Hello,
We've had a number of complaints from WiFi users that all of the MAX series (Transit, BR1, etc.) have issues getting the captive portal to pop up the splash page immediately after logging on to a WiFi network with the portal enabled. This seems to intermittently affect all makes and models of devices we've tested (laptops on Windows or Linux OS, Android Smartphones, and laptops, tablets and phones using iOS.) The feedback we've heard, is that the splash page does not automatically pop up and navigating to any other websites, IP addresses or domains, will time out with no portal splash page interception.
The workaround we've discovered is that if you close all web browsers and applications that need internet access on your device, and then open a fresh browser window and navigate to a site that is not blocked / filtered (yahoo.com, etc.) that seems to prompt the portal, and you will be intercepted by the splash page. In addition to this, sometimes a full-on reboot of the client's device is needed to make the splash page appear. This extra step is confusing to riders and we've had requests from customers to resolve this issue, so that the workaround is no longer needed.
Here is some feedback we have seen from our customers' riders:
I usually take the 8:38 AM bus from Issaquah, and return on the same physical bus at 4:20pm from Brazil.
The WiFi on the bus has a broken initial DNS implementation. There is an interstitital browser screen that must be clicked through to access the Internet. However, this interstitial page does not load quickly when using browsing using a domain name (ie, visiting www.amazon.com). However, if you put an IP address into the browser (ie, 8.8.8.8), the interstitial page comes up right away.
Please ask the vendor to fix their WiFi implementation. It’s not obvious to riders why the wifi does not immediately work when connected with the password.
And here's another one:
Good morning!
The ride (6:38 am) this morning from Issaquah went smoothly. However, the internet was not working. I was able to connect to the AmazonRide network but there was no internet connection. I kept receiving a message that a login using the browser is required. I opened up internet explorer but no web page can load because there was no internet. Please help in fixing this.
Thanks!
In both cases it was determined that the user was timing out on any website they visited, because they had not agreed to the T&C at the captive portal splash page, but the splash page was not automatically popping up for them, so they didn't know what to do.
I can provide diagnostic files, config files or particular units to inspect if needed. But honestly, just go set up a basic captive portal on any MAX Transit or BR1 and then connect on an iPhone or a Windows 7/8 laptop (it can happen on any device, but these two client configurations seem to have the most issues), you should have difficulty making the captive portal appear during a regular web surfing experience, especially if browser windows are already open and a current web browsing experience was in session before accessing the MAX wifi network with a portal in place.
Like I said, we already have a workaround, so we're really looking for a solution to this issue. Let me know if you need any more from our side, and please keep me updated as you look into this issue.
Thanks!
-Tyler