Connecting to Terms And Conditions (free WiFi sites)

[ChrisGreaves]

(forum?)
[This is for curiousity only, really; it is not a life-threatening issue ...]

I am a regular user of free WiFi sites - coffee shops, libraries, hotels etc.
Typically I sit down, do the Connect-thing icon (lower right corner of my Win7 system) and once connected I fire up my browser (Firefox) and THEN I need to confirm the host-sites Terms And Conditions, be they Toronto Public Library, Starbucks, Marriot Hotels etc.
Only, sometimes that entry-to-our-portal page doesn't appear.

Bookmarks.png

So like many an experienced user before me, I start clicking madly, randomly, at everything in sight until something works.
Of late I have noticed that clicking on the National Weather Radar button (NWS) seems to trigger the host's Terms And Conditions page. Royal Bank Corporation (RBC) seems good, too.
But other bookmarks (Google Maps, Google News, Eileen's Lounge) leave me staring at a "Try Again" button.

Does anyone here have an idea why some bookmarks are better at waking the system than others?
I know that it could be the bookmark itself - the specific combination of characters, or it could be the root web page - sometimes typing Starbucks into the URL box does the trick.

In the past I have been reduced to powering OFF the laptop (not restarting, but a cold boot) and re-connecting, and even then that's not guaranteed.

I plan on setting NWS as my home page to see if, for the next two weeks, connections and Terms And Conditions run smoothly.

Open to any other suggestions.
But again, I'm more curious than annoyed, let alone inconvenienced.

(signed) "Well-connected guy" of Toronto.