com.android.captiveportallogin | What is captive portal login | How to Fix

So, we’re going to discuss about what is com.android.captiveportallogin and How to Fix error com.android.captiveportallogin keeps stopping . The Internet has been connecting people all around the globe. For the modern generation, it is impossible to spend even an hour without the Internet. Every element on earth has some pros or cons, the internet being no exception. However, the pros weigh out the cons. Talking about the pros of the Internet, it’s an unending list; the most important being e-learning.

The Internet brings the entire world of knowledge into your hands. Surfing on different topics gives you all the information on that topic. Social media has taken the entire globe aback – it helps people stay connected with each other even if they’re sitting at opposite poles of the earth! Social media is successful in creating complete online communities for creation and sharing of information.

These days, social media addicts are around everywhere. According to a survey report, every 1 out of 8 people is a social media addict. The number is going to achieve a bigger height as time goes on. These are some of the reasons why it is almost impossible for us to stay without the internet, even for an hour. Also, we require internet at every place we go.

Now, let’s look into a situation where you use home Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet. In other words, your android device isn’t independent and lacks Mobile data. You have to travel through flight. You reached the airport, and you need access to the Internet urgently, but shush – your device doesn’t have its own mobile data. Nonetheless you need access to the Airport Wi-Fi. This is where the captive portal login comes into play.

What is com.android.captiveportallogin?

• com.android.captiveportallogin is made up of the term “Captive portal login.” It is a built-in process for performing authentication to open or free Wi-Fi networks. Roughly speaking, com.android.captiveportallogin is a built-in package in android. Basically this is the convention of naming packages.
• For example, the Airport Wi-Fi is free to use, but then you see that it shows “Sign in to network”. This means that you need to sign in and accept their terms to connect to the network.

• On clicking the Sign in notification, you are redirected to the captive portal login web page. Here, you have to enter your information and accept the terms and conditions to use the network.

• Captive portal login is basically a web page. You just need to input your information, accept the terms and conditions that are shown there. Then you sign in to get access to the internet. Mostly, this system is used in hotels, airports, coffee shops, and other places that offer free Wi-Fi. Another use of captive portal login is that, it is used to block a user’s access to the internet until he enters the required information correctly. In some captive portals, we get to see advertisements from sponsors. Evidently, they sponsor the providers. You have to close them in order to reach your desired destination or web page. The others require you to enter pre-assigned credentials (user ID and password).

• Captive portal login pages may also require you to carry out payment, or accept an end-user license agreement. Some also offers to complete a survey. It will require you to agree to other terms which the host adheres by, to give you access to the network.

What is the purpose of com.android.captiveportallogin?

The com.android.captiveportallogin page creates a bar between criminals and using public open networks for criminal activities. To protect your computer or android device from the Internet, the captive portal login servers mostly have a firewall. They may also have certain antivirus programs installed. They block potential hackers and attackers from intercepting the network and stealing your data. Ever thought, why it is forbidden to do bank transactions or other such stuffs through public open network? The answer is, all open networks are not authenticated by captive portal login. That is why there is a good chance of attackers to intercept the network. This way, they can steal your card details and other things like your demographic data easily.

There also remains a problem of “bandwidth hogging”, when we talk about public or open Wi-Fi networks. You alone are not using the network. There are thousands or maybe tens of thousands of other people in the airport who are connected to the network. All of them are trying to access the internet at the same time. They are probably attempting to download large files (be it some audio, video or text). Captive portal login minimizes the bandwidth hogging.

If you know some programming, you can play with the download speed. The number of downloads at a single go can be restricted. It’s also possible to block websites that unnecessarily download large files in your device.

Who can connect through com.android.captiveportallogin?

In the ground level, three states of clients generally connect through captive portal login, viz.

• Unknown: The captive portal will basically not redirect the HTTP traffic to switch, if the client connecting to the network is identified Unknown. It will ask the switch for information on whether the user is authenticated or not.
• Unauthenticated: The HTTP traffic is redirected to the switch when the client connects in unauthenticated state. Once the client is authorized, all the traffic generated by him gets passed on through the switch.
• Authenticated

Problems with Internet blocked due to Captive Portal

• The com.android.captiveportallogin is not an error but it is a built in process for android to authenticate open public networks.
• Sometimes, there are breaks in the system. If your computer is set to use a custom DNS server, problems are caused by captive portals at network level. Here, you as a user can do nothing about it.
• Again, let’s say you are using VPN (Virtual Private Network) to anonymize your IP and browse privately using public networks (which is recommended and you should of course do). Then, there is a fair chance that you won’t be able to connect to a network behind the captive portal.

Fixing Internet blocked problems:

• First and the foremost, if you are in an airport or hotel, you need to enter the required credential (user ID and password) and accept the terms and conditions in order to be able to connect to their Wi-Fi. Knowing the credentials from the authority is a way out. On successful login, you will have access to the network.
• If you don’t see the captive portal login page come up, you may first try closing all open tabs in your browser and start browsing from a brand new tab. Captive portal login pages get confused if you have a https:// (site with a secured certificate) open. Try to visit some http:// website, which may trigger the captive portal.

Learn also: Internet May Not Be Available: Reasons And Solutions

How to fix com.android.captiveportallogin has stopped?

In case you get this error, try these out to fix it:

Method-1: Forget Wi-Fi connection

• “Forget” that Wi-Fi connection, then set it up again.
• Most probably, you have connected to the router using a sign-in page or a captive portal, which has the same name as that of the router (how the phone identifies a connection is by the router name, which is generally not changed by most people. Hence, not changing the SSID or router name would cause a problem).
• What happens on forgetting the connection is that, the phone would not look for a sign in landing page for a connection with that particular name. Also, the problem is with the router if the Wi-Fi signal to which you are connecting is a system with login landing page. The phone in this case, is at no fault.

“com.android.captiveportallogin keeps stopping”is one of the most annoying errors regarding this topic. We have got many forums, including that of “Android central” dealing with it. In case you get this well known error, here’s a way out for you:

• Get the airplane mode of your device turned on.
• Enable/Turn on Wi-Fi
• Connect to the network
• Open the Chrome app in your device
• Navigate to http://google.com/generate_204 in Chrome. [ref]
• It will fix the error com.android.captiveportallogin keeps stopping.

Method-2: Clear Cache and Data

Go to Settings->Apps & notifications-> Show system app

Search for com.android.captiveportallogin and tap on it.

Click on storage.

Now clear cache and clear data one by one.

Method-3: Force Stop

Go to Setting-> Apps-> Show System App-> captiveportallogin-> Force Stop

Method-3: Factory Rest

When none of the mentioned method work for you then only go for factory reset, but before doing this take a backup of all the data in the mobile.

Conclusion

The com.android.captiveportallogin seems to be a boon and a bane at the same time. It would form a bar between you, your network and unauthorized attackers. On the other hand, it can also form a bar between you and the Internet, in case you cannot successfully bypass the sign-in landing page. Especially if you are connected to a VPN network, you won’t be able to land on web pages that are shielded by captive portal login.

So for that, you need to turn off VPN, which again is not recommended when you are on a public open network. The solutions to the problems as mentioned, are temporary and do not guarantee that your problem would be solved. If it is a router level problem, you have got your hands tied to the track. If the problem is caused by your android device, you can follow the specific steps to ensure that the problem is solved.