If you’re like me, you probably have two, if not three, devices you regularly use on the UM Wireless network. You may have also noticed that your iPad or iPhone running iOS 5 refuses to remember your WebID when connecting. Although you can register gaming devices for password-less authentication, this isn’t an ideal solution for devices used for academic or research purposes.
I’ve got good news! It is indeed possible to get your iOS 5 device to remember your password. It just takes a little setup.
The login panel presented when you first connect to UM Wireless (or similar networks) is called the “Captive Network Assistant” or CNA (Figure 1). The CNA is Apple’s response to allowing you to readily check your email or use other web services without having to switch to a browser to login or accept network terms when connecting to a new network. The system detects you are on a “captive network” and presents in the CNA whatever the network would provide to a browser. The principal issue is that on iOS 5, the CNA won’t offer to remember your password. However, the solution is that it will use a password that is remembered from Safari.
The CNA on iOS 4 appears to offer to remember passwords when Safari is set to do so. Simply follow the steps in “Initial Setup” and the next time you connect to UM Wireless it should ask you to remember your password. It is unknown why Apple removed this functionality in iOS 5.
Captive Network Assistant is also built-in to Mac OS X Lion; however, it appears to not share passwords with Safari.
Initial Setup ¶
First you’ll need to make sure Safari is set to remember passwords. (By default, it is not.)
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Safari (located below Facetime on iOS 5). (Figure 2)
- Tap AutoFill.
- Turn on Names and Passwords.(Figure 3)
Enabling this setting allows Safari to remember passwords. Safari will now ask permission when it encounters a password. Please note that the “Private Browsing” feature will silently prevent passwords from being remembered. You can quickly tell if Private Browsing is enabled by the Safari interface being black rather than light grey.
Remembering the WebID ¶
- Open the Safari app.
- If not already connected, connect to the UM Wireless as usual.
- Once connected, navigate to https://wireless.olemiss.edu/logout (Figure 4)
- Tap logout, you’ll get a confirmation. (Figure 5)
- Quickly navigate to a website other than an olemiss.edu or google.com address (e.g. www.apple.com)
- It is important to do this quickly as the CNA will sometimes automatically pop up again. If it does, repeat these the previous steps.
- On the iPad, it may be helpful to have this website and the logout page open in separate tabs so you can quickly switch to each and refresh.
- You’ll see the Wireless Access page in Safari, login and you’ll be asked to save your password. Choose “Yes”. (Figure 6)
The next time you’re prompted to connect to UM Wireless, the CNA will auto-fill this username and password (Figure 7) so you’ll only have to tap “Submit” —extremely handy if you’re taking advantage of the longer passwords newly available for WebID.
NOTE: Although the CNA will use a remembered password, it won’t remember newer passwords. You will need to repeat this process every time your WebID password changes (generally only every 90 days). Also, remember to secure your device with a passcode or password to prevent misuse of your device on the campus network.
If you should have any questions or require assistance, please contact the IT Helpdesk at (662) 915-5222 or helpdesk@olemiss.edu.
Tags: iOS, iPad, iPhone, login, UM Wireless