Wi-fi login page no longer loads in Safari: can't join network

Question

We have paid wi-fi in our apt building. My Mac Mini gets on fine: I pick the network from the AirPort menubar drop-down, launch Safari, the login page comes up, I enter my name & password and that's it. My MBP used to do the same. Now, I can still pick the network in the menubar drop-down, launch Safari, type some crap in the Google box, but the blue progress line only makes it to the "p" in the "http://www.google..." string. I dumped my /Library/SystemConfiguration folder and replaced it with the one from TimeMachine (and, yes, I did a cold shutdown to prevent "com.apple.network.identification.plist" from being overwritten by the "bad" settings in RAM).
Has this ever happened to anyone else? What do I delete, reinstall, or otherwise do?

Answer 1

I cannot get to the point of logging in.
Normally, after selecting my apt's network, Safari will automatically load the wi-fi's login page. This can be hurried, as you know, by typing crap in the Google field and hitting return.
Suddenly, this page is not loading anymore on my MBP: the light-blue progress bar only makes it to the "p" in the "http://www.google..." string.
It's not the wi-fi's fault: here I type to you on my Mini.