Connecting to public wifi hotspots

[Colin Law]

On 18 February 2013 17:57, JD <jd1008 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 12:54 AM, Karl Auer <kauer at biplane.com.au> wrote:
>>
>> On Sun, 2013-02-17 at 13:09 -0700, JD wrote:
>> > On Sun, Feb 17, 2013 at 1:01 PM, Karl Auer <kauer at biplane.com.au> wrote:
>> > > You can check the DNS situation using dig:
>> > Well, apparently, you are not aware of the entire thread.
>> > [etc]
>>
>> "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, *however
>> improbable* must be the truth" - Sherlock Holmes.
>>
>> > The problem I presented is that Using Ubuntu and firefox,
>> > I am unable to connect with open hotspots because most
>> > of these hotspots require that you open the browser, which
>> > automagically to the hotspat's start page (I do nto not know how,
>> > perhaps
>> > via a directive from the hotspot's server),
>>
>> Exactly. You do not know. So the starting point is to find out what
>> exactly works, and what exactly does not work, as expected. If you
>> replace the word "because" in your sentence with a full stop, you have
>> several facts. But the statement that some of those facts are related is
>> not yet known to be true. Plausible - yes. True - maybe.
>>
>> The first thing your browser - any browser! - does is to resolve the
>> given URL host into an IP address. This may be IPv4 or IPv6, and it may
>> be multiple addresses. If you actually do "dig www.google.com any" you
>> will see quite a few addresses for Google.
>>
>>    www.google.com. 300 IN AAAA 2404:6800:4006:804::1014
>>    www.google.com. 300 IN A    74.125.237.144
>>    www.google.com. 300 IN A    74.125.237.145
>>    www.google.com. 300 IN A    74.125.237.146
>>    www.google.com. 300 IN A    74.125.237.147
>>    www.google.com. 300 IN A    74.125.237.148
>>
>> The browser then starts at the top of this list and works through them,
>> trying for a connection (that's a simplification, as that list may be
>> reorganised by the resolver, and some browsers get tricky with what they
>> try, but it's good enough for now).
>>
>> A lot of hot spots work by faking initial DNS responses - the browser
>> looks up www.google.com (or anything else) and the hotspot nameserver
>> returns some completely other address which is the local address of
>> their login page. Others capture the actual connection - the browser
>> gets the correct addresses back from the DNS, but any attempt to
>> actually connect is "diverted" to the login page.
>>
>> So the *first thing* to check is whether your Linux host can and does
>> correctly resolve the target URL. If it does, then we move on. If it
>> does not, then we have something we can work with. Doing "dig" at the
>> hotspot tells you what the hotspot returns; putting literal addresses
>> into a browser tells you what you connect to (if anything) when you use
>> those addresses.
>>
>> > So my problem has nothing to do with getting to me browser's
>> > default home page.
>>
>> Clear the mind of preconceptions and assumptions. Work only with what
>> you know to be fact (because you have actually checked it), not with
>> what you assume, presume or hope. Maybe the above assumption is
>> absolutely correct! But right now you don't actually know that.
>>
>> > firefox does not behave as it behaves on windows when it comes
>> > to connecting through hotspots.
>>
>> There are many differences between the two environments you are using.
>> You may take a short cut and get lucky - or you may end up thrashing
>> about. By all means take those short cuts (like checking for that cert
>> problem someone mentioned), and if they work, that's great - lots of
>> time saved. But if they do not, get ready to go back to first
>> principles. That way lies almost certain success, though it may take a
>> little longer.
>>
>> Regards, K.
>
>
> After the NM declares that it is connected,
> doing nslookup of ANYHTING, times out!
> Doing dig of any web site, times out!

Nothing to do with FF then.

> Opening the browser to go to default home page
> displays the FF error to the effect Server Not Found.
>
> This by the way does NOT happen with hotspots that do not
> require agreeing to the hotspot's usage policy in order to
> be connected to the public net. A case in point is
> my Android cell phone, which I can put into hotspot mode.
> I can connect almost instantly to the public internet.
> Of course I did this as a test (i.e. open: no passphrase).
>
> So, whatever it is that the Windows version of FF honors,
> it does not happen with the Linux FF.
>
> By the way, I recall having the same issue with FF when booting Fedora.

Since you have just proved that it is nothing to do with FF (since dig
also fails) why do you keep going on about FF.
What about all the other things people suggested you tried?

Colin