prolly a dns issue.....find one of the these
http://www.stayinvisible.com/index.pl/proxy_list
thats close to u (locality)and try that (tools--->options--->general--->connection setings--->manual proxy configuration--->stick a close proxy in and try a few)...its a common prob i have and sorts itself within 24/48 hours
:wink:
p.s above is presuming firefox is what your using