"Guest" WiFi Incompatability with Some Devices

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

TWG1572

Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
579
Location
Madison, Wisconsin
My in-laws gave my son a LeapPad Ultra for Christmas. For those not in the know, this is a kid's tablet with some limited child-safe internet functionality. I've been having a hard time getting it to connect to our network, so resorted to reading the manual last night.

The manual didn't solve the problem, but I noticed something interesting. The manual specifically says that it will not connect to "guest" networks. I'm not trying to connect to our guest network, but it got me thinking. My understanding of guest networks is that they allow internet access without letting someone access files on my home intranet, spread malware/worms, or access the router settings. Whenever we have visitors, I have them use the guest network on our router as a safety precaution.

Why would the LeapPad (or any other device) not work on a guest network? I'm not that knowledgeable about networks, but my mind immediately wonders if it needs to access something on our home intranet/computer. And I don’t know what that would be, but it does concern me a bit. There aren't any apps installed on our computer for it, or anything like that.

Are there any networking guru’s out there that can explain why a hardware device like this would require access to a non-guest network?
 
Last edited:
A guest network is a pretty vague term. I assume what the leappad means is that it cannot connect to a network that requires any sort of proxy acceptance. For example when you are in a hotel/library/restaurant and you can connect to their wifi but before you can navigate anywhere you must agree to terms of service or enter credentials.

It could also be a way to reduce the number of calls they get for support on their products from people who should really be calling the administrator of the network they are trying to connect to.
 
Ahh. Now that would make sense. However their FAQ seems to have that covered as a seperate issue..

" 4) If you are trying to join a public Wi-Fi network, the LeapPad Ultra is not compatible with public Wi-Fi networks. Most public Wi-Fi access at restaurants, airports, hotels, etc. require the user to agree to terms and conditions on the provider’s website prior to accessing the internet. As the browser on the LeapPad Ultra only allows pre-approved web pages to open, you will not be able to access the provider’s URL on the LeapPad Ultra and will not be able to join the network.

5) Are you trying to connect to a secondary or Guest network on the router? Some routers such as the Linksys E series have a secondary network in addition to the main network. On these routers you must use the main network to connect the LeapPad Ultra. "
 
Last edited:
My thinking is that connecting to any network is an unknown. As others have said, guest is not a well defined term. Parents could have their network locked down and allowing a child's device to connect to any available network could be a problem waiting to happen.
 
I understand the public wifi issue. But not the personal guest wifi issue. When signing into a guest network that is being broadcast from a personal home router, there is nothing special about it. You sign into it just like you would if you were signing into the main wireless network.

I don't know what OS Leap Pads use (version of Android or their own), but I was having a huge problem with getting my Galaxy Note 2 to pull an IP address from my D-Link DIR-655 router, no other device has this problem (including Android, iOS, Windows and MacOS devices) and my Note 2 did not have this problem anywhere else. I was able to "fix" this by assigning a static IP to the phone so there was always an IP address waiting for it to connect.

For other reasons, I've switched to a new Asus RT-N56U router and have yet to have a single problem with connecting anything to this new router. If your router is a little dated, like my DIR-655 was, that may be the problem. There should be a way to get the MAC address of the Leap Pad so that you can establish a static IP and then go through the advanced wireless setup on the Leap Pad and rather than have the Leap Pad request the IP address from the DHCP of the router, it just connects with that IP address.

On the other hand, this may be way too complex of an idea for a kids tablet.
 
I've also got the Asus RT-N56U router. Really like it, and I've never had a connection issue till now.

My issue is that the LeapPad will see my network, but then the network will just dissapear. Every other device in my house is wireless, and I've never seen any behavior like this before so I suspect it's a Leap Pad issue. Sometimes when I refresh the wireless on the pad it will see the network again, sometimes not. (for clarity - this is my main network. I haven't tried anything with the guest, nor is it running.)

I can get the MAC, but I'm not sure how much work I want to go to for this tablet. It's a bit of a sore topic. We told them we didn't want it, but it showed up at Christmas anyway. Having a "network" issue might give us a good reason to return it.
 
What standard (A,G,B,N) is the router? What type of security are you running (WEP, WPA, WPA2)?

It's possible that the leap pad may not be able to authenticate to WPA2 networks or something. For Example, I had a Broadcom network card that just would NOT work with WPA2. Period.
 
hmmmmm.

I dont have a guest access because I dont want anyone taking my wifi.

I wouldnt want someone automatically connecting to an unknown "guest" wifi that may not be secure.

To me its totally logical... Im sure kids are a great way to hack and get emails to spam from, etc. So the tablet would want to ensure that parents or knowledgable folks had oversight into what wifi is being connected...
 
JHZR2 - My guest network has a password too. I'm definitly not hanging an unsecured network out there for the world to use. To me the main benefit of the guest network is the functionality it provides on the security/firewalling my home computers, NAS, and router. Honestly, I'd rather have my kids connect through the guest because of that extra layer of security. I do see your point though.

Miller88 - I'm running wireless N with WPA2. The leappad documentation says it should work on that. Encryption is AES, with the documentation doesn't mention one way or the other. I'll fiddle with it more tonight. Maybe I'll pull the password off our network and see if it will connect like that first.
 
Last edited:
Slightly sidetrack: Is your guest a separate router or did you manage to get a guest network through the N56U?

I wasn't able to find it quickly, then a little searching lead me to believe that the N56U didn't have guest function.

I bought the 56 on a whim because it was Black Friday and I needed a new router anyway. I assumed a modern router would have guest functionality, I assumed wrong.
 
Guest can just mean not able to access the home network or router settings.

For example my buffalo 1750dhp has a setting I turn on for friends that has wpa2 encryption, and can set it for duration
1-24hours or unlimited.
 
Originally Posted By: racer12306
Slightly sidetrack: Is your guest a separate router or did you manage to get a guest network through the N56U?

I wasn't able to find it quickly, then a little searching lead me to believe that the N56U didn't have guest function.

I bought the 56 on a whim because it was Black Friday and I needed a new router anyway. I assumed a modern router would have guest functionality, I assumed wrong.


Ok. I just double checked and I have the N66U. My bad. Sorry about that. But on mine, it's part of the options in the router menu. The options I have are exactly like what Rand mentioned above - password, time, etc...
 
Last edited:
My kids have a "Leapster explorer" which plugs into a real computer via USB so the kids can download "tokens" or whatever. (And pay for games, too.)

Does your setup require software for the "grownup" computer? LeapPad probably uses local LAN sharing (samba) which guest networks don't do.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
My kids have a "Leapster explorer" which plugs into a real computer via USB so the kids can download "tokens" or whatever. (And pay for games, too.)

Does your setup require software for the "grownup" computer? LeapPad probably uses local LAN sharing (samba) which guest networks don't do.


I don't remember the instructions asking us to download any software, but that would certainly explain why the guest network isn't an option. I'll have to go back through the paperwork tonight and see if I missed something.
 
Originally Posted By: TWG1572
Originally Posted By: racer12306
Slightly sidetrack: Is your guest a separate router or did you manage to get a guest network through the N56U?

I wasn't able to find it quickly, then a little searching lead me to believe that the N56U didn't have guest function.

I bought the 56 on a whim because it was Black Friday and I needed a new router anyway. I assumed a modern router would have guest functionality, I assumed wrong.


Ok. I just double checked and I have the N66U. My bad. Sorry about that. But on mine, it's part of the options in the router menu. The options I have are exactly like what Rand mentioned above - password, time, etc...


Drats, got excited for a few.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Klutch9
Really weird login issue on my home UniFi network
Replies
4
Views
197
Donald
P
VPN tunnel between 2 homes over the internet, what kind of equipments?
Replies
16
Views
1K
uc50ic4more
Cmobile
Adding an AP to wifi router with same ssid?
Replies
7
Views
956
Cmobile
OVERKILL
Chinese botnet disrupted by the FBI - consumer devices affected
2
Replies
26
Views
2K
Revving2Redline
V
Anyone familiar with ProtectIQ ???
Replies
4
Views
2K
OVERKILL
Back
Top Bottom