Re: Laptop Connects to WAP, But Cannot Access 'Net

On 03/26/2012 12:29 PM Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Mar 2012, Bengt Richter wrote:
>
>> Could there be an http-only page demanding you agree to terms of use
>> before they open other ports? Have you tried to access with a browser
>> first?
>
> Bengt,
>
>     At the place I tried yesterday, yet. But, when I entered the URL nothing
> happened; firefox just sat there.
>
>     I did not try to reach their web site before establishing a connection to
> their WAP.
>
>> I have experienced apparent inaccessibility on the road just to find out
>> that ports are not opened until you click an agreement to terms-of-use in
>> an http page presented by a proxy I think, and I hadn't seen it because I
>> had tried to get email first, which was a port that was shut off.
>     I've seen this in a couple of the hotels where I stay on business trips,
> and when I cannot ssh to my network I remember that I need to access their
> web site first. But, I was not able to do that yesterday.
>
>     The other location is a coffee shop with unsecured wife access; no
> validation via a Web page required. Same inability to load a page despite a
> connection to the WAP. That's what makes this puzzling.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rich

Hm, maybe a DNS problem? Can you put in fixed DNS numbers for your ISP's DNS servers
to see if there's a problem with automatic DNS, if that's what you have going?

Can you ping a non-local numeric address that you know (maybe determine with your dell
or other working connection)? Or get there with browser?

Maybe kernel.org won't mind if you use their number:

   [14:35 ~]$ ping kernel.org
   PING kernel.org (149.20.4.69) 56(84) bytes of data.
   64 bytes from pub2.kernel.org (149.20.4.69): icmp_seq=1 ttl=54 time=95.5 ms
<snip>

You get to their web page if you do

   [14:35 ~]$ firefox 149.20.4.69 &
   [1] 17119

And the number is directly pingable:
   [14:36 ~]$ ping 149.20.4.69
   PING 149.20.4.69 (149.20.4.69) 56(84) bytes of data.
<snip>

<safely_ignore>
BTW, I first tried ping gnu.org, but going to their number with firefox
doesn't get you gnu.org, it gets you http://savannah.nongnu.org/
-- not relevant to your stuff, but not sure who is who there. Of course,
whois ... can reveal some info. All FSF numbers, apparently.
</safely_ignore>

Hope something jiggles loose ;-)

Regards,
Bengt Richter












Maybe kernel.org won't mind if you ping their number
14:35 ~]$ ping kernel.org
PING kernel.org (149.20.4.69) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from pub2.kernel.org (149.20.4.69): icmp_seq=1 ttl=54 time=95.5 ms



Maybe gnu.org won't mind:

[14:09 ~]$ ping gnu.org
PING gnu.org (208.118.235.148) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from wildebeest.gnu.org (208.118.235.148): icmp_seq=1 ttl=45 time=109 ms
64 bytes from wildebeest.gnu.org (208.118.235.148): icmp_seq=2 ttl=45 time=108 ms



Could there be a port 8080 vs 80 problem?

What does netstat -r tell you?