Tiger cripples Safari and Mail for WiFi

Question

I was at a Panera Bread store attempting to connect to their free WiFi access. While my airport showed a connection at full power and all airport diagnostics reported the airport connection to PANERA working fine, Safari and Mail would NOT WORK. Blank screens under Safari and Mail would not connect.
Under Panther, I had no trouble connecting to any Panera Bread WiFiÑno adjustments needed, the airport in my PowerBook just connected. But under Tiger, however, I was unable to view web pages within Safari or use Mac Mail.
After spending 20 frustrating minutes trying to get a web page to appear under Safari, I opened Internet Explorer for Mac 5.2 and much to my surprise, Panera Bread log-in web site appeared right away. Once I was on the Panera WiFi using IE for Mac 5.2, I was then able to use Safari and Mac Mail.
Can anyone explain to me why I had to use Microsoft Internet Explorer for Mac to gain access to Panera Bread's FREE WIFI site, while Safari would only display a blank page?
Can anyone explain to me why Mac Mail would not work with Panera Bread's FREE WIFI until after I had accessed the service using Microsoft's Internet Explorer for Mac?
Others have reported using FireFox to access the Panera Bread's free WiFi because Safari wouldn't display any web pages.
Under Panther, I didn't have this problem. With Tiger, it wouldn't work. Nothing!
Can anyone explain why this is happening? Or is this not considered a technical issue? It seems to be a big technical issue, especially when one needs to email critical business information and the closest WiFi to do so was not accessible under Apple software!!!!!!!!! Nope, doesn't sound technical to me.

Answer 1

I have a similar but not identical problem.
Everything had worked fine yesterday on my Powerbook G4 running Tiger with latest updates. Sice last night many applications (Safari, Software Update, .Mac, etc.) built into Tiger has lost internet connection through WIFI. The WIFI signal is full, provided by a D-Link wireless router. Firefox can connect to the Internet. Mail also works. But Safari, Software Update, and .Mac do not work.
The wireless router works fine for PC, and was fine with the Powerbook. It also works fine if I connect the Powerbook to it with a CAT5 cable.
I have restarted the router, cable modem, and the power book multiple times. I also renewed IP in the DHCP a few times. The problem persists. Can anyone provide any insights into the problem? Thank you in advance for your help.
Feng