WLAN/WIFI connection problem
 

I have recently got a phone that for the first time allows me internet access (Nokia C3-01). As I have no data allowance in my VM contact, I do not wish to use Virgin's network to access the internet, but to use only available WLAN.

I have sucessfully connected my phone to my home network via my router and am able to use the internet using that, but I cannot connect to any other WLAN eg. WIFI hotspots or any other routers other than my own. When I search for WLAN, I can find available unlocked WIFI, and although I seem to be able to connect to the WLAN, when I try to access the internet I get a message 'Connection failed, check your internet settings'.

I don't see how my configuration settings can be wrong when I can connect to my home WLAN with no problem (and anyway, I have got the settings by text from VM), so why would it give that message when I try to connect to any other WLAN?

I don't ever want to use Virgin mobile internet and would like to block it so as I only ever access the internet via WLAN>

Does anyone know how to advise me on this?

Thank you.

Re: WLAN/WIFI connection problem
 

you are most likely getting the 'connection failed' because you are trying to connect to an open network that you are not authorized to use, .... for example when you search for networks your phone will list all the networks within range ... you then select an open network such as BT OPENZONE .... however there is a problem here because BT OPENZONE is not actually an open network .... it's an unsecured network in that no passcode is required to access it however you do need to be a BT customer in order to use it (account info needs to be entered to get access), this will apply to other networks as well such as O2 networks.

networks used in pubs etc (most pubs use 'the cloud' (now owned by sky) as their service provider) are unsecure networks that can be accessed by anyone however you have to first pay for access and will be directed to the payment page upon connection to the network

Its actually quite hard to find free wifi although some hotel do provide it so you could try a few .... however whenever i want to connect for free i find that a wetherspoons pub to be great as they offer free wifi (and i can have a nice pint of real ale too) some of the McDonalds restaurants (if you can call them that :) ) also offer free wifi

Re: WLAN/WIFI connection problem
 

Thank you very much for your reply, grim reaper. Well, that is definitely food for thought as I hadn't been aware of restrictions on WIFI - I just thought it was free and accessible if it showed up on a WLAN search as unlocked. That will clearly be the problem I'm having on the majority of occasions.
However, there is one particular wifi which is supposed to be freely accessible at a shopping centre near where I live. My daughter and my sister were both able to access it and download etc from it, and although my phone indicated I was connected to it, I was not able to do anything with the connection, as in go on Facebook, emails etc. Again I got the message 'connection failed, check your configuration settings'.
We have both a Wetherspoons and a couple of McDonalds locally, so I will try and give it a go from there and see what happens. I will start with Wetherspoons - a nice beer being supremely superior to a cardboard tasting burger!
Thank you again for taking the time to assist.

Re: WLAN/WIFI connection problem
 

if the network is truely free then you should be able to connect, there aren't really many things that you can change to stop your wifi from connecting, ....i'm not familiar with the nokia C3-01 but check your settings and ensure they are set to obtain ip address automatically (static ip is turned off) ... if there is an option for dns then this should also be set to get automatically (may be worded different ... ie obtain from network/provider etc)

Re: WLAN/WIFI connection problem
 

Interesting that you should mention that as the BBC have just done an article on it

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14835059