Macbook Air and iBahn problem -- can't get to the log-in page

Question

Macbook Air and iBahn problem -- can't get to the log-in page

This is a new Air (2012) running Mountain Lion 10.8.2. The location is a Sheraton hotel that uses iBahn for Internet service. I can connect to the wifi network "iBahn," and the Network preference panel shows that my Mac has been successfully assigned an ip number. I click the advanced tab and confirm that iBahn's DNS servers are now listed there. But when I open the browser and try to connect, I cannot get the hotel log-in page. I get a blank window instead. Reloading the window does not help. I have tried the usual remedies: turning wifi off and then back on again, requesting a new DHCP lease, closing and reopening the browser, trying different browsers (Firefox, Chrome), restarting the computer -- none of this works. I have tried shutting down the Mac, restarting, and signing in to a different account on the computer. The symptoms are the same -- a blank page instead of a log-in screen. I have had no trouble connecting with several other wifi networks elsewhere -- including ones that require a browser log-in page. Later the same morning, the wifi at the airport worked just fine.

Here is where it gets even weirder. I happened to have a second Mac Air with me -- a 2010 model. It logged on to the hotel network with no problems: I opened the browser and the log-in page immediately appeared.

And weirder: There was also an ethernet cable in the room. When I plugged that into the 2012 Air (with a USB-ethernet adaptor) I could connect with no problem. Finally, I found that I can plug an Airport Express into the ethernet cable and the 2012 Air will connect wirelessly through that.

What could be wrong here? I assume that iBahn works by obtaining and registering a machine's MAC address. Using wifi, Ibahn was able to get the MAC address from the older 2010 Air and from the Airport Express, but not from the 2012 Air. But the 2012 Air could provide its MAC address through a wired connection. Any advice would be most appreciated. Though I was able to come up with a workaround, I want to ensure that this doesn’t happen elsewhere.

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Feb 8, 2013 10:09 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

xnav

Level 5

7,089 points

Feb 8, 2013 2:55 PM in response to George Johnson

Is the page really blank. Safari>Preferences>Advanced, check the box for 'Show Develop menu in menu bar'.

Then Safari>Develop>ShowPageSource.

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Answer 2

Feb 8, 2013 3:19 PM in response to xnav

That's a good question. The page appeared to be blank. I didn't know it was possible to enact the page source view feature in Mountain Lion. That is good to know for the future -- thanks.

An additional bit of information: a Windows laptop was also able to connect. I wonder if something changed in the Apple wifi firmfare that is incompatible with iBahn.

Interestingly, similar problems are reported in these forums for iPads and iBahn. And FlyerTalk has a thread about Apple laptops and iBahn: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marriott-rewards-including-ritz-carlton/1228814-i bahn-aggravation.html

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Answer 3

Feb 9, 2013 5:45 PM in response to George Johnson

I received an email from iBahn support confirming that they do have an issue with ios and iPads. But they were not aware of a problem with Mountain Lion and Macbook Airs. This has led me to wonder whether there is something about the wifi hardware or firmware in ios devices that is the same as in the newest Airs -- since my older Air connected fine. (Just to clarify -- I don't actually travel with multiple laptops. I was dropping off a colleague -- the owner of the 2012 Air -- at the hotel for a flight the next day.)

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Answer 4

Feb 19, 2013 5:27 PM in response to George Johnson

I had the same problem with a 2012 Macbook Air at the Marriott Executive Apartments in Bangkok. I could not get to a login page - it would either hang or return an http error. The hotel put me through to iBahn support. The first person that I spoke with said she could see my computer attempting to connect by the wi-fi address. She said that she could enter the access code for me. She did this & told me that I was now logged in. I was still unable to access the internet. She connected me to another support engineer. He had me refresh the ip address, and I was then able to connect. The access code was valid for one week, and the wi-fi connection was automatically establish when the machine was rebooted.

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Answer 5

Vietto

Level 1

0 points

May 30, 2014 2:13 PM in response to George Johnson

We had the same problem and got assistance from ibahn. They had us, on the device that did work, go to irm.ibahn.com and find the "Group ID" (a 6-digit code) and then, on the device that was having trouble, go to ibahn.com and enter that code. Voila--wifi on both machines.

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