topic TFL WiFi on new device in Network

TFL WiFi on new device

wincelow — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 14:31:54 GMT

Hi all,

I have been happily using the Three Wifi on TFL services for a numbers of years, but recently changed phone from a OnePlus 7 (Android 11) to a OnePlus 11 (Android 13). I've followed the instructions for connecting at Free Wifi on London Underground | Three, but that doesn't allow me to connect.

I set AKA as the authentication method, but instantly (i.e. there is no delay of even a fraction of a second) I receive an error message "Failed to connect to network". Does Three need to do something behind the scenes to unregister my previous phone from the Three WiFi service and add my new phone? Are they actively refusing my connection in the meantime? It seems weird that there is no attempt at a handshake or anything.

I spent about 20 minutes on Live Chat with someone but they didn't really know an awful lot about it, so hopefully I can get some support from here instead.

Thanks!

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

SE — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 11:03:26 GMT

I’ve the same issue. Three support are utterly useless. The can’t even elevate issues they are not trained in!

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

wincelow — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 17:22:50 GMT

Ok well that's semi-reassuring it's not just me. Out of interest, are you also using a OnePlus 11 on Android 13?

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

StephR — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 09:25:42 GMT

Hey @wincelow and @SE, thanks for joining us here at Three Community. I'm glad our free WiFi on the London Underground has come in handy for you over the years. Sorry you've both run into this error recently though, that's annoying!

I know you've mentioned following the steps on our support page already and that these didn't allow you to connect. What exactly was happening then? Did you see an error message at that stage, or were you simply not getting internet access? Was that at a particular station?

Just to clarify can you please try selecting the authentication method EAP (sometime shown as 802.1x EAP in WiFi settings) and EAP method = SIM. If you're using a dual SIM phone, just make sure to also select the correct SIM for authentication.

Let us know if this solves the problem, or if you're still having issues getting connected.

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

SE — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 14:44:51 GMT

where do I find this ?

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

SoSayWeAll — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 15:45:45 GMT

On Android you can find Wifi settings in the Settings app (from app drawer or swiping down from the top and finding the settings icon). It looks slightly different on different handsets and Android versions, but in the Wifi settings you should have an option to add a network and then you should see something like this:

Select the options as shown in the screenshot.

If that doesn't work, try again but in EAP method select "AKA"

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

SE — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 09:16:16 GMT

Thank you SoSayWe All,

Ive an iphone. Couldn't connect AGAIN.

Three support chat was 30 mins, or USELESS ness.

I welcome any advice. Three-Wifi pops up. But asks for username and password. I've tried putting in email and number and all options. NOTHING. Says UNABLE TO CONNECT! Three chat and support is UTTERLY useless. Thinking of going back to EE. There appears to be many people unable to connect with the same or similar issue.

Is there a way to get help from THREE to actually get support. Their dial up number is equally unable to answer basic questions. It may be a simple setting on my iphone? Im at a loss. and Three dont appear to care. I posted on trust pilot. Got a response from THREE asking me to their chat AGAIN. At which point after 30 mins, not even able to answer how I can elevate the issue. I think they are on multiple chats so respond taking 5 mins just to say, please bear with me or please let me search. UTTERLY USELESS!

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

StephR — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 13:52:11 GMT

Hey @SE, I'm sorry this is proving to be such a frustrating experience.

Can you please tell us which stations you're at when you run into this issue?
Have you been able to successfully connect at any other stations?

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

wincelow — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 21:08:06 GMT

Hi Steph, thanks for the response. I select SIM as the authentication method (apologies, just clocked I wrote AKA in my original message) and receive the following error. Can't figure out how to upload a picture, so hopefully that shows you what you need.

This occurs in every station (I've tried approximately 20 on various different lines), so I don't think it's specific to any one station. It seems to be failing across the whole network.

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

wincelow — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 10:48:51 GMT

Hi Steph, was there any update on this?

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

wincelow — Mon, 08 May 2023 09:02:21 GMT

Hi Steph, are there any suggestions here? This is key functionality for me, I've been without it for over two months now.

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

JonathanB — Wed, 10 May 2023 10:41:01 GMT

Hi @wincelow,

Sorry for the delay in updates. Can you try the EAP method as AKA instead of SIM please and let us know if you're still running into this issue?

JonathanB

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

wincelow — Wed, 10 May 2023 21:07:12 GMT

Hi Jonathan, unfortunately this doesn't resolve the issue. Is there definitely nothing that needs sorting from Three's side when I change device?

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

JonathanB — Thu, 11 May 2023 13:01:22 GMT

Thanks for trying this, @wincelow. Yeah the SIM should have all the settings required, and I've been advised EAP methods of SIM and AKA should work. We're updating our guidance as AKA should be more reliable, but it does seem like there's something more complicated going on here.

It really should just be a case of making sure your software is up to date, then amending that EAP method the very first time you connect.

I've also found a reference to a previous case, where having multiple SIMs was causing an issue with connecting to the service on a different OnePlus model.

Just to check are you using multiple SIM cards? If so make sure that your Three SIM is in SIM slot 1, and that Three is your "Preferred network" for data.

I'll check with some colleagues if there's any more advice around the OnePlus 11.

Thanks,
Jonathan

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

wincelow — Sun, 14 May 2023 22:33:07 GMT

Hi Jonathan, thanks for the update. Confirmed that it's a single SIM device, so no issues around multiple SIMs. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of it.

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

wincelow — Mon, 15 May 2023 19:40:18 GMT

Hi Jonathan, I was back in London today for the first time since last week and this randomly started working. Annoyingly I can't really explain what made it work (I've been trying both AKA and SIM authentication for a couple of months), so perhaps it was a phone software update? Either way, all sorted and hopefully nobody else has the same issue. Cheers

Re: TFL WiFi on new device

JonathanB — Tue, 16 May 2023 08:18:02 GMT

Hi @wincelow,

Yeah I suspect that OnePlus had some sort of software glitch that they've applied a patch for. Please let me know if you notice any further issues though.

Thanks,
Jonathan