Captive Portal
A captive portal is a private website operated in a restricted network to control access on a network. It is typically found on wireless networks that require users to log in or accept an agreement before internet access is granted. Captive portals are implemented by redirecting all HTTP requests to the provider's website.
Most operating systems will immediately open a web browser upon detecting a captive portal.
Captive Portal Detection
Operating systems will show a captive portal screen if it detects a 302 Found (or previously known as Moved Temporarily) redirection when checking for internet access. For consistent connection handling, all HTTP requests should be redirected until network access is granted.
When operating your own access point, simply resolving all hosts to a particular IP is not sufficient to trigger a captive portal.
| Operating System | Domains |
|---|---|
| Windows | www.msftncsi.com |
| Android | clients3.google.com
connectivitycheck.gstatic.com connectivitycheck.android.com |
| Apple MacOS
iOS |
www.appleiphonecell.com
captive.apple.com www.apple.com .apple.com.edgekey.net |