Vista - Vista connecting to office/hotspot

I just upgraded ultimate.

I can connect fine through hardline or my home network. I have tried
a
friends wireless network, and it worked there.

The problem I'm having is on certain hotspots and MY OFFICE:
specifically
those that require a log-in to work.

In the wireless internet box it says "Access: Local" whereas at home
it says
"Access: internet"

What is happening is that I connect to my office network or hotspot
and only
get local access. I go to google.com and dont get direted to the
page.
Instead it just gives the standard DNS error message that I'm not
connected
to the internet. Windows diagnostic repair does nothing either and
blames it
on my IP.

I've called Dell and they said this is a Vista problem that they don't
have
any answers for at the moment.

I've tried connecting with both IE and Firefox, the exact same thing
happens. Skype doesn't connect, Outllook email etc.

So
- it's not my computers hardware, since I can connect to other
networks
- it's not the office internet network or hotspot, since other
computers
work fine
- I suspect it's some new security feature or the IPv6?

Any suggestions?

I see that lots others are having this same issue connect locally but
not
the internet.

Any help would be appreciated