skype but no web browser

Hi,

I am always on the road, and sometimes when I need to quickly check my email, i manage to find an unsecured wireless router and check my webmail. Quite a few times I have found that I can connect to the net using skype, but not with a web browser (ie firefox iexplorer.)

Can anyone shed any light on this?

thanks

 

The most likely reason is a DNS issue. For web browsing, DNS must work. Skype has it's own directory, and while it may use DNS, it would be easy for them to not require it. Next time this happens, try to ping a site like google and see if your system can find it. If not, DNS is the problem. You can work around this by adding a few addresses that you need to your hosts file. For example, the site for your web based email. It won't get you the whole internet, but it will let you check your mail. If you really need it to work, you could always get your own broadband card from Verizon or Sprint.