When traveling for business or personal use being able to get online is super important. Especially when you’re in your hotel room and you need to get some work done. So when your laptop won’t connect to the hotel wifi, it can be frustrating.
If you’re currently dealing with this issue and looking for a fix, we’ve compiled all the troubleshooting tips into one post.
Keep reading to find out more about how to connect your laptop to a hotel wifi.
Why won’t my laptop connect to hotel wifi?
There are numerous reasons why your laptop may not connect to the hotel internet. Some of them are easier to fix than others and can vary depending on the type of laptop, browser preference and security in place. However, we have compiled a list of common issues when trying to connect to hotel wifi and fix them.
Laptop won’t connect to hotel wifi Windows 10
Due to the hotel wifi likely being a public network, this may be due to a Windows 10 safety block. There are ways around this, and we recommend trying all of the steps below to enable your Windows 10 laptop to connect to your hotel wifi.
Restart
First things first, restart your system – as this may fix it.
Disable Pop-up blocking
If this did not work, the next step is disabling pop-up blocking. As for most hotel wifi connections, you need to sign up first. If your laptop is stopping this process, then you will be unable to access this wifi. Although web browsers vary, here’s how you do it in Chrome:
- Open a browser and click the three dots in the top right corner
- Select settings, then advanced, scroll down and click site settings
- Next, scroll down the page to find pop-ups and redirects
- Enable the pop-ups by clicking the toggle to enable pop-ups as this is likely to be turned on to block
- Now you will see pop-ups instead of them being blocked.
Clear DNS Cache
If the above method didn’t work, next, we’d recommend clearing your DNS cache. Although this may seem complicated, we are happy to help, and if you’re unsure how to do this, we have a step by step guide here:
- Press Windows Key + R, which will launch the dialogue
- Type cmd and then hit enter
- Now enter the command ‘ipconfig/flushdns’ then enter again
- Then enter ipconfig/renew and click enter
- Wait a few minutes and then try to reaccess the hotel wifi.
Disable the firewall on your system
Occasionally the firewall on your system may be stopping you from accessing the internet on public wifi. Without resolving this issue, you will be unable to use this wifi connection. Follow these steps to find out how to disable your firewall:
- Press Windows Key + R
- Type control firewall.cpl and then enter and open firewall settings in the control panel.
- In the control panel, click on Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off.
- Head to the public settings and click turn off. Your system will tell you this is not recommended.
- Once you’ve done this, you can expect your computer to work once it has been rebooted.
Open incognito mode
No matter which browser you use, there will be an incognito feature that allows you to browse privately. Meaning this will not store your browsing history or cache etc. The next step is to search a non-HTTPS website as sometimes this resolves the issue as it may load up the loading page.
iPhone Won’t Connect to Hotel WiFi: 7 Ways To Connect
Apple laptop won’t connect to hotel wifi.
Apple laptops are great for keeping your computer secure. However, there can be issues when trying to connect to a public network due to this. Whether you’re trying to access hotel wifi or public wifi, it can be frustrating when this doesn’t work. Sometimes you can connect to the hotel wifi, but your safari browser may not load. So how to get around these issues and successfully get wifi in a hotel.
Cannot load the login screen on a MacBook:
- Your MacBook may automatically try to connect to the hotel wifi if you have ‘ask to join networks’ switched off. It will be unsuccessful when a laptop tries to connect to the hotel wifi without reaching the login page. Be sure to attempt to connect to the wifi manually.
- Remove any existing DNS addresses- if you’re unable to gain access still, head on to network > advanced > DNS tab, then remove any of the existing DNS servers.
- If you’re still unable to go online, type captive.apple.com into safari to trigger a login page. Then try again to connect to the hotel wifi.
Error message ‘can’t establish a secure connection’:
Safari requires the websites you visit to have strong encryption, which includes having a secure web connection. If the site/wifi does not meet the requirements, you will likely be greeted with another screen saying ‘safari can’t open the page’. If your webpage doesn’t meet Apple’s secure standards, you will see the following-
- Safari says it will not open the website because it’s using weak encryption
- Or that it cannot open the page because
One of the best (and easiest) ways around this is to use a whole new browser such as Chrome or Firefox. your laptop cannot establish a secure connection to the server
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