captive Network Assistant will never run again unless you decide to change its name back to what it was (to do so, just repeat the procedure above and remove the ‘X’).

Mar 19, 2014 5:32 PM in response to softwater

I have the same problem. It started when my institution changed to a different service provided. There is a public spot nearby and I used it while disconnected. When the new connection was up, the Safari pop-up showing Apple's "um it looks like the page you're looking for..." started coming up regularly in 5 min intervals. I am connected to the Internet and not looking for any page! I tried everything from resetting Airport Extreme, replacing it with Airport Express, resetting Safari... Short of erasing everything in my computer nothing worked, except connecting to Internet via Ethernet. If I use WiFi the pop-up window starts as soon as an Internet connection is established. This also happens if I bring my laptop and connect via WiFi in my office. I'm now going to experiment with some of the suggestions above, but still I wanted to post this in case someone might have an answer for me.

How to stop the wifi pop-up window?

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