Captive Portal Not Showing — Fix It

The most common issue when deploying a captive portal is guests not being redirected to the splash page. Here are the causes and fixes, in order of likelihood.

Why captive portals don’t show

1. Device has cached the network as trusted (most common)

iPhones, Android phones and Windows laptops remember previously trusted networks. If a device has connected to your SSID before without a portal, it may not trigger the portal redirect.

Fix: Have the guest "forget" the network on their device and reconnect. For testing, use a device that has never connected to this SSID.

2. Walled garden not configured correctly

The captive portal page (telexicoconnect.com) must be accessible before the guest has authenticated. If it’s not in the walled garden / pre-auth whitelist, the browser can’t load the portal.

Fix: Add telexicoconnect.com and formspree.io to your access point’s walled garden or pre-authorisation whitelist. On UniFi: Settings → Guest Control → Pre-Authorization Access. On Omada: SSID → Portal → Walled Garden.

3. HTTPS detection probe blocked

Modern devices (iOS, Android, Windows) send an HTTP probe to a known endpoint to detect whether a captive portal is present. If this probe is blocked or returns an incorrect response, the device thinks it has full internet access and never shows the portal pop-up.

Fix: Ensure your access point is intercepting HTTP (port 80) traffic. The probe endpoint is typically http://connectivitycheck.gstatic.com (Android) or http://captive.apple.com (iOS). Do not redirect these to HTTPS.

4. Portal URL is HTTPS and redirecting HTTP

The initial captive portal redirect must be HTTP (not HTTPS). If your access point redirects to https://, many devices will show a security error or fail silently instead of showing the portal.

Fix: Configure the access point to redirect to http:// first. The portal page itself can then use HTTPS for the form submission.

5. DNS resolution failing pre-auth

If the device cannot resolve the captive portal domain before authentication, it cannot load the page.

Fix: Ensure your access point allows DNS queries to resolve to the portal domain in the pre-auth state. Most access points do this automatically when walled garden is correctly configured.

6. MAC address already authorised

If the device connected and authenticated previously, its MAC may still be in the authorised list with a long timeout. The portal won’t show until the session expires.

Fix: In your access point controller, find the device’s MAC in the authorised client list and deauthorise it. On UniFi: Clients → find device → Unauthorize.

7. Hardware-specific configuration issue

Some access points require specific firmware versions or settings for external portal redirect. See the Telexico Connect setup guides for your specific hardware: UniFi · Omada · Grandstream.

Testing the portal is working

1. Use a device that has never connected to this SSID before
2. On iPhone: Settings → WiFi → connect → portal should auto-open in a pop-up browser
3. On Android: notification "Sign in to network" appears — tap it
4. On laptop: browser should automatically redirect to portal URL when you open any HTTP page

Still not working?

Contact the Telexico Connect support team with your access point model, firmware version and a description of what happens when you try to connect. We can diagnose most captive portal issues remotely.