Linux Lubuntu can't deal with some websites

[#1]

I'm new to PlusNet.
If I use Windows 7 I seem to connect ok. If I use my prefered Lubuntu and Firefox I can't connect to e.g. Ebuyer. The router is obviously very activebut it blocks the router. Other devices it the house disconnect. I either have to reboot the router or reboot the laptop into Win7 and wait, eventually I can reconnect.
I tried Opera and get the same results. In Win7 I can connect to Ebuyer ok.
All this was not a problem on Orange, only had trouble since switching to PlusNet.

[#2]

Hi,
Are you using wireless or wired/ethernet?
Are you using the same router as you were using with Orange, or one supplied by Plusnet?

[#3]

Hi CX
thanks for the speedy reply
All wireless.
The router is the one I had with orange, it's a netgear N150 b/g/n - all I did swapping to PlusNet was to change the login details and to check the other settings as the help page for routers suggested, nothing needed to be changed.
What I like about the forum approach is it prompted me to do a little self help so I tried the old pc upstairs.
This is running Linux Mint and firefox and works fine, connected to Ebuyer first time.
Not sure where this points me but it's progress of a sort

[#4]

I would check a couple of things in the other pc.
If you open a terminal and try "ping bbc.co.uk -c 1" does it time out?
Check the resolv.conf (/etc/) and your network settings.
If all the above are fine then do you have a global proxy set or a local one in ff?
Does apt work i.e. can you install or update s/w and it is only a browser? If it is only the browser check to see if ufw is enabled and blocking http.

[#5]

Thanks for the suggestions Hairy Biker
I hadn't had Lubuntu on for long so there wasn't much to back up so:
Lubuntu was removed and Linux Mint installed instead, restored some data, launched firefox, googled Ebuyer, click the link and all locked up again.
The strange thing is the laptop then requests authentication and asks for the network key again, eventually it reconnects. This was the same on Lubuntu.
I tried the ping, all ok and obviously I can download other stuff as all the updates for Mint have run.
Frankly I've had enough for today, tomorrow I'll try hard wiring to the router and I have another router to try. I'll check on your other suggestions too.
If I avoid the known problem sites - Ebuyer and John Lewis - the rest all seem to work ok.
Oh I will have charged up the firm's netbook too, that's on Lubuntu.
Fun, fun, fun for a Sunday

[#6]

Try the 'iwconfig' command (for wireless) to check on signal strength.
Personally never had any trouble with Ebuyer or John Lewis.
Do you have any software that supposedly blocks porn sites or similar?
Try loading the 'wget' package (if not already installed).
In the command entry screen type

wget http://www.johnlewis.com/

You should see something like

Quote

Resolving www.johnlewis.com (www.johnlewis.com)... 193.35.250.79 Connecting to www.johnlewis.com (www.johnlewis.com)|193.35.250.79|:80... connected. HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK Length: 120498 (118K) [text/html] Saving to: `index.html' 100%[==============================================================================>] 120,498      658K/s  in 0.2s    2012-11-24 21:47:35 (658 KB/s) - `index.html' saved [120498/120498]

You should also get a file placed in your home directory, which you can delete.

[#7]

Given that the problem stays over 2 distros with only the /home being the same, I would do this:-
Create a NEW user and see if you can login to those sites, when logged in as THAT user.
If you can then there is something in your /home that is causing the issue.

[#8]

Thanks for the suggestions, had a cold and been feeling a bit tired so gave it a miss for a couple days
The problem seems to be with the atheros wireless drivers (acer laptop) reacting badly with this release of ubuntu kernel. there were similar problems in the last release.
Hardwiring ino the router makes the laptop perform flawlessly, go wireless and the problems return.
I found a post through googling from a chap in thailand who had the exactly same symptoms and he posted a link to a solution. when I get the network to myself I will try it out.
http://pleph.appspot.com/init/posts/view/2657865

[#9]

Not all Atheros devices are bad:-

Quote

jeremy@HECTOR:~$ lspci | grep Network 05:08.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR5212/AR5213 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)

This works fine for me.

[#10]

I wouldn't blame the atheros wireless adapter, blame the crappy router for crashing.