WiFi "server not found" at most open hotspots...why!?!?! Please Read!

[996gt2]

My WiFi only works at my home; at public places with free, unlocked wifi, my Touch keeps giving me the "server not found" error even IF I enter a public DNS in the DNS box. Can someone help with this issue please? Thanks!

[DerekVOF]

Well, where are you trying? Couple of things to remember - some of these "open" hotspots (at places like Meijer, Qdoba, Panera Bread, etc.) require that you open up your web browser and accept some agreement before you can really do anything. Try opening up Google - and it make take 2 or 3 times for it to pop-up with the usage agreement page. Then you can surf, etc.

In addition, some public places may have what appear to be unlocked wireless, but are actually protected in some way - like via MAC address filtering. Go to www.jiwire.com and you can find a list of wireless hotspots in your area - both free and paid. Try it at a known working hotspot...

[daihard]

Well, where are you trying? Couple of things to remember - some of these "open" hotspots (at places like Meijer, Qdoba, Panera Bread, etc.) require that you open up your web browser and accept some agreement before you can really do anything. Try opening up Google - and it make take 2 or 3 times for it to pop-up with the usage agreement page. Then you can surf, etc.
I agree with DerekVOF. Just because you can connect doesn't mean you can use the WiFi right away. A lot of sites do require you to agree to their terms and conditions via browser. There are places that offer truly-free WiFi, though. Living in the Seattle area, I can usually find such places relatively easily.

[996gt2]

Two of the places I tried were the public library and a local Buffalo Wild Wings, both of which are supposed to have free WiFi hotspots. My library, in particular, is even listed on jwire.com as one of the free spots. However, I tried at least 20+ times to open up common sites such as Google or Wikipedia in Safari after connecting to the WiFi, but each time it just gave me the "Server not found" error after a minute or two of waiting with the blue progress bar stuck at about 5%. I have tried a variety of free DNS addresses with no luck...also, my friend with his Thinkpad can easily get on at the library without any issues, so I wasn't sure why the iPod could not.

Is there any way to get around MAC address filtering on the iPod Touch, btw?

Thanks again

[ak9237]

i have the same problem and i still havnt figured it out how to fix it. i have gone to a bunch of places with free wifi and it says the same thing when you try to open safari. i know what you are saying that some have a page where you have to enter info but that is not what happens with these. this just says cannot find server or cant connect or something when you try to go to safari and people with laptops have no problem at all. not sure if there is any way to fix this or not. im guessing the mac filtering is what it is and there isnt a way around it i dont think

[996gt2]

yeah i have basically the same problem as you nym...

bump for possible solution?

[cowboyshootist]

Two of the places I tried were the public library and a local Buffalo Wild Wings, both of which are supposed to have free WiFi hotspots. My library, in particular, is even listed on jwire.com as one of the free spots. However, I tried at least 20+ times to open up common sites such as Google or Wikipedia in Safari after connecting to the WiFi, but each time it just gave me the "Server not found" error after a minute or two of waiting with the blue progress bar stuck at about 5%. I have tried a variety of free DNS addresses with no luck...also, my friend with his Thinkpad can easily get on at the library without any issues, so I wasn't sure why the iPod could not.

Is there any way to get around MAC address filtering on the iPod Touch, btw?

Thanks again

MAC address filtering is done on the router, not on the Touch. You need access to the router to disable MAC filtering or to add the Touch's MAC address.

If you are at the Library I would ask one of the Librarians how to set up to use the wireless capability.

[cowboyshootist]

i have the same problem and i still havnt figured it out how to fix it. i have gone to a bunch of places with free wifi and it says the same thing when you try to open safari. i know what you are saying that some have a page where you have to enter info but that is not what happens with these. this just says cannot find server or cant connect or something when you try to go to safari and people with laptops have no problem at all. not sure if there is any way to fix this or not. im guessing the mac filtering is what it is and there isnt a way around it i dont think

If MAC address filtering were turned on then even someone with a laptop would need to have their MAC address entered into the Router's filter list. If the laptops can get on with no prior registration with the network admin then you have a different issue.

[mc4]

I think part of the issue is a lot of services require you to sign in using a script to redirect your browser to the hotspots login page. This appears to be failing a lot when using Safari.

[DerekVOF]

Of course, if MAC filtering was on, your friend with the laptop that was able to get on, shouldn' be able to either. More likely the library is using a cheap/old wireless router that does not broadcast DHCP correctly. This seems to be an issues with Linksys routers. Go into Settings > Wi-Fi and tap on the blue arrow next to the network. If you don't see all the IPs in there correctly, it's probably a DHCP issue :(

Might just have to talk to the library because they might need to get the latest firmware upgrade for their router. Not much you probably can do.

[ak9237]

what does aircrack for ipod touch do

[JSxy]

I have a similar problem. Before updating my touch's firmware, I had no problem connecting to my university's wireless network (yes it's password protected, and yes I have authorization to access it. Now, post-1.1.3, I haven't had any luck connecting. :shake:

[nakile]

Maybe the system software on your iPT is simply messed up. It can happen with computers, so why not here?

[daihard]

I think part of the issue is a lot of services require you to sign in using a script to redirect your browser to the hotspots login page. This appears to be failing a lot when using Safari.
I ran into a situation like that for the first time this afternoon. I found the spot called "seattlewifi" (unlocked) and was able to connect to it immediately, but I wasn't able to do anything with the connection. I then tried to open Safari hoping it would take me to a login screen. Safari just froze there! From that I assume that the connection does require a login, and that Safari is failing to redirect me to the login screen.

[itouchbob]

same problem. downtown mpls has a lot of free wifi lets say 25 to 30 the starbucks types that require a agreement before login on work, newer establishments work, older places that i know that have had wifi for awhile do not work, it connects, i get a ip address, subnet mask, router id, and a dns number, but wifi will not work, people with laptops can get on, even the open wifi on the U of M will not work for me. if it is a dhcp issue how can it be fixed?

[batmania15]

has anyone heard anything from apple on this problem, i'm having it as well and its seems to be something with the new update, has anyone complained or tried contacting apple and if so what have you recieved for a response?

[bobb-mini]

First off, you should be using DHCP, you SHOULD NOT use any static addressing.

Static Addressing = you manually put in IP address, DNS blah - blah - NO!

Second, you should NOT specify a proxy server (Browser Config).

[sdy]

I setup my wife's clearwire with an airport extreme (in bridge mode) running WPA, it works just fine with our laptops (as will as other wintel machines that visit the cafe we run) but my iPod Touch (16GB, latest firmware) won't surf either. I've also tried various public DNS with no success.

Strangely it does work with my work wifi (cisco) but its really hit or miss with other hotspots, even when our laptops (pismo 10.4.11, macbook G4 10.3.9) work.

its all very strange.

[daihard]

I setup my wife's clearwire with an airport extreme (in bridge mode) running WPA, it works just fine with our laptops (as will as other wintel machines that visit the cafe we run) but my iPod Touch (16GB, latest firmware) won't surf either. I've also tried various public DNS with no success.

Strangely it does work with my work wifi (cisco) but its really hit or miss with other hotspots, even when our laptops (pismo 10.4.11, macbook G4 10.3.9) work.
Hi.

I see that you live in Bellevue. Care to tell me which public WiFi's you've been able to connect to via your iPod touch in the area? Thanks!

[sdy]

The Civica building in downtown Bellevue ('schn') seems to work ok, I've tried lots of other hotspots and get about 50% success (usually connects but no server found errors) however I haven't started trying them using the public DNS yet. The one that I know fails is the city of bellevue downtown hotspot by Bellevue Square .. I'm hoping to try with public dns and see if that works.

It really bothers me that even when I have full control of the HW it doesn't seem to work, I suspect that Clearwire maybe blocking public dns routing or something but it does work for the laptops just not my iPod Touch (which does, however, work on both of my home dsl networks)

[Blanche d'Pod]

I work for the landlord which owns the building in which a branch of a large public library is located.

My new iPod Touch doesn't connect to the public library WiFi. It gets to the server, but won't pass the Cisco logon script.

HOWEVER it does log on to the Library Intra Net, just not out to the larger public internet.

The library system sent out one of its network gurus. He experimented for over an hour, changing settings on the Cisco router, opening the DNS, and nothing worked.

By the way, I also have a couple of those OLPC XO Laptops for kids. I can get the the one with Opera installed to connect, sometimes, but not reliably. The other with just the standard OLPC software pack will not connect to the library.

There's stuff going on in the library servers/routers which not even their own gurus understand. The man who came to help me said the library wants to let iPod touches and iPhones access the WiFi nets because they realize those devices and many more like them will become quite common.

If I get any further news, I will post it.

Blanche d'Pod

[Blanche d'Pod]

Change iPhone’s Wi-Fi DNS Settings to Connect to the Internet

http://andrewescobar.com/archive/2007/07/06/change-iphones-wi-fi-dns-settings-to-connect-to-the-internet/

This page suggests changing to a public DNS server.

I just did that at the library, and it worked.

1. Forgot network (an option in the WiFi setup).

2. Turned OFF the iPod Touch by holding power button on top down until the red slider appeared, and then slid to off.

3. Restarted, waited as Apple appeared on screen

3. Waited for the network to reappear. Entered to public DNS server in place of one provided by network router. That's ip Address 208.67.222.222

4. Started Safari

5. Was no longer blocked by error message and went right out to Yahoo -

There's more here, so check the link!


http://andrewescobar.com/archive/2007/07/06/change-iphones-wi-fi-dns-settings-to-connect-to-the-internet/

[Blanche d'Pod]

For some reason, the Public DNS suggestion I posted seems to require a hard reboot of the Touch. That's hold the power button down until the red slide screen comes up, slide to shut off power, than wait a sec or two, and push the power button back on.

(For those of use really new to these gadgets (Me!) the power button is on the top, not the round button on the front. And it must be held down several seconds to get to the off slider.

This is all frustrating, but it is the routers, not the iPod Touch doing it.

[cowboyshootist]

For some reason, the Public DNS suggestion I posted seems to require a hard reboot of the Touch. That's hold the power button down until the red slide screen comes up, slide to shut off power, than wait a sec or two, and push the power button back on.

(For those of use really new to these gadgets (Me!) the power button is on the top, not the round button on the front. And it must be held down several seconds to get to the off slider.

This is all frustrating, but it is the routers, not the iPod Touch doing it.

It shouldn't require a reboot. Just go into Settings ->Wifi and touch the blue > next to the name of the network you're trying to connect to. You should be able to enter the DNS IP address and even override the ones that are put there by the router.

[gotmusic?]

Thanks Blanche d'Pod for this tip & link. Stored away on the notepad that needed some use.

[daihard]

The Civica building in downtown Bellevue ('schn') seems to work ok, I've tried lots of other hotspots and get about 50% success (usually connects but no server found errors) however I haven't started trying them using the public DNS yet. The one that I know fails is the city of bellevue downtown hotspot by Bellevue Square .. I'm hoping to try with public dns and see if that works.

It really bothers me that even when I have full control of the HW it doesn't seem to work, I suspect that Clearwire maybe blocking public dns routing or something but it does work for the laptops just not my iPod Touch (which does, however, work on both of my home dsl networks)
Thanks! I know the free WiFi in the "Parlor" pool bar in Lincoln Square works, but that's about all I know when it comes to Bellevue. I'll try "schn" the next time I'm around there. I'll also try the public DNS to see if that gets the City of Seattle WiFi ("seattlewifi") to work. I've exchanged mail with the responsible person who says their equipment is not compatible with iPhone / iPod touch, but I'll double-check.

[Blanche d'Pod]

It shouldn't require a reboot. Just go into Settings ->Wifi and touch the blue > next to the name of the network you're trying to connect to. You should be able to enter the DNS IP address and even override the ones that are put there by the router.
Agreed. It SHOULDN'T. But for some reason it seems only to work when I do that. I think that is because the public library Linksys server is running a script & locks there, however, the cold start seems to get past that . When the Touch reboots it comes up with the public dns having replaced the library dns, at the page after the library "accept terms" click. Maybe that is unique to this library.

All this stuff should "just work!" Where's Steve Jobs when it doesn't? I assure you, not handy with a refund!

[golfnut2008]

sdy - I'm curious if it worked with the free wifi at Lincoln "LincolnWiFi" or the free wifi in the mall at the Lodge "BelSquareWiFi"???

They both have login/registration screens.

Thanks,