Does Comet Pro wireless capability support public wifi’s with captive portals? I just purchased a Comet Pro but would like to know whether or not this is supported or on the roadmap.
1 Like
What about MAC address cloning? Could get around captive using a Mac that has authenticated through a captive portal.
I'm sorry that our device does not provide a dedicated setting for this function in the user interface, and we haven't tested or validated this specific scenario internally.
If you try it, please ensure the original device is offline to avoid conflicts.
I'm kind of curious about the use case, but I've used a travel router to do this with my Chromecast (connect the router to the captive portal WiFi, use a laptop/phone to complete the connection, then any other device on the travel WiFi network will usually have access).
We haven't developed the feature to connect to the portal yet. Would you take Comet Pro on a trip?
Yes, using the Comet Pro on a trip or in a place where one does not own the wireless access. additionally, in some cases, including enterprise, wireless authentication is provided through a captive portal.
One such example is the widely distributed xfinity wireless network in the US. This network is available to consumers and allow allows users to connect to millions of hotspots, requiring authentication via captive portal.
this seems like a fairly straightforward feature to build, saying as this capability exists in your travel routers already.
This is a standard feature on travel routers, but this is the first time we've received a request for it on KVM. We'll document your request, and if more people need it, we'll prioritize its development.
1 Like
Thanks. At least for me, if I could find this information somewhere on the product page, it would help me make a better buying decision. I don’t know if that is the case for enough users.
1 Like
This feature would be very nice to have. Please implement it
1 Like
Thank you for your feedback. We will continue to collect feedback.
I am running into this issue.
I am running a KVM with my relative who lives in an apartment and the apartment internet has a captive portal.
Hi everyone, thank you for sharing your use cases — especially the most recent one about helping a relative whose apartment network has a captive portal. That really helps us understand the scenario better.
Before we evaluate this as a KVM feature, we'd love to learn more about the situations you're running into. A few questions:
1. What type of network are you dealing with?
Is the captive portal on an apartment/dorm shared WiFi, a hotel/Airbnb network, a co-working space, a mobile hotspot, or something else?
2. Is there anyone on-site at the remote end?
Is the machine you're controlling completely unattended, or is there someone nearby who could occasionally interact with it? This helps us understand how critical the remote authentication piece really is.
3. Why not place a router in between?
Typically, a travel router (like our GL.iNet models) placed between the network and the controlled machine can handle captive portal login once, so every device behind it gets through automatically. We're curious why that hasn't been a practical option for you — is it because:
- The network only offers WiFi with no wired port to plug a router into?
- The person on-site isn't comfortable configuring a router?
- You'd prefer not to add an extra device?
- Something else?
4. How often does the portal require re-authentication?
Does it prompt every time the connection drops, once per day, or on some other schedule?
5. What are you doing as a workaround right now?
Are you asking someone on-site to log in manually, scheduling remote sessions around the portal, or something else?
Your answers will help us figure out whether captive portal support makes the most sense as a KVM feature, or whether there's a simpler solution we can point you toward. Either way, we want to make sure your setup actually works. Thanks!
Thank you for your response.
- The network is an apartment on a shared wifi.
- My relative is on-site, but I maintain the computer, it’s a small server running nas, media storage etc.
- Placing a router in-between is going to be my option. As a future enhancement request, if it’s possible for KVM devices to have an admin panel that can be connected to, similar to your routers.
- For wifi it requires re-authentication once a month, for wired it does not require re-authentication, only once.
- Work-around I RDP into the computer. But I would like to do bios updates or install a command line OS (like ubuntu server) in the future.
Thank you for your feedback. I suggest using a travel router like our MT3000 to meet your requirements. It can handle the captive portal authentication directly; this way, you only need to reconnect the router once a month, and your KVM will stay connected automatically without any extra steps
1. What type of network are you dealing with?
A co-working space where I have a dedicated lockable cabinet.
2. Is there anyone on-site at the remote end?
No, I am the only one that has access to the cabinet and do desire to give anyone else access.
3. Why not place a router in between?
That’s what I’m currently doing. But I have limited space and it’s frankly a waste, given that I only need this router for this one purpose.
It makes the most sense to simply use the built in WiFi from the Comet. Additionally, there is no wired access here.
4. How often does the portal require re-authentication?
About once a week.
5. What are you doing as a workaround right now?
Currently using a TP-Link travel router and I travel to the location once a week to ensure it remains authenticated.
What capability does the MT3000 WiFi module have that the Comet does not have? Is it a hardware limitation or a software one? I understood that they run the same module, and if so, what is to stop you from simply implementing captive portal authentication in the same way on the Comet firmware?
1 Like
I am also wondering about the same thing.
My use cases:
- privately: kvm as failsafe option to remotely switch on hardware at home via fingerbot, fallback is public wifi
- professionally but on premise: we use KVMs to connect air-gapped or isolated, often old computers (too old for security updates and/or incapable of having dedicated remote management tools installed) in lab-equipment. The easily available free university guest Wifi uses splash pages..
- professionally: remote support of either air-gaped machines or with isolated network. instead of having to talk amateurs through fiddly setup of any remote control app, VPN etc AND/OR having to first deal with their IT to do it for them or creating the firewall rules or - just plug in the KVM and have them log on the available open wifi…. and those are mostly using splash screens.
Especially in case of sporadic unforeseeable remote assist requests where only a minimal amount of preparation and overhead would be preferable, having a single device for the task greatly lowers barriers… oh and two devices are obviously more expensive than one 
They are use different WIFI module.The system is different too. In your situation, our RM10RC is the best choice for you, maybe you can see it. It has celluar inside it and no need to re-authentication every week.
Thank you for your feedback. I now understand your requirements.I will add this to our product backlog. However, since we haven’t received many user requests for this feature yet, and we still have many higher-priority tasks in progress, the priority for this one may not be very high.
Thank you for your feedback. I now understand your requirements.I will add this to our product backlog. However, since we haven’t received many user requests for this feature yet, and we still have many higher-priority tasks in progress, the priority for this one may not be very high.
Currently the RM10RC is the best choice in your situation. It has celluar inside it. no extra network needed.