Signing in to a Captive Portal

What is a Captive Portal?

A Captive Portal is a web page that users must sign in to before accessing the Internet or local networks. Your school may have set up a Captive Portal to ensure only staff and students access your school’s network.

Your school may also use Captive Portal to give internet access to guests and visitors who agree to the terms and conditions of using your school’s network.

Captive Portal Examples

If you’ve tried to connect to the Internet or WIFI in a public place such as a library, airport or cafe and haven’t been able to use the Internet until you entered an email address or agreed to the terms and conditions, you’ve used a Captive Portal.

Signing in to Captive Portal

If you’re connecting to your school network for the first time after your school has enabled Captive Portal, you may be blocked from accessing the Internet. Students may also be asked to sign in to Captive Portal while the class is in session.

If your school has set up a Captive Portal page, you may be automatically taken to the sign-in page. Otherwise, open a browser window and go to login.linewize.net.

1. Select Login to Network.
2. Enter your school account’s username and password.
   

   Tip

   If your school uses Google or Microsoft Entra ID (labelled as Azure AD), you can select either Sign in with Google or Sign in with Azure AD, then follow the prompts. You will be taken back to the Captive Portal upon successful sign-in.

3. Select Sign in with Username and Password.
   
4. Select an option for associating your device.

• • Continue and Save My Device: Select this option if you’re the only one using the device. Captive Portal will associate this device with your account, and you will no longer be asked to sign in when accessing the school network until you sign out of Captive Portal.
    

    Note

    This option is not available at all schools.

  • Continue Without Saving: Select this option if you use a shared device (for example, a computer in a lab or classroom). Captive Portal will ask you to sign in each time you access the network from this device.

You can visit your My Dashboard page or browse your desired websites upon signing in.

Signing out of Captive Portal

To ensure your data is protected if you’re using a shared computer, sign out of Captive Portal after using the device.

1. Go to http://login.linewize.net (use http not https).
2. Select one of the following:

• • Logout of Network if you are signed in with your school account using a username and password.
  • Logout of Network and Google if you are signed in using your Google account.
  • Logout of Network and Azure if you are signed in using your Microsoft Entra ID or Azure AD account.

Troubleshooting

Why is my school’s Captive Portal asking me to sign in?

The Captive Portal can appear when:

• Your computer or device isn’t recognized by your school’s network.
• You were signed out on the shared computer.
• Your school requires you to sign in whenever you connect to the network.
• Your school has reset all network connections.

When the Captive Portal appears on your device, you have to sign in using the credentials provided by your school, such as your username and password or your Google or Microsoft Entra ID account.

Why is my student being redirected to the Linewize Connect download page?

Your student’s browser redirects to the Linewize Connect download page because the network didn’t detect Connect running on your student’s device. This usually happens for students signing in to Captive Portal for the first time on their personal devices without Linewize Connect installed.

Ask your school’s IT Support to install Connect on the device, then have your student sign in to it with their school account. Connect will automatically run in the background, and your student can sign in to Captive Portal.

I think one of my students is stuck on a Captive Portal. How can I help them sign in?

If the student is stuck on your school Captive Portal, ask the student to manually sign out by selecting the Logout of Network button on the Captive Portal page if they can’t manually sign out, try:

• Closing all browsers on the student’s device.
• Disconnecting and reconnecting the device to the school’s network.
• Open a new device browser (for example, Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge) session and, if necessary, go to http://login.linewize.net (use http and not https).

My student can’t connect to the school’s internet. Is that because of the Captive Portal?

Captive Portal can be one reason why one of your students can’t connect to your school’s internet or internal network. Students at schools that use a Captive Portal must sign in to the Portal before accessing the internet.

Direct the student to http://login.linewize.net (use http not https) to see if they have signed into the Captive Portal. If they are not signed in to Captive Portal, and the option to sign in doesn’t appear, you can try:

• Closing all browsers on the student’s device.
• Disconnecting and reconnecting the device to the school’s network.
• Opening a new device browser (for example Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge) session and, if necessary, go to http://login.linewize.net to try signing in again.

Do students have to sign in to Captive portal when they bring a new personal or Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) to school?

Yes. If your school has enabled Captive Portal, students must sign in each time they bring a new BYOD to school and connect it to the school’s network. They can then save the device to their user account, removing the need to sign in to Captive Portal on that device in the future.

If Connect is not running on their device, they will be redirected to the Connect download page. Connect must be installed on the student’s device before they can sign in to Captive Portal. Contact your school’s IT support to deploy the application on your student’s device.

Printable Quick Guide

How to Sign in to Captive Portal (Quick Reference Guide).pdf