Can't connect to Google Starbucks wifi on Ubuntu 17.10

The problem in my case is that Ubuntu does not know how to access https://aruba.odyssys.net/cgi-bin/login. The host aruba.odyssys.net is the WIFI router.

The Work Around

• Find the IP address of that router and add it to /etc/hosts.
• In some situations you might need to also add a line to /etc/resolv.conf.

Detailed Steps

1. Find the router ip - in a terminal run:

   ip route
   

   (Example output: default via 172.31.98.1)

2. Edit the file by running sudo nano /etc/hosts to add the line:

   172.31.98.1 aruba.odyssys.net
   

3. Optional? sudo nano /etc/resolv.conf to add the line before any other nameserver entries:

   nameserver 172.31.98.1
   

After that the connection goes through without a hitch.

Bug Report

The problem seems to be bug report: 1766969.

Spoke to google Wifi support about this. There is a known problem with the Starbucks splash page if you register more than one device with the same email address. The first device you register will work but not the second one. If you can use a cloned MAC address on your wireless card you can get to the registration page again and use a different email address.

whois is not the right tool to lookup addresses, and it mostly deals with domain names anyway. To find IPs, use nslookup or dig or even ping:

>dig sbux-portal.globalreachtech.com

; <<>> DiG 9.10.3-P4-Ubuntu <<>> sbux-portal.globalreachtech.com
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 36541
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 5, AUTHORITY: 4, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 4096
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;sbux-portal.globalreachtech.com. IN    A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
sbux-portal.globalreachtech.com. 14121 IN CNAME sbux-portal.odyssys.net.
sbux-portal.odyssys.net. 1521   IN      CNAME   wlb1.us-east-1.sbux-portal.globalreachtech.com.
wlb1.us-east-1.sbux-portal.globalreachtech.com. 14121 IN CNAME wlb1-1579773356.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com.
wlb1-1579773356.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com. 1521 IN A 52.55.178.64
wlb1-1579773356.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com. 1521 IN A 34.233.215.66

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com. 1214 IN    NS      ns-1119.awsdns-11.org.
us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com. 1214 IN    NS      ns-1793.awsdns-32.co.uk.
us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com. 1214 IN    NS      ns-235.awsdns-29.com.
us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com. 1214 IN    NS      ns-934.awsdns-52.net.

;; Query time: 59 msec
;; SERVER: 127.0.1.1#53(127.0.1.1)
;; WHEN: Mon Apr 09 21:50:10 CEST 2018
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 346

>nslookup sbux-portal.globalreachtech.com
Server:         127.0.1.1
Address:        127.0.1.1#53

Non-authoritative answer:
sbux-portal.globalreachtech.com canonical name = sbux-portal.odyssys.net.
sbux-portal.odyssys.net canonical name = wlb1.us-east-1.sbux-portal.globalreachtech.com.
wlb1.us-east-1.sbux-portal.globalreachtech.com  canonical name = wlb1-1579773356.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com.
Name:   wlb1-1579773356.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com
Address: 52.55.178.64
Name:   wlb1-1579773356.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com
Address: 34.233.215.66

>ping -c 1 sbux-portal.globalreachtech.com
PING wlb1-1579773356.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com (34.233.215.66) 56(84) bytes of data.
^C
--- wlb1-1579773356.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 0ms

(ping will additionally confirm if the side is reachable, but not getting an answer can also mean that the site doesn't respond to ping requests).