Windows 8 Can ONLY connect WIN 8 Dell XPS 13 at home

I have a Dell XPS 13 running windows 8 - owned by me, not my employer - and it connects just fine to my home router. However, I cannot connect it anywhere else. It will see networks, I'll enter the security key, and it will tell me it cannot connect. This has happened at my office, at coffee shops, and at friends houses. So I try all the suggested troubleshooting steps and end up in some infinite loop of complete unhelpfulness. I am not a developer, hacker, or other IT type so I have no idea what half the stuff they are telling me to do even means and most of the stuff (resetting routers etc) is not something I have the capability of doing anyway. Can anyone help? My other computers (an ancient Toshiba running XP and a Dell Latitude running windows 7) connect with no issues. What is the problem with this #$%& new machine??