This topic

Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

GGF — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 15:36:42 GMT

Hello BT community

As I need to take my laptop away from home, I have been trying to access a BT Wi-fi hotspot from my Windows 10 laptop. I get a 'connected, no internet' but I do not get the sign-in page on my browser so cannot login.

Are there some specific settings I need to apply?

I can access a BT Wi-fi hotspot from my Samsung phone and an old Samsung tablet and my husband can access the BT Wi-fi hotspot from his Windows 10 laptop.

Any thoughts, please?

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 15:44:08 GMT

@GGF

Its more likely to be an issue with the network settings on your laptop. BT Wifi should be designated as a public network and not a private one. Look at the properties of the connection, to see what its shown as.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4043043/windows-10-make-network-public-private

This page may also help https://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/internet/how-to-access-bt-wi-fi-using-your-laptop-11363938651303#:~:text=Finding%20the%20landing%20page&text=BT%20Wi%2Dfi%20networks%20include,the%20below%20log%2Din%20page.

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

GGF — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 16:23:29 GMT

Thanks so much for the quick response, Keith, I have checked and BT Wi-fi is shown as a PUBLIC network.

When I connected to BT Wi-Fi I can see the status says 'Open, not connected to internet'.

When I open a browser session and key in www.btwifi.com, I get the 'no internet message', so I can't login.

I'm really stumped!

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 16:31:45 GMT

Can you make sure that you do not have any saved connections with the BTWifi name?

Delete any entries you see, even the one you are trying to connect to, then try to connect again, so you only see the single one showing as connected.

Because they all have the same SSID, Windows, and even other devices, can get confused, especially if they are configured to automatically connect to open networks, which is a bad idea.

I have seen multiple connections stored on Android phones, where they have been setup to connect automatically.

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

GGF — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 16:59:25 GMT

Thanks again, Keith, I have looked through my 'known' networks and 'forgot' all BT Wi-fi, BT Wi-fi- X, BT Wi-Fi-with-FON (there were 4).

I then turned off Wi-Fi and turned it on again and got 3 networks, BT Wi-Fi, BT WiFi-X and my Home Hub with only

BT Wi-fi shown as open.

I connected again, but still get the status 'no internet' - so cannot access the BT landing page. (Message flashes up saying 'DNS address could not be found' and then the 'no internet' message.

I know there are hotspots around as I can get onto them from every other device I have 😞 so I think I will have to try and find another way round my problem when I am away from home.

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 18:41:16 GMT

It could be that the hotspot you are connected to, is not working properly?

If its your own home hub, then try restarting it, then try again. A factory reset of the home hub, is another option.

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

GGF — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 20:33:05 GMT

Thanks again, it is so kind of you to assist, Keith.

I am trying to connect to a BT Wi-fi hotspot so not using my Home Hub at all. I can definitely get to a hotspot (and BT login screen) from my tablet and phone. I've done a quick check on the web and one recommendation was to flush the DNS and restart my laptop, which I have just tried.......but sadly with no success.

I suspect your first thought - regarding the settings on my laptop - is the most likely. I also have Avast Antivirus running and I wonder if that is an issue.

Any further suggestions gratefully received.

Thanks again, Keith.

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 21:01:29 GMT

Anti Virus would most likely cause a problem, as initial connection and authentication is done via a non-standard port, which may be blocked by Avast. You may be able to see the redirect if you look at the address bar.

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

GGF — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 21:07:03 GMT

Not sure I understand your last sentence.....'you may be able to see the redirect if you look at the address bar'?

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 21:26:15 GMT

@GGF wrote:
Not sure I understand your last sentence.....'you may be able to see the redirect if you look at the address bar'?

What you may see is a redirected web address on the address bar, with a colon on the end, followed by a port number. I cannot remember which port number it is at the moment (now see below) , but Avast may be blocking it. Try disabling Avast.

I do not have a BT Wifi signal nearby that I can check for you, as I am using a TP Link router, not a BT Home Hub.

Edit:- This is it.

Once connected, launch an internet browser (like Internet Explorer or Google Chrome)
This should load the BT Wi-fi landing page automatically. If it doesn't, go to https://www.btwifi.com:8443

From this website https://www.bt.com/help/broadband/fix-a-problem/public-bt-wi-fi-hotspots/how-do-i-connect-to-a-bt-wi-fi-hotspot-with-my-laptop-

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

GGF — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 21:52:21 GMT

Thanks, Keith, I'll give that a go and report back.

Thanks again!

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

GGF — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 19:21:40 GMT

Sadly this has not worked.
I turned the Avast shields off and then tried to connect - the status for the connection was the same - 'Connected, no internet', I did not get the BT Wifi landing page when I put https://www.btwifi.com:8443 in the browser, just got a
'Page not found' from BT.
I still suspect something on my laptop is stopping the connection but I am not sure what.
It is not a critical problem as I can sign into secured wi-fi services but I would like to fix it if I can.
Thanks again for your help, Keith.
I got a message

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 19:36:14 GMT

Can you make sure that your laptop`s wireless network settings are configured to get its settings automatically, and you have not manually configured them, as BT Wifi uses a private address range starting withe 10.xxx.xxx.xxx and not 192.168.1.xx.

If it is set to a static IP address, or you have something else like a firewall which is blocking that range, then you will not get a connection.

I am wondering if you have any additional firewalls installed, or whether the Windows 10 firewall setting for a public network is configured incorrectly?

You can in fact reset the Windows firewall to default settings, which may help.

It still looks like an issue with the laptop, and I suspect its blocking the 10.xxx.xxx.xxx subnet, or you have configured a static IP address on the wireless network.

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

GGF — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 21:55:03 GMT

How do I check this, Keith?

Is this the 'Proxy' setting? I have the automatic Proxy setting as 'on' and the manual Proxy setting as 'off'.

When I connect via BT Wi-fi, I get an IPv4 address as 100.xx.xxx.xxx

Is this correct?

Thanks, Keith.

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

Keith_Beddoe — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 06:08:19 GMT

Its not the proxy setting, its the IP address.

100.xx.xxx.xxx is not correct it should be from 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255

The range you are getting is a special range which is only used on mobile broadband connections.

A special range 100.64.0.0 to 100.127.255.255 with a 255.192.0.0 or /10 network mask; this subnet is recommended according to rfc6598 for use as an address pool for CGN (Carrier-Grade NAT) used on mobile networks.

That seems to indicate that you are not actually connecting to BT Wifi, but to a signal transmitted by a mobile hotspot, or a 4G BT Mini hub.

Either that, or your computer is double NATing your connection.

As you can see, its the IPv4 address range that your computer is getting, which is the issue.

As to what is causing this, its not possible for me to determine that from here.

Are you sure you are not using a VPN, as that will cause the same problem?

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

GGF — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 08:14:46 GMT

Interesting.....

I can connect to the BTWi-fi service with no problem from my Samsung mobile and gets the BT Wi-fi logon screen .....IPv4 address is 100.89.xxx.xxx.

My husband's Windows laptop connects to the BT BTWi-fi service and gets the BT Wi-fi logon screen - IPv4 address is 100.89.xxx.xxx.

My laptop connects to the BT BTWi-fi service but does not get BT Wi-fi logon screen - IPv4 address is also 100.89.xxx.xxx.

So this points again to my laptop.

I do not have any VPNs but one was set up from my laptop for work (now deleted ), so I will see if I can get in touch with the IT Services team who set it up to see if they changed any settings.

Thanks again, Keith.

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

Keith_Beddoe — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 08:45:01 GMT

That is interesting, as the last time I looked at BT Wifi it used the 10 subnet. That was a long time ago now.

I do know there were issues with people who needed to change the subnet on the home hubs to avoid a clash with their works VPN, and the 10 subnet was reserved on the home hubs, so it was not possible for them to use it.

Based on what you have said, I assume that BT have changed the private address range for BT Wifi, to overcome this issue, as the 100 subnet would not be used within an organisation.

That is something I will have to remember for the future, but I wonder if BT have updated the configuration file on some of the older home hubs?

As for the reason that your laptop will not connect, I think its going to have to be investigated by your IT services team, as I cannot really suggest anything else.

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

GGF — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 08:56:58 GMT

So grateful for all your help, Keith.
IF I get a solution, I will post it!
Thanks again.

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

GGF — Sun, 06 Sep 2020 08:22:53 GMT

Keith

Just to close the loop, with some guidance from a local IT services supplier, I re-installed the wi-fi adapter on my laptop and everything sparked into life 🙂 :-).

I'm hoping to try it later in a different venue - so fingers crossed.

Thanks so much for all your assistance.

Re: Access BT Wi-fi from windows 10 laptop

Keith_Beddoe — Sun, 06 Sep 2020 08:25:13 GMT

That does sound hopeful 😀