I recently upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy S7 from the S5 2-3 weeks ago, and had been pretty happy with my new phone. But within the past week or so, my S7 has been having problems connecting to public Wifi networks such as those offered by fast food/cafes (like McDonald's, Panera Bread, etc.). It has no issue connecting to my home and protected work networks, only to public Wifi that typically requires a "temporary ign in". In the past, when connecting to these networks, I'd get a screen pop-up that asks me to accept the terms and conditions in order to use the Wifi (Such as a "Get Connected" button for McDonald's, and an "Accept" for Panera). But now my phone seems to automatically "connect" to a Wifi network without ACTUALLY connecting (because the only way to really access these networks is by "accepting" their terms and conditions and "logging on" ), so even though the little wireless icon at the top shows that it is connected, the phone is actually NOT connected (for example, when I try to use Spotify free streaming on the Wifi network, as I used to do with my S5, the Spotify App says "no internet connection available").
I've tried "forgetting networks", turning Wifi on and off, restarting my phone, and nothing seems to work. A "trick" I used to do on my S5 was to open Chrome browser and type in "google.com", and this would automatically direct me to the "sign in" page for the Wifi being offered. Problem is, now when I try to do the same thing on my S7, it gives me an error message that "this network is not protected" or something to that effect, and I cannot do ANYTHING until I turn off Wifi and go onto 4G/data.
The only way that I've been able to get around this issue is if I can find the specific "Accept Terms and Conditions" or "Get connected" webpage/webaddress in my browsing history and opening that page directly. Then I press the button to get connected and it works as it should. But I do not have the specific addresses for all the locations I visit which have these public Wifi networks, and more often than not I cannot use the public Wifi, which is really frustrating. I'm wondering whether this is a Samsung or even a Galaxy S7 specific problem, since an employee at a McDonald's told me that recently people with Samsung/Android phones were having problems connecting to their Wifi, although Apple users weren't have any issues.
I really hope that someone can help me with this problem, since using Wifi is pretty essential for me. I also hope that my question made sense. I appreciate any help/advice. Thanks.
