How to Turn Off Global Secure Access (GSA) for Hotel, Airport, or Guest Wi-Fi Sign-In Pages

Many public Wi-Fi networks — hotels, airports, airplanes, coffee shops, and conference centers — make you open a web page and accept terms, enter a room number, or pay before they let you onto the internet. That sign-in page is called a captive portal.

Because Microsoft Global Secure Access (GSA) routes your computer’s network traffic through Microsoft’s cloud service, a captive portal may never appear, or may fail to load. Microsoft documents this behavior: the GSA icon can report “Global Secure Access - could not connect to the Internet,” which means your device is either on a network with no internet access or on a network that requires captive portal sign-in.

This article explains how to temporarily turn GSA off so you can complete the Wi-Fi sign-in, and how to turn it back on afterward.

For general information about GSA — how to confirm it is running and how to install it — see How to Use Global Secure Access (GSA).

Before turning GSA off, check that you are actually dealing with a captive portal:

1. Confirm you are connected to the Wi-Fi network (the network name appears in your Wi-Fi menu with a checkmark).
2. Check the Microsoft Global Secure Access icon:
   • Mac: in the menu bar (top-right corner of your screen).
   • Windows: in the System Tray (bottom-right corner of your taskbar — click the ^ arrow to show hidden icons).
3. Hover over or click the icon. If it says “could not connect to the Internet,” and the network is one that should require a sign-in page, continue to Step 2.
4. Try opening http://neverssl.com in a new browser window. Many captive portals will only redirect an unencrypted page. If the sign-in page loads, complete it and you are done — you do not need to turn GSA off.

1. Click the Microsoft Global Secure Access icon in your menu bar.
2. Select Pause.
3. Enter a business justification when prompted (for example, Hotel Wi-Fi sign-in page), then re-enter your Biola sign-in credentials.

Pause turns GSA off for 10 minutes, or until you resume it, or until you restart your computer. If you need longer than 10 minutes, select Disable instead — that keeps GSA off until you turn it back on.

1. Click the ^ arrow in your System Tray to show hidden icons.
2. Right-click the Microsoft Global Secure Access icon.
3. Select Pause. If you do not see Pause, select Disable instead.

Disable keeps GSA off until you enable it again or restart your computer.

1. Open a new browser window. A private or incognito window works best, because it ignores saved pages.
2. The sign-in page should appear on its own. If it does not, type http://neverssl.com into the address bar and press Enter.
3. Accept the terms, enter your room number, or pay as the network requires.
4. Confirm you have internet access by loading any website.

1. Click the Microsoft Global Secure Access icon in your menu bar (Mac) or System Tray (Windows).
2. Select Resume if you paused it, or Enable if you disabled it.
3. Confirm the icon shows a green checkmark, which means GSA is connected and working correctly.

Restarting your computer also turns GSA back on.

If you turned GSA off and the sign-in page still will not load, try these in order:

1. Disconnect and reconnect to the Wi-Fi network.
2. Turn off other VPNs or privacy tools, such as Cisco Secure Client or iCloud Private Relay. These can block the sign-in page the same way.
3. Turn off private Wi-Fi addresses. On a Mac, go to System Settings > Wi-Fi, click Details next to the network, and set Private Wi-Fi Address to Off. On Windows, go to Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi and turn off Random hardware addresses. Some hotel systems reject randomized addresses or re-prompt you repeatedly.
4. Check another device. If your phone cannot reach the sign-in page on the same network either, the problem is the network, not your computer — ask the hotel or venue for help.

If none of these work, contact the IT Service Desk. Remember to turn GSA back on when you are finished.