Use TechDash offline and behind captive Wi-Fi

Understand what remains available and what waits without stable internet.

Last checked 20 August 2026

After a successful license validation, temporary loss of internet access does not by itself lock TechDash. You can open the local interface and review stored websites, incidents, settings, and reports. Work that needs a remote destination waits until a stable connection is available.

What remains available

Previously stored local data remains available because the database and website assets are on this computer. You can review existing incident evidence, change local settings, pause websites, and inspect the last known status.

The interface is not a fully functional offline monitor. Page checks cannot make a new observation without reaching the page, and remote services cannot return new data. A displayed result is therefore the last stored result, not proof that the website still has that state.

Work that waits

These workloads need network access:

  • Monitored-page rendering and destination or image probes
  • robots.txt, sitemap, llms.txt, favicon, and screenshot requests
  • SSL, domain registration, and DNS lookups
  • Google OAuth and Search Console requests
  • License validation and software-update checks
  • Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Discord webhook delivery

The schedulers reconsider due work after connectivity returns. Page-check and site-resource schedulers sweep about once a minute, and resume also prompts a new check for due work. A large offline backlog is admitted gradually according to queue capacity rather than starting every overdue page at once.

Understand the tray status

When TechDash sees no usable connection, the tray tooltip is TechDash: Waiting for internet. When a network redirects or replaces the expected connectivity response, it is TechDash: Wi-Fi sign-in required.

TechDash tests connectivity with a small Apple captive-network request and can fall back to Microsoft's connectivity endpoint. A response that looks like a login page is treated as captive Wi-Fi. The result is cached briefly, so the tooltip may not change the instant the network changes.

To recover from captive Wi-Fi:

  1. Open a normal browser.
  2. Visit a non-sensitive page and complete the venue or network sign-in.
  3. Confirm ordinary HTTPS pages load.
  4. Wait for the next scheduler sweep, or use Run now on one monitored page.

If Run now reports Wi-Fi sign-in is required before TechDash can check pages., the captive check still has not succeeded. If it reports This computer is offline. Page checks will resume when internet is available., verify DNS, VPN, firewall, and proxy access.

License behavior while disconnected

TechDash normally revalidates a licensed installation after 24 hours when connectivity is available. Network errors, timeouts, server failures, invalid response bodies, and HTTP 429 rate limits are treated as unreachable. They do not become an authoritative invalid, revoked, or in-use response, so a previously validated installation remains usable.

This protection is not a way to activate a new installation offline. Initial activation requires the license service. An authoritative response that the license is invalid, revoked, or bound to another device locks the app.

An ended updates-and-support date also does not lock monitoring. It affects which later software releases the license can receive.

If only some work remains stale

A green internet connection does not guarantee every destination is reachable. A monitored site can block this computer while Google APIs and updates still work, or a firewall can allow pages while blocking Search Console or webhooks.

Identify the stale queue under Queue Status. Then test the relevant destination and use Run now only for a page-check problem. Do not repeatedly run checks across many pages, because that can increase a backlog without resolving the network restriction.

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