Can't Connect to Secure Server

[sheriffjoe]

Can anyone please help an old soldier. I have a Galaxy A8 (2018) and the WiFi works perfectly at home. Today I was in the pub and wanted to use a discount voucher on my phone so went to Settings - Connections -WiFi and chose the pub Wifi which was 02. After a short while it said 'Connected' BUT when I tried to do anything I got the message 'Unable to connect to a secure server'. I turned on mobile data but still got the same message even though it originally said 'Connected' I have had this problem before but with a different phone in a different pub. Any help most appreciated.

 

[Dannydet]

Are you using a VPN?
When it connects do you get a pop-up login screen?
Some places want a password to login for wifi access.

 

[sheriffjoe]

No, I'm not using a VPN and I didn't get the login screen. At this pub you should get the login in screen the 1st time you visit but afterwards it remembers you.

 

[svim]

From your description it sounds like that pub protects their public WiFi network using what's referred to as a 'captive portal' login:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_portal
Basically, your phone can easily connect to their WiFi network, you just don't get any actual Internet access until you go through an initial authentication log-in process. The first time you connected to that network there was most likely a log-in prompt. If you saw that and just ignored it, try going into your Settings >> Wi-Fi menu, deleting that WiFi network entry, and try to connect to that network again but this try use whatever user/password that the pub management provides to allow their customers to use their WiFi. (... the captive portal authentication will probably be browser based, not the more common way through the Android menu like you used at home.)

 

[sheriffjoe]

Thanks svim. What you describe is right. What used to happen was the 1st time you visited, you connected to O2 and then a login screen came up and you had to enter your name and email and you were in and it remembered you the next time. It is a big chain pub so each pub doesn't have an individual password like say in Spain where each little bar has it's own password. This time I did not get the log in screen just the 'unable to connect to a secure server'. I did read somewhere about using a new phone but keeping the old number baffles the system as it does not link the new phone with the telephone number (or something inside the phone) it has stored. I should have mentioned that this is a new phone but with my old phone number. Thanks.

 

[joe meow]

It's a problem with the Android Browser.

Maybe I can fix this by reinstalling it but I guess I must be root to do that

 

[svim]

It's a problem with the Android Browser.
Maybe I can fix this by reinstalling it but I guess I must be root to do that

There's nothing that prevents you from installing a third-party browser that you use as your default browser, and this does not require you to root your phone. You can't remove a system-level browser without being rooted but again, there's nothing preventing you from using a different browser. Just disable the stock browser. There are plenty of really good, innovative alternatives that are freely available on the Play Store, and you can always use just one or several browsers if that suits you.

 

[joe meow]

There's nothing that prevents you from installing a third-party browser that you use as your default browser, and this does not require you to root your phone. You can't remove a system-level browser without being rooted but again, there's nothing preventing you from using a different browser. Just disable the stock browser. There are plenty of really good, innovative alternatives that are freely available on the Play Store, and you can always use just one or several browsers if that suits you.

@svim , thanks for the clarification.