Public Wi-Fi, handled quietly.

CafeSignal lives in your menu bar and watches for useful open public Wi-Fi. When your Mac is offline, it connects to the best suitable network and surfaces captive portals only when you need them.

Download for macOS View release notes

Requires macOS 14 or later. Free direct download.

CafeSignal

Checking for open public Wi-Fi

Last check just now

Current Connection

Cafe_Free_WiFi

Other Networks

Airport Guest

Hotel Lobby

Coworking Open

Portal ready when you need it.

Works in the background, so you can stay in the moment.

Purpose-built for public spaces, CafeSignal focuses on open Wi-Fi, portal handling, and quiet status you can trust.

Auto-connect

Looks for suitable open public networks when your Mac is offline, then tries the best candidate without repeated clicks.

Portal detection

Checks whether normal internet works and opens the captive portal when the network still needs your action.

Private by design

Skips password, enterprise, paid, and account-only networks. CafeSignal does not collect personal browsing data.

Smart, simple, silent.

CafeSignal avoids aggressive reconnect loops. It checks your current connection first, scans at a low frequency, and only acts when there is a clear public-network opportunity.

Your Mac wakes without Wi-Fi.

CafeSignal ranks nearby open public networks.

It connects, checks the internet, and opens a portal only when needed.

Built with clear boundaries.

No password cracking, account bypassing, payment bypassing, or hidden portal submissions.

Password, enterprise, paid, voucher, and account-only networks are skipped or left for the user.

The app only needs enough local network state to decide whether public Wi-Fi help is useful.

Get CafeSignal for macOS

Download the latest notarized DMG. After installing once, CafeSignal can receive future updates automatically through Sparkle.

Download latest DMG Sparkle feed