I have a peplink max BRI mini hardware 1 running firmware 8.3. I was on my iOS (iPhone 15 with latest software) and wanted to connect to the peplink via WiFi.
When you connect to WiFi, iOS tries to see if it’s working properly vs. if there is a captive portal. Since my ATT sim card was out of data, when I connected to WiFi, I got the following screen:
Log in to Captive Wi-Fi
Hi, It’s AT&T, it looks like you want to use data but have none available. You may need to make a payment to renew your plan [etc…]
The only option I have on that screen is to hit the Cancel button.
The problem: Once I click Cancel (or switch to another app), iOS disconnects from the WiFi network.
I think iOS is trying to be “helpful” here but this is not helpful.
One Solution: I tried connecting from an older version of macOS (Big Sur) and although I got the same message, I was able to open a new browser tab and connect to the Peplink admin interface.
My question: on iOS, is there any way to prevent the OS from disconnecting from a WiFi network that isn’t routing data?