Wi-Fi freezes when not at home

I'm getting a weird issue where the wifi application (Settings>Wireless and Networks>wi-fi settings) will freeze or become unresponsive if I am not at my house. At home, it detects the network fine (I think the info is stored in my google account) and can connect to it. But when I am not home (and I've experienced this in many different locations) the application will freeze up resulting in a black screen or an error message (which I can't reproduce right now because I'm at home.) After maybe 10 seconds if me pressing the home button the program will close and I can go back to my home screen. I don't have the slightest idea of what the issue is, and I can't seem to find reference to this in the forums. Any suggestions?