No internet access from xfinitywifi

snedden

I have a new Aspire VN7-791G-730V with 8.1.  I am a Comcast cable customer and do not have or want a Comcast modem/gateway.  I want to get internet access using PUBLIC xfinitywifi hotspots wherever available, to which I am entitled, but it does not work. 

 

This laptop produces internet access from wifi (using an Asus router).  I reset the laptop to factory default, but it still would not produce internet access using public hotspot xfinitywifi. The xfinitywifi icon has an exclamation mark against it and says "limited" when connected.  Hovering the cursor over the icon in the system tray says "xfinitywifi no internet access".

 

So far, asking Microsoft (2+ hours with manager), Acer, and Comcast, and exhaustive internet searching, has produced no solution. In an attempt to fix the xfinitywifi problem after my factory default reset did not do it, the Acer service center reloaded the factory default software, flashed/updated the BIOS, and even replaced the Qualcomm network adapter with Foxconn.  The EXACT same problem remains.

 

Upon connecting after getting the laptop back, IE launched itself and the xfinitywifi sign in page opened once but would not accomplish a sign in when my user name and password were entered.  Reconnecting after "forget this network", results in IE opening but the sign in page will not open again.  In contrast, a seven year old Toshiba Satellite Vista laptop sitting next to the Acer produces internet access from the very SAME neighbourhood xfinitywifi signal automatically all the time, any time, every time.

No solution and the problem is NOT the xfinitywifi signal as PROVEN by an old Vista laptop and everyone else who uses xfinitywifi hotspots.  Something needs adjustment in this machine.

snedden

My current take:

For this 8.1 Acer laptop in factory default state, wifi is being handled differently than ethernet and how my Vista laptop does it.

 

The wifi signal from my Asus router is interpreted as a request that the password box at the top of the available wifi networks list be opened so a password can then be entered directly into Windows.  A secure wifi process can then be accomplished. That request is implemented and internet access is allowed when the correct password is entered.

 

In contrast, the xfinitywifi public hotspot signal is interpreted as a request that a web page be opened before any password is processed and accepted.  That request is refused such that IE opens itself in response to the request, but no web page is displayed.

 

For xfinitywifi, the password is entered into its log in web page, not at the top of the available wifi list.  Internet access must be allowed first for that to happen but it is prohibited for wifi.  Comcast is not about to change how passwords are entered for xfinitywifi.  So something has to change on my computer.

 

So for wifi, what can be changed to allow internet access without a password being entered and accepted first?