You may find that your Mac or PC has trouble connecting to the Via Rail wifi network. The free service requires that you login and accept the terms of use on an internal web page. However you may not be able to load this web page – if you have your DNS servers hard coded (entered by hand) to something like Google’s DNS servers.
The preferred way to connect on these “guest” networks is to leave the DNS entry blank. When you connect to the service the internal network server will supply the DNS that allows your computer to find the web page, where you can accept the terms.
This DNS snafu may also apply on a guest network at a hotel or coffee shop. On My Mac, I made a new location called “ViaRail WiFi” and left the DNS empty. When I get back to my home/office network, I will switch it back to my own preferred settings.
Hi there. I have a work laptop, and I think I am running into this same issue on via rail. How would you do the equivalent on a Win7 machine (i.e. – create a New location) ?