Connect to WiFi that uses Captive Portal

Help with setting up network cards, including WiFi cards.
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russellm72
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2021 5:44 pm

Connect to WiFi that uses Captive Portal

Post by russellm72 »

How do you connect GhostBSD to WiFi that uses a Captive Portal? I'm searching and searching for a solution and I can't find one. I'm used to Ubuntu where I can click on the Network Manager and choose "Other Network", enter the name of the unadvertised Network, then open Firefox, try to connect to a website and then the Captive Portal page comes up asking for the required username & password. I was very surprised that GhostBSD doesn't also function like this. I don't mind doing something a little more manual but, I'm not even finding an answer when searching for one. Help. Please.
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ericbsd
Developer
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Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 7:54 pm

Re: Connect to WiFi that uses Captive Portal

Post by ericbsd »

So, yeah, that option is not in the network manager. You might have to set up your /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf manually. NetworkMgr isn't design for that use. I do not have access to an unadvertised Network.
russellm72
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2021 5:44 pm

Re: Connect to WiFi that uses Captive Portal

Post by russellm72 »

ericbsd wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 8:29 am You might have to set up your /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf manually.
Where would I find information about how to do that? Also, is it not possible for GhostBSD to incorporate what Ubuntu has developed for this? Or, is this due to BSD's networking software being different from Linux?
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ericbsd
Developer
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Re: Connect to WiFi that uses Captive Portal

Post by ericbsd »

russellm72 wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 12:43 pm Where would I find information about how to do that?
The complete documentation would be the FreeBSD one https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handb ... k-wireless, but there is a caveat, GhostBSD does not use the same init system.
russellm72 wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 12:43 pm Also, is it not possible for GhostBSD to incorporate what Ubuntu has developed for this?
I do not think that it is ubuntu that developed the network manager that most Linux Distro. The short answer is no. To me, it is like asking "Could Windows network stack work on macOS?"
russellm72 wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 12:43 pm Or, is this due to BSD's networking software being different from Linux?
Our GUI Network Manager is developed in-house. There is nothing comparable to the Linux GUI Network Manager in FreeBSD. NetworkMgr attempts to make a GUI Network Manager for GhostBSD and FreeBSD comparable to Linux GUI Network Manager.
wb7odyfred
Posts: 203
Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2016 5:44 pm

Re: Connect to WiFi that uses Captive Portal

Post by wb7odyfred »

Read this webpage:
https://unix.stackexchange.com/question ... 12-current

Manual Wifi setup help: Like how to edit a /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf file NetworkMgr automatically does this editing for you.
https://forums.ghostbsd.org/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=570
https://forums.ghostbsd.org/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=526

https://docs.freebsd.org/en_US.ISO8859- ... uick-start FreeBSD Handbook Chapter 32 Wireless Setup

Bare minimum fields necessary for an encrypted Wi-Fi connection using wpa_supplicant command with the file /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

Code: Select all

network={
	#: my NetGear box
	ssid="NETGEAR59"
	psk="my_passkey_892"
	key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}
Manually issue the commands, wpa_supplicant with the background Dameon option and dhclient commands

Code: Select all

killall dhclient
wpa_supplicant -B -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf 
dhclient wlan0

A more complete list of contents for file /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

Code: Select all

network={
	#: my NetGear box
	ssid="NETGEAR59"
	priority=3
	bssid=c4:04:15:7d:53:80
	key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
	proto=RSN
	psk="my_passkey_892"
}
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