internet hotspots

upstreamdownstream

I have bought one of those Dell laptops that were recommended by Money saving forum.
The laptop came with a built in wireless.

recently I was at a heathrow and tried to open up the internet using the wireless system.

the signal was shown as excellent but I could not log on since it was showing as limited or no connectivity.
what does this mean and why could I not log on to the internet?

This also happened on the way back at another airport.

Have I to set my lap top to receive internet at hot spots?

Also I could not connect to my hotels LAN - so could not access the internet from my laptop in my hotel room.

So all I did was watch movies on my laptop !!!!!

Can someone tell me how to go about getting this sorted

fairytooth

While some wifi hotspots are totally free and accessible, many are not and you need to subscribe to the service. Check out BT Openzone as an example.

Even if you are lucky enough to find a free hotspot you need to be sure your laptop is correctly configured to automatically connect to it. Right click on the wireless LAN icon bottom right of your screen and adjust properties to enable it.

Also you can buy a wifi hotspot finder for about £10 which saves booting the laptop every time you think you are near one.

Finally, the hotel one should have worked as these are usually free. Check with reception next time.