Every time, I try to use my hotel's WiFi network, at some point of loging-in to it, I see that my browser (or WiFi connection pop-up) is redirecting through serie of websites, among which I can clearly see http://captive.apple.com/.
The thing is that I have absolutely nothing in common with any Apple-like device, because:
- I'm using either PC and Windows 7 (with Chrome) or Android device (with WiFi pop-up),
- I'm pretty sure that neither my hotel network's router nor any of its components isn't build up based on Apple device, simply due to costs (non-Apple-based solutions are cheaper, I think).
This answer and this question roughly explains (to a non-Apple user, like me), what this site or service is used for. But, the question remains: What it has to do with non-Apple devices or how such devices can be using it (how or why non-Apple device can be using Apple-like service)?
Best Answer
Source:
Apple hosts a landing page and makes a synthetic call to this when you join a network to test if the network is captive. Other vendors have similar portal detection hosts like www.msftncsi.com to detect captive networks, that's all.
It doesn't matter if the device you're using is a Mac, iPhone, Pixel, or Windows. The "Apple" part is only because they made it much easier for companies to offer wifi to their customers.