Unable to try the ultimate and express SKUs on three machines

I have just installed WIN Consumer and I have the following issues. I need some help.

I wanted to try the ultimate and express SKUs on three machines. The problem happens on both of these and both of them were upgraded from Windows 7. All I can say is that I am very happy that I performed an image backup!

I am able to install this properly and so, it is working on one machine and it is from a scratch install. Of course, it really should not be this difficult. Such kind of licensing problems have been avoided for years. What is the point in turning it back on now for such a big and important release, especially for people and developers who have historically been against this? 

The one machine that it does work OK on it decides to phone home. I run it every time, so that it can validate the license! I also need to be connected to the internet when I run it, or else, an error message pops up.
Please see screenshots for errors that are occurring. Thanks in advance!

Developer License: We couldn't get your developer license for Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Please check your network connection and try again.