Network says "online", no surf

[tom bell]

I had a problem I have seen mentioned in this list.  I was able to get
"Wifi Radar" to connect to my home wireless router (protected) but could
not get Firefox to surf.  It kept saying I had no network connection. 
Needless to say, this drove me crazy!!!
I finally found a solution.
I opened FF (3.0, by the way) and under the EDIT menu I clicked on
Preferences
I then clicked on the tab ADVANCED.
On the advanced page appeared several more tabs.
I clicked on the NETWORK tab.
On that page I clicked on the SETTINGS button over to the right.
On that page was a list of selections, the second of which was
"Auto-detect proxy settings for this network".
I clicked (for our British cousins, ticked) that one and closed everything.
I was then able to surf.
This really bugged me for about three weeks, and I am glad it is over. 
I only hope someone makes effective use of this information.
Good luck!

Tom Bell