In extreme cases I run netsh winsock reset catalog as an admin from the command prompt or reset the Hosts file to default
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/972034You could also run the command
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt which is more for actual connectivity issues, but resetting won't harm.
MiniToolBox will show how many entries are in the Hosts file or you can press Win key+r and type
notepad c:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\Hosts then press enter.
Mine looks like this -
# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
# localhost name resolution is handle within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost
Search engines and DNS servers are different and I use my ISP's home page on both FF and IE which is AOL based.
Do you get the same hang in Safe Mode with Networking ?
I use IE and if a search starts to hang, I initially go Tools > Internet options > Content > Clear SSL state but I don't know if this would have any effect on Firefox, but if I remember rightly - this isn't browser specific for you.
Other than what you have already tried and changing the DNS servers either in the router or the computer - nothing else comes to mind and I don't think power cycling the router would help.