UPC Wi-Free in Switzerland doesn't work (yet?)

Nara · 2021-04-18T09:55:46+00:00

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Nara

I have UPC internet abo and Wi-Free activated since a few months but I was not able to connect to it yet. It’s not that critical for me but since it’s there I wanted to have it configured.

My modem is broadcasting Wi-Free network. I have read that I cannot test the connection on my own modem so I always turn it off before the test.

Whenever I try to connect I get warnings about a certificate, when I accept it anyway I just get login fields again displayed in a few seconds.

Looking at the certificate details, it’s actually not a certificate from UPC, furthermore it’s a test certificate. That certainly looks wrong. Did somebody hijacked UPC?

How should I report it, and get it finally fixed?

Daniele_Sunrise

Nara Welcome to the UPC Community!

We only see one Wi-Free in your building, which may be yours. Try to turn off your modem. Then restart your device that wants to use Wi-Free. Then scan the WIFIs again. Do you still find a Wi-Free?

Greetings
Daniele

Nara

I did make sure that it’s not my Wi-Free. However indeed the signal is quite faint so I took the laptop for a walk. There’s many places with strong Wi-Free signal around Renens. I still cannot connect (providing my email as user name and the Wi-Free password). The certificate was the same everywhere I have tried.
Could you confirm that it is a correct certificate (though I seriously doubt someone would spread a fake UPC Wi-Free network around the town).

Do you have any suggestion what to do next? If you provide me with a direct contact I could let you know when I’m trying to connect (at which place and time) so someone could checks some logs maybe?

adrianlondon

That certificate is correct, despite the weird “WiFi Test 0001” name.

Nara

I cannot check the password for Wi-Free, just change it - I did it a few times so it should definitely be applied by now.

Maybe some component in the authentication does frown upon my user name which contains ‘+’ signs? I have seen a lot of legacy services which freak out seeing my email address (which is good btw as all the old broken spamming services seems to reject it 😁).

UPC, can you confirm that a valid email goes all along the authentication path without issues?

Daniele_Sunrise

Nara Unfortunately we can not test this. If your problem persists, I recommend you to call our technical support at 0800 66 88 66 (dial German and then be connected to an English speaking person), so that they can analyze your problem in more detail.

Greetings
Daniele

Nara

Unfortunately the Wi-Free is just a marketing gimmick. One has to be really close to the UPC router to be able to connect so forget that you’ll ever login to Wi-Free from a public place.

As a matter of fact I had the same problem with connecting to my own router from my terrace. You know, summer is coming so I prefer to work outdoors. It turned out that I have to enable 2.4GHz on the router and connect to that network. Somehow the 5GHz network is seen as one having a very strong signal but I cannot connect to it ¯_(ツ)_/¯, so it’s either some (planned) bug in the router or it’s a fancy limitation of 5GHz radio. In the second case UPC should really broadcast the Wi-Free in 2.4GHz band.

adrianlondon

You’re having unusual issues.

Wi-Free works well for me. I get a good signal in my flat, and that’s despite my neighbours above, below and opposite me not using UPC. I’ve no idea where it’s coming from! It also works in my local park, although I do need to sit near the edge so that I’m closer to the buildings lining the road opposite.

I’ve just checked and Wi-Free does use 2.4 GHz. In my flat, 5GHz works everywhere and it’s never dropped to 2.4GHz. Your problem sounds like your terrace is too big! Swap for my tiny balcony? It’ll fix your 5GHz issue 🙂

Nara

adrianlondon indeed, the Wi-Free is broadcasted on 2.4GHz. I checked again on the go on my mobile today, but I still couldn’t connect despite a strong signal.

PS. I’m living on the ground floor :-) working many times these days about 5 meters from my windows. I could perhaps use longer cable and put the router on a windowsill but 2.4GHz is good enough for most of my work.