[SOLVED] Can't connect to hotel wifi (unencrypted network)

jones · 2018-09-12 20:09:54

Sitting in a hotel and I received these papers with a username and a password for an (actually) unencrypted wifi network.
I can't for the life figure out which way I should edit the according configuration file:

$ sudo geany /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-hotel.conf
network={
	ssid="mycloud"
	scan_ssid=1
	proto=RSN
	key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
	pairwise=CCMP
	identity="USERNAME"
	password="PASSWORD"
}

and the same code, except no line starting with password... , but then with the psk string generated via wpa_passphrase "SSID" "password" (without the quotes) instead.

I had ran sudo iw dev wlp3s0 scan beforehand and between lots and lots of output, I found:

RSN:	 * Version: 1
		 * Group cipher: CCMP
		 * Pairwise ciphers: CCMP
		 * Authentication suites: PSK
		 * Capabilities: 1-PTKSA-RC 1-GTKSA-RC (0x0000)

The full output is here: https://pastebin.com/jHD8Ztsh

Any advice on what to improve?

EDIT
Because on the scan output I was under the impression that the network was encrypted.
After twelveeighty's post I checked the network again (looking at its details on my smartphone which had connected), I read that it was in fact unencrypted, hence the edited and now correct thread title.

Last edited by jones (2018-09-13 16:33:22)

loqs · 2018-09-12 20:30:05

Did they provide you with three pieces of information SSID, username and password or just username and password? In the later case I would interpret username to be SSID and password to be the PSK.

twelveeighty · 2018-09-13 04:27:54

This may depend on what part of the world you are, but if you are in North America, it's possible you should not be looking for a WPA2 access point at all, but that the provided username and password are to log into the captive portal after you connect to the open hotel Wifi (typically listed with a SSID similar to the hotel chain you are staying at) . Are you sure you are looking for an encrypted network?

jones · 2018-09-13 16:11:12

@loqs
It was 3 pieces: SSID, username and password, but actually, twelveeighty was spot on.

twelveeighty wrote:

This may depend on what part of the world you are, but if you are in North America, it's possible you should not be looking for a WPA2 access point at all, but that the provided username and password are to log into the captive portal after you connect to the open hotel Wifi (typically listed with a SSID similar to the hotel chain you are staying at) . Are you sure you are looking for an encrypted network?

Huh, you are right. Although I did the scan command, my smartphone (for which I received a different username + password combination) shows it's a non-encrypted connection.
You are also right about that "captive portal" which popped up as a notification to be selected on my smartphone after I switched on Wifi.

Ok, on to attemping further config variants...

edit:
Also not working is

network={
	ssid="mycloud"
	proto=WPA
	key_mgmt=WPA-NONE
	pairwise=NONE
	group=CCMP
	identity="MY_IDENTITY"
	psk=THE_Generated_PSK
}

Last edited by jones (2018-09-13 16:16:40)

V1del · 2018-09-13 16:17:32

If that is the case your config should connect without an identity (and without a encryption method, and without a passphrase etc.). If you attempt to access the internet (with a browser) afterwards, you will be redirected to a captive portal where you can enter your credentials.

Last edited by V1del (2018-09-13 16:18:20)

jones · 2018-09-13 16:30:00

V1del wrote:

If that is the case your config should connect without an identity (and without a encryption method, and without a passphrase etc.). If you attempt to access the internet (with a browser) afterwards, you will be redirected to a captive portal where you can enter your credentials.

That worked and had a loosely related unix.stackexchange.com read on that actually... something from a debian user.

Thank you

SOLUTION
The config file:

network={
	ssid="mycloud"	
	key_mgmt=NONE
	pairwise=NONE
}

Browsing to a page in FF brought up a certificate warning. I then clicked on "more info", then FF showed another blue button for logging onto the wifi network and that was it.

Last edited by jones (2018-09-13 16:37:23)

brebs · 2018-09-13 18:13:27

Why do you bother specifying key_mgmt and pairwise? Should be autodetected by wpa_supplicant.

jones · 2018-09-13 19:11:14

Rather safe than sorry.

Read this and as far as I can tell, it would default to useless and hindering values:

key_mgmt
List of acceptable key management protocols; one or more of:
WPA-PSK (WPA pre-shared key), WPA-EAP (WPA using EAP authentica-
tion), IEEE8021X (IEEE 802.1x using EAP authentication and,
optionally, dynamically generated WEP keys), NONE (plaintext or
static WEP keys). If not set this defaults to "WPA-PSK WPA-EAP".
[...]
[...]
pairwise
List of acceptable pairwise (unicast) ciphers for WPA; one or
more of: CCMP (AES in Counter mode with CBC-MAC, RFC 3610, IEEE
802.11i/D7.0), TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol, IEEE
802.11i/D7.0), NONE (deprecated). If not set this defaults to
"CCMP TKIP".

Arch Linux

#1 2018-09-12 20:09:54

[SOLVED] Can't connect to hotel wifi (unencrypted network)

#2 2018-09-12 20:30:05

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to hotel wifi (unencrypted network)

#3 2018-09-13 04:27:54

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to hotel wifi (unencrypted network)

#4 2018-09-13 16:11:12

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to hotel wifi (unencrypted network)

#5 2018-09-13 16:17:32

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to hotel wifi (unencrypted network)

#6 2018-09-13 16:30:00

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to hotel wifi (unencrypted network)

#7 2018-09-13 18:13:27

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to hotel wifi (unencrypted network)

#8 2018-09-13 19:11:14

Re: [SOLVED] Can't connect to hotel wifi (unencrypted network)

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