[SOLVED] Issues with university ResNet WiFi and captive portals

LSOwl · 2021-10-03 21:46:25

I've recently moved into a college dorm that uses ResNet for WiFi. The network I'm trying to connect to uses captive portals, but every time I'm redirected to the login page, my browser says that the IP address could not be found (I've tried this on Chrome and Firefox with the same results).

My Android phone connects to the WiFi just fine, so I used it to find the gateway address of the network. Typing this in on my computer yields "Your connection is not private" with the error "NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID". This is the exact error I get when I try to visit a website.

One last thing: the WiFi is very unpredictable as to when it works and when it doesn't. Sometimes, I can successfully use the network for minutes on end before being greeted with this error. After waiting for a few more minutes, the WiFi will work again. The amount of time I get in each situation varies (e.g. sometimes the WiFi will work for a couple minutes, other times it'll work for ~5 or even ~15 minutes).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Last edited by LSOwl (2021-10-06 16:25:32)

seth · 2021-10-04 15:40:39

Let's rule out conflicting services:

find /etc/systemd -type l -exec test -f {} \; -print | awk -F'/' '{ printf ("%-40s | %s\n", $(NF-0), $(NF-1)) }' | sort -f

Also check "ip a; ip r" when the IP can't be reached and specifically whether the gateway (if you have one) is in the same subnet as the captive portal.

LSOwl · 2021-10-06 01:38:42

Below is the output of the "find" command you gave.

bluetooth.service                        | bluetooth.target.wants
cups.path                                | multi-user.target.wants
cups.service                             | printer.target.wants
cups.socket                              | sockets.target.wants
dbus-org.bluez.service                   | system
dbus-org.freedesktop.network1.service    | system
dbus-org.freedesktop.nm-dispatcher.service | system
dbus-org.freedesktop.resolve1.service    | system
dbus-org.freedesktop.timesync1.service   | system
dirmngr.socket                           | sockets.target.wants
display-manager.service                  | system
getty@tty1.service                       | getty.target.wants
gpg-agent-browser.socket                 | sockets.target.wants
gpg-agent-extra.socket                   | sockets.target.wants
gpg-agent.socket                         | sockets.target.wants
gpg-agent-ssh.socket                     | sockets.target.wants
NetworkManager.service                   | multi-user.target.wants
NetworkManager-wait-online.service       | network-online.target.wants
ntpd.service                             | multi-user.target.wants
p11-kit-server.socket                    | sockets.target.wants
pamac-cleancache.timer                   | timers.target.wants
pipewire-media-session.service           | pipewire.service.wants
pipewire-session-manager.service         | user
pipewire.socket                          | sockets.target.wants
pulseaudio.socket                        | sockets.target.wants
remote-fs.target                         | multi-user.target.wants
snapd.socket                             | sockets.target.wants
systemd-networkd.service                 | multi-user.target.wants
systemd-networkd.socket                  | sockets.target.wants
systemd-networkd-wait-online.service     | network-online.target.wants
systemd-resolved.service                 | multi-user.target.wants
systemd-timesyncd.service                | sysinit.target.wants
var-lib-snapd-snap-core18-2074.mount     | multi-user.target.wants
var-lib-snapd-snap-discord-128.mount     | multi-user.target.wants
var-lib-snapd-snap-gnome\x2d3\x2d28\x2d1804-161.mount | multi-user.target.wants
var-lib-snapd-snap-gtk\x2dcommon\x2dthemes-1515.mount | multi-user.target.wants
var-lib-snapd-snap-snapd-12398.mount     | multi-user.target.wants
var-lib-snapd-snap-snapd-12704.mount     | multi-user.target.wants
xdg-user-dirs-update.service             | default.target.wants

Below is the output of "ip a; ip r".

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 30:c9:ab:b6:9b:c7 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 10.0.15.70/26 brd 10.0.15.127 scope global dynamic noprefixroute wlan0
       valid_lft 3224sec preferred_lft 3224sec
    inet 10.0.15.69/26 brd 10.0.15.127 scope global secondary dynamic noprefixroute wlan0
       valid_lft 3223sec preferred_lft 3223sec
    inet6 fe80::490f:910d:bf4a:8e29/64 scope link noprefixroute 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
default via 10.0.15.65 dev wlan0 proto dhcp metric 600 
10.0.15.64/26 dev wlan0 proto kernel scope link src 10.0.15.70 metric 600

10.0.15.65 is the IP that, upon typed into my browser, takes me to the captive portal login page. I'm not quite sure what the gateway IP would be, and therefore don't know if it is in the same subnet as the captive portal... Perhaps the output pasted above could help determine these things.

seth · 2021-10-06 06:26:06

NetworkManager.service                   | multi-user.target.wants
NetworkManager-wait-online.service       | network-online.target.wants
…
systemd-networkd.service                 | multi-user.target.wants
systemd-networkd.socket                  | sockets.target.wants
systemd-networkd-wait-online.service     | network-online.target.wants
systemd-resolved.service                 | multi-user.target.wants

You're concurrently running networkmanager and systemd-networkd. Pick one and disable the other. See whether the issue remains.

LSOwl · 2021-10-06 16:24:46

Disabling systemd-networkd and rebooting my computer fixed the issue. Thanks!

Arch Linux

#1 2021-10-03 21:46:25

[SOLVED] Issues with university ResNet WiFi and captive portals

#2 2021-10-04 15:40:39

Re: [SOLVED] Issues with university ResNet WiFi and captive portals

#3 2021-10-06 01:38:42

Re: [SOLVED] Issues with university ResNet WiFi and captive portals

#4 2021-10-06 06:26:06

Re: [SOLVED] Issues with university ResNet WiFi and captive portals

#5 2021-10-06 16:24:46

Re: [SOLVED] Issues with university ResNet WiFi and captive portals

Board footer