Wi-Fi connection partially working without being signed in to SSID

bob_a_builder

I wonder if anyone can throw any light on this situation ...

Mum lives in sheltered housing with wi-fi, she has an Android tablet which has been signed into the homes  wi-fi.
Everything working as expected for a year of so, she can make and receive Skype calls, view Google Photos etc. I can connect in to her using TeamViewer QuickSupport to do any support/handholding cases.

Now recently she is unable to receive/make skype calls ( unable to connect ) but CAN still view Google photos and I can still connect via TeamViewer

When I look at her screen I can see the Wi-Fi signal is connected  'cheese segment' in top right of screen is lit , but there is a small x against the wi-fii icon - so check the Settings and can see against the SSID entry that she is connected to,  it says "Sign in required" - clicking that link will take her to the wi-fi's sign in web page and we can enter the password  and the small 'x' again the icon goes away - Skype will now work as expected   

Whats confusing is that I am able to connect via TeamViewer ( so tablet still  has a wi-fi connection)  despite it reporting that  SSID sign in is still required
So there is a wi-fi connection despite the 'x'  but its not a 'full' connection until sign in is performed again  ? 
 Not come across that sort of thing before where you have half a wi-fi connection, normally its all or nothing !

So Mum ( at 95) can cope with the normal Skype use etc but getting her to keep having to log in is proving difficult. 

Something has changed, since this wasn't any issue for a year or so

Can anyone think of a possible setting on the tablet to have any effect on this ?

neilmcl

Is her tablet SIM enabled?

bob_a_builder

No - no sim option
Its a Lenovo M10

[Deleted User]

Sounds like the WIFI provider is using a web proxy so any requests for web pages - eg HTTP / HTTPS on port 80 or 443 are being redirected to the sign in page.

Skype needs port 443 so won't work until the sign in to the web proxy has been completed.

Team viewer doesn't use those ports, it uses 5938 so it will bypass the web proxy and still work without the sign in.

Google photos has probably cached or sync'd the photos on the device so won't require a connection, it might be a lower resolution copy of the image your mum is seeing, depends on how Google photos has been set up.

lammy82

This type of wi-fi system is called a captive portal. You can connect to the wi-fi without authenticating but then can supposedly only access the provider's login page until you sign in/pay. They often have little loopholes in them. I found that BT wi-fi in public areas will let you browse the BT website without paying for full internet.
So what you are describing is not unusual.

bob_a_builder

Just tried again this morning, and again it has logged her out - i.e the little x was then and prompted to sign in in the network setting as before 

Before I signed in to wi-fi  ( I was connected via Team Viewer) , I tried some other web pages and those all working fine without sign in to the homes wi-fi ( BBC, Facebook etc - all port 80 stuff) 

So this one seems to have quite a big hole in it !  - just annoying that it catches the main service she want to use which is Skype 

It didn't use to be a problem since it never logged her out

tehone

If browsing the web is okay, then you might find that using https://web.skype.com/ using their web version might only use port 80

bob_a_builder

Thanks for suggestion

Tried the web version - but that points you to using the app
The web.skype.com reports device is not supported  - only supported on chrome and edge ( not mobile versions)

[Deleted User]

bob_a_builder said:

Thanks for suggestion

Tried the web version - but that points you to using the app
The web.skype.com reports device is not supported  - only supported on chrome and edge ( not mobile versions)

Does the captive portal have any kind of option to stay logged in persistently?

The way these things work is the allow a particular MAC address access to the internet once the sign in page has been completed and usually that will be persistent for some time after that - not sure how long this portal grants access.

As for some websites working and not others is confusing, normal the captive portal intercepts traffic based on ports or traffic type and unless the MAC address of the device is on the "allowed" list it will redirect the request to the captive portal. Some work in different ways such as intercepting DNS requests, all depends on the type of portal but can't really understand why some web sites work and not others - sorry I can't help much more with this.

bob_a_builder

Thanks All
I'm sure it used to stay logged in before, so think something must have changed on the Admin side
Will probably have to bite the bullet and start talking to the home IT support people