Mifi4510L Won't allow connection at O'Hare?

[delgaudm]

Has anyone else had problems connecting thier Mifi at o'Hare airport? This is my second time to the airport in a week and in both cases the device will NOT show in the network list (on several devices - My Mac and my Android phone). I've been here once when the terminal was really really busy, and once when it was desolate at about 4:30 am.  Each visit to the airport, I was stationed in Terminal C.

However, I was able to connect to the device just hours prior at the hotel, and the MiFi SSID popped right up in the network list. 

Could there be interference from Boingo or some other network? I spend a fair amount of time at o'Hare Terminal 1 Concourse C and this could be a real problem for  me with this device. 

[Bnad]

I'm @ O'Hare now and having the same problem--had it 5 days ago when I came through here too. My SCH-LC11 works everywhere else. Here, the 4G light lights up but the Wifi light stays dark--have tried hard reset, and removing & replacing battery. Device worked after last trip thru Ohare but not while at OHare. Only 5 wifi networks showing on my devices' search results and none are personal hotspots. My guess is that O'Hare is scrambling or somehow disabling wifi Ethernet initiation from broadcasting devices like Mifis to protect its share of Boingo revenue. Typical O'Hare, whether it's this, or making **bleep** sure there are no electrical outlets for public use, O'Hare excels in undoing technological advances and enforcing a circa 2002 technological environment on its concourses so we're all forced to buy our connectivity from it when we're unlucky enough to pass through.

[jsz1]

I had the same issues ~ 3 weeks ago!  I thought it was my latop!

[Bnad]

I think I cracked this nut.  I am at O'Hare today.  When I was at O'Hare before with my SCH-LC11 I noticed that its Wifi function was disabled as soon as I turned it on.  Something in the O'Hare terminals is disabling powerup Wifi startup.

The solution is simple: just go someplace in the airport out of the way, where there is no (or weak) airport Wifi, to power up your Mifi or SCH-LC11 or other mobile hotspot.  It will turn on normally, with enabled Wifi, and for the SCH-LC11 at least, once the Wifi is on, it stays on no matter where in the airport you go.  O'Hare's evil anti-Wifi signal only affects my device on powerup, not during operation.  Once it is powered up with active Wifi, I can take it back to the areas near the gates, and I can connect to it and disconnect from it, and its Wifi keeps working.  But if I power it down, I have to go back to a remote area to power it up.

Here are three areas that have worked for me today as far as allowing my SCH-LC11's wifi function to work on powerup:  1) while still on the plane waiting to deplane, 2) in the tunnel between Concourse B and Concourse C, 3) down the stairs toward the baggage claim (but not all the way out past the guard) across from gate B6.

[Bnad]

One more thing--knowing that Wifi signals don't travel well through water, I tried simply wrapping my hands tightly around my SCH-LC11 as it powered up at O'Hare.  The water in my hands blocked O'Hare's evil anti-mobile-hotspot waves enough to get my SCH-LC11 started with an enabled Wifi signal.

[willzzz99]

The REAL answer is SIGNAL INTERFERENCE FROM TOO MANY WIFI NETWORKS (aka Enterprise/Industrial WiFi networks broadcasting very high power!).

The fix is to change your MiFi hotspot's WiFi channel from something NOT used by the industrial WiFi AP (Access Point's) in the airports, most likely from 1, 6, or 11.

If it's on 6 by default I believe change it to 1, if that doesn't work change it to 11.

If that doesn't work (becasue those 3 are the IEEE 802.11g non-overlapping SPECTRUM BANDS) change it to in-between 1 to 6 to 11.

I have a faster way because I have technical development tools that allow me to scan the WiFi enviroment to see which channel the EXISTING industrial WiFi networks are on and to one that isn't used (you have to be trained/smart to use this, this is NOT for a consumer).

This is NOTHING DELIBERATE. Because a-lot of Airline/Airport IT runs on PRIVATE networks these days (heavily encrypted WPA2-AES Enterprise) including Mobile WiFi baggage tag scanners to update baggage information before it is loaded onto a plane and when unloaded (some airlines). Also mobile check-in kiosks and mobile airline IT stations to re-issue/change tickets, etc.

This is similar 2 JFK/EWR/LGA to an extent I believe.