Let’s check how you can turn off WiFi Hotspot auto connect using Intune. Wi-Fi Sense can connect you to open Wi-Fi hotspots collected through crowdsourcing, or to Wi-Fi networks that your contacts share with you through Wi-Fi Sense.
Wi‑Fi Sense can automatically make Wi-Fi connections on your computer so you can go online quickly in more locations. However, because an open Wi-Fi network doesn’t require a password to connect, anyone can connect to it.
By default, the OS might let devices automatically connect to free Wi-Fi hotspots, and automatically accept any terms and conditions for the connection. When you’re in range of one of these Wi-Fi hotspots, you automatically get connected to it. Other people might see info you send over the network.
The ability to turn off Wi-Fi Sense and Paid Wi-Fi Services will no longer be automatically connected to open hotspots that Windows suggests because the service is no longer available. Open Wi-Fi networks will still appear in the list of available networks, and you can still connect to them on your own.
Microsoft recommends setting catalog profiles to create and manage security policies for all Intune managed Windows devices. The Intune Settings Catalog is the best place for all the policy settings in Intune (MEM). In the settings catalog profile, you will also get an option Duplicate to create a copy of an existing setting catalog profile.
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Turn off WiFi Hotspot Auto Connect Using Intune
The following steps help you to turn off to connect automatically to a wireless network using Intune –
- Sign in to the Endpoint Manager Intune portal https://endpoint.microsoft.com/
- Select Devices > Windows > Configuration profiles > Create profile.
In Create Profile, Select Platform, Windows 10, and later and Profile, Select Profile Type as Settings catalog. Click on Create button.
On the Basics tab, enter a descriptive name, such as Disable WiFi Sense AutoConnect or Turn off the automatic connect to WiFi. Optionally, enter a Description for the policy, then select Next.
In Configuration settings, click Add settings to browse or search the catalog for the settings you want to configure.
On the Settings Picker windows, use the search box and type Wi Fi Sense, and click Search OR Select the Wi-Fi Settings category and double click on the category to see the settings name.
Select Allow Auto Connect To Wi Fi Sense Hotspots. After adding your settings, click the cross mark at the right-hand corner to close the settings picker.
The setting is shown and configured with a default value Allow. Toggle the switch to block the setting that allows the device to automatically connect to Wi-Fi hotspots.
If this policy setting is set to block, both “Connect to suggested open hotspots,” “Connect to networks shared by my contacts,” and “Enable paid services” will be turned off, and users on this device will be prevented from enabling them.
If this policy setting is set to allow, users can choose to enable or disable either “Connect to suggested open hotspots” or “Connect to networks shared by my contacts”.
Under Assignments, In Included groups, click Add groups and then choose Select groups to include one or more groups. Click Next to continue.
In Scope tags, you can assign a tag to filter the profile to specific IT groups. Add scope tags (if required) and click Next.
In Review + create, review your settings. When you select Create, your changes are saved, and the profile is assigned.
A notification will appear automatically in the top right-hand corner with a message. You can see that Policy “Disable WiFi Sense AutoConnect” created successfully. The policy is also shown in the Configuration profiles list.
Your groups will receive your profile settings when the devices check in with the Intune service the policy applies to the devices.
Intune Reporting
You can check Intune settings catalog profile report from Intune Portal, which provides an overall view of device configuration policies and deployment status.
To monitor the policy assignment, from the list of Configuration Profiles, select the policy, and here you can check the device and user check-in status. If you click View Report, additional details are displayed.
Additionally, you can quickly check the update as devices/users check-in status reports –
Intune MDM Event Log
The Intune event ID 813 indicates that a string policy is applied to Windows 10 or 11 devices. You can also see the exact value of the policy being applied to those devices –
You can check the Event log path to confirm this – Applications and Services Logs – Microsoft – Windows – Devicemanagement-Enterprise-Diagnostics-Provider – Admin.
MDM PolicyManager: Set policy int, Policy: (AllowAutoConnectToWiFiSenseHotspots), Area: (Wifi), EnrollmentID requesting merge: (6C05885D-4A9C-4EF9-A8A7-1EE0190B36A9), Current User: (Device), Int: (0x0), Enrollment Type: (0x6), Scope: (0x0).
If you turned off the ability for your users to use Wi-Fi Sense, they can not turn it on locally. You can validate the applied settings by selecting Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > Manage Wi-Fi settings, and then Connect automatically when in range is unchecked.