No mo' Nomadix?

May 4, 2009 7:59 AM

Is there a way for me to disable/block Nomadix interstitial pages?

I'm staying at a hotel for the next several weeks, and while there's a relatively speedy Internet connection here, the hotel's Nomadix hotspot software inserts an interstitial page titled "Launch the Nomadix Console" after every few requests.

This interstitial page is a minor inconvenience for general web browsing, but when I use other apps (Transmit FTP, Lightroom upload to Flickr, etc.), the page often leads to stalled requests and stopped transfers.

Does anyone know of a way to instruct my computer -- OS X, Leopard, btw -- to ignore these interstitial pages?

posted by jacob to computers & internet (3 comments total)

This is probably happening at the DNS level - the most simple way to achieve it, but it could be something more complex.

If it's just DNS, try manually supplying your own DNS server in your network setup to override the one supplied from the DHCP server. You can use 4.2.2.1, 4.2.2.2.
posted by odinsdream at 8:33 AM on May 4

I think you are supposed to keep that console window open to maintain the current session, otherwise it will assign a new DHCP address. Some hotels I've stayed in have a Nomadix option - sometimes at extra cost - to let you use an externally-accessible IP address for VPN/conferencing. This may referesh less frequently.

Realistically, I've seen so many versions and variants of Nomadix installations that your best bet is to go through the help desk numbers on the off chance you'll find someone who can help.
posted by scruss at 8:34 AM on May 4

Good point Scruss; if this page looks like it's more of a status-type thing, it may be designed to stay always-open as a small window. This probably works great with Internet Explorer since it allows the popup to appear and size itself. With normal web browsers it replaces the whole current page and does not work as a popup. In that case wait for it to appear, then leave it alone and open another browser window to continue your work in.
posted by odinsdream at 8:41 AM on May 4