Cannot use internet with new Acer Aspire

[yoyo]

I am wondering if anyone can help me. Perhaps I am asking a very stupid set of questions.

I have recently purchased an Acer Aspire with a view to having a portable device for internet browsing when on holidays and away from home.

Today I went up to London on the train and made several attempts to connect to the Internet. I managed to negotiate the connection menu and successfully made connections in Paddington Station, Starbucks and on the train to REading. However, whilst the connection was there I could not get past the front page and was unable to access my favourites / bookmarks etc. Was Firefox preventing me? How do I disable firefox? Are connections made away from home to be paid for even if there is no padlock icon? I had been told that Starbucks had free Internet but I could not see how to get it. I saw many people browsing with netbooks so what have I got wrong. I would be most grateful for any assistance.

 

[derall]

Don't know about the other places, but Starbucks uses pay-to-access WiFi from T-Mobile. You'll get the front page, but you'll have to hand over your credit card details if you want to get any further.

 

[Yellow Fang]

Some of these coffee shops have free internet access but you have to ask for the code to log on. Art coffee shops seem pretty good for free access. Some other places you have to pay and it can be quite steep if all you want is to download some e-mails. Firefox is your web browser, similar to Internet Explorer. You don't want to disable that.

 

[yoyo]

Thank you for your answers and please excuse my ignorance. All I wanted to do was play with my new toy and understand how it works away from home.

 

[marinyork]

Best off seeing what you can get really. A surprising number of pubs and cafes have wifi.

 

[hackbike 666]

I know other countries do free internet but in this country you seem to get nothing for free.An example is when I could browse the net at Narita Airport for nothing.

 

[hackbike 666]

Dunno I don't eat that crap.

 

[Downward]

Mcdonalds do but you need a code
It connects but you can't access Internet without said code.

 

[ufkacbln]

You normaly get a "home page"

Check on this for your ISP, you can then login to your normal ISP through these links if they are present.

 

[yoyo]

Check on this for your ISP, you can then login to your normal ISP through these links if they are present.
Do you mean that I can login to our home internet system?

 

[JamesAC]

Wetherspoon pubs offer free WiFi.

Pretty reasonable pint, too!

 

[Piemaster]

Wetherspoon pubs offer free WiFi.

Pretty reasonable pint, too!

Not in Hull they don't .
(Thats the WiFi, not the pints which I agree are reasonable)

 

[hackbike 666]

Dunno I don't eat that crap.

Sorry I was on my soapbox.