Like many institutions, lancs has an open wifi system that requires a login to access the 'net. The auth process is a simple enough HTTP request, and these bash scripts automate it. They should also work for other institutions, with a few tweaks.
Download WifiAuth.tar.gz.
First up, create/copy a lancswifirc file in your home directory. Whack your login settings in there.
Secondly, place the two bash scripts somewhere in your $PATH. I would recommend scripting them into whatever connection manager you use too.
Run the login script whenever you connect to the open wifi, and the logout script is fairly unnecessary really...