Connected to the internet but no pages will load...

I have a Linksys wireless adapter installed on my PC to connect to my home wireless network.

I have two laptops on the network, one PC running Vista and one Mac, and they both connect with no problems, but every time I shut down my desktop computer, when I boot it up again the internet won't work.

The Wireless Network Connection Status shows that I am connected just fine. It says that the signal strength is excellent, and I am connected at 54.0 Mbps. The computer seems to be sending and receiving information (right now it shows 692 packets sent / 196 received). But neither of my browsers (I use Chrome and IE) can load a single page, with the exception of my Gmail login page, which occasionally displays. But when I enter my login information, my inbox won't load, I just get the IE error page. On occasion, it seems that enough data gets sent back and forth for Gmail to tell me that my username and password are incorrect (I am quite sure they're fine).

I was originally using the Linksys adapter software to connect. The last time I rebooted and this happened, I disabled that software and started using the windows XP network manager instead and it started working again. Then, I had this problem a few more times, but it seemed to go away with a few reboots / tinkering around / hitting 'reload' persistently. Now I'm stuck. Any ideas?

 

I'm having this problem now with my sister's computer...ONLY. I'm trying to figure out what it is. All the other PC's and laptops get internet just fine. On hers it's showing up that she's connected to the internet & the network, however when I try connect to the internet via Firefox or IE, it shows up as a blank page.

Initially I thought it was a hijacking problem, but I can't find anything hijacking except for Dell and even then the site won't load for anything. So I went to the IP settings and saw it had switched to a dynamic. I assigned her IP address, but it's still not working. I restarted her PC, and it switched back to dynamic. Maybe you're having the same problem. Check your Internet Protocol settings. I'm still trying to figure out why her IP won't stay static.

I have another idea that the root of the problem may be more sinister in nature. >=( I'll let you know if I come up with something, but I suggest you check your IP settings first and make sure your IP is static. A dynamic IP could be a problem if it's out of sync with your router. In which case I would just reset the router & reboot. Maybe it'll work for you.