The "ERROR Unable to enable Internet" message appears when Spotipo's servers cannot communicate with your UniFi controller, preventing guest authentication and internet access. This typically occurs after IP address changes, DDNS updates failing to propagate, or firewall configuration changes that block external access to your controller.
This guide walks you through diagnosing controller connectivity, identifying IP address changes, and updating Spotipo configuration to restore communication.
What you'll accomplish:
Check UniFi controller reachability status in Spotipo
Identify if public IP, hostname, or private IP has changed
Update Spotipo configuration with new controller address
Restore captive portal functionality
What you'll need:
Admin access to Spotipo dashboard
Knowledge of your current public IP/hostname
Access to router configuration (if port forwarding needs updating)
Diagnosing the issue
Why does this happen?
This error message occurs when Spotipo servers are unable to reach your UniFi controllers. To check if this is the case, log in to your Spotipo account and check the status of UniFi controller there.To do that, you need to navigate to Settings -> UniFi Controller.
From there on, you should see your UniFi controllers. If a controller's status message shows "Not Reachable," that means there is a problem between Spotipo servers and your controller. There are a couple of ways to fix this, and we will list them below.
Check for IP address changes
If you see this error, the most likely cause is that your UniFi device's public IP address/hostname has changed.
Check if that is the case first.
If your external IP address/host name has stayed the same, but the private address has changed, you need to change the configuration on your router. Most commonly, port forwarding rules need to be changed to point at the new private IP address.
If the IP addresses did not change, potential changes might have been made to the firewall, DNS server, etc. Please check that all of those are resolved before continuing with other steps.
However, if the host name or external IP address changes, you need to change the configuration settings in Spotipo as well.
If your controller is configured using DDNS, it is possible that the public IP address has changed and your DDNS provider hasn't picked up that the change in IP address has happened. Check if DDNS configuration is set up properly on your router and that the correct IP address is noted on your DDNS provider's site.
If you are using Duck DNS as a DDNS provider, you can check the solution to this problem here.
Changing Spotipo Configuration (Only if external hostname/ IP address has changed)
To do that, go to Settings -> Unifi Controller
If there is a problem with a controller, it should say "Not Reachable" as pictured above.
To fix that, select the gear icon next to the "Not Reachable" message and navigate to "Verify Host" option. Enter the new hostname/IP address here.
If you can move on to the next step after pressing next, the host name is valid. If you haven't changed the rest of the settings, you can keep them as they were.
If the change has been successful, the status of your controller should now be "Online".
Testing configuration changes
Try to connect to the network to check if the issue has been resolved.
Controller Connectivity Restored
After verifying your controller's current IP/hostname and updating Spotipo configuration if needed, the controller status should show "Online." Test by connecting a device to verify the captive portal works correctly.
Common causes checklist:
Public IP address changed (ISP reassignment)
DDNS hostname not updating to new IP
Private IP changed (requires port forwarding update)
Firewall rules blocking external access
Router configuration changes
Prevention tip: Use DDNS with reliable providers and verify updates propagate correctly. Monitor controller status in Spotipo dashboard regularly to catch connectivity issues early.
Still showing "Not Reachable" after updates? Contact Spotipo support via live chat or email us at [email protected] with your controller configuration details.