I don't know where to start with my problem. It happens intermittently and is annoying.
The problem: Gmail won't load or download attachments.
Here are the computers I've tested the problem with:
iMac 10.6.7 fully updated with Safari 5.0.5
MacBook 10.6.7 fully updated with Safari 5.0.5
Win 7 notebook with Firefox 4 latest version
iPhone 4
I have reset/restarted all my software/browser cache/settings/router and still the following problems occur. I do not have manual DNS set up on ANY of my computers as far as I know - they all report DNS 10.0.1.1 which is the address of my router, and the router does not have a manual DNS setting.
The problem is that Safari loads Gmail but the activity meter continues to "spin" while it is loading the x out of x item in the status bar. It eventually gives up.
When I open a message and try to download the PDF attachment, nothing happens. It never makes it to my download window.
When I click "View", it tries to redirect me to "https://docs.google.com/viewer?........" but it stalls while it tried to load the PDF/viewer.
This happens on BOTH the iMac and the MacBook.
On the iPhone 4 I can use the Mail application and open the document to view without issues.
On the Win 7/Firefox setup I can DOWNLOAD the attachment, but if I click VIEW (ie. Google viewer) it stalls trying to load "https://docs.google.com/viewer?......."
My next step was to tether my computers to my iPhone 4 cellular data provided by Vodafone 3G.
This solved ALL the problems, and each of the computers was able to do as it should in downloading or viewing the PDF. I noted also that Safari managed to load the entire Gmail page without getting stuck on "loading x of x items".
What's going on here? This problem seems to plague me every few months or so and resolves on its own.
Any ideas? I'm frustrated.
Edit: For the sake of clarity I'm not using any adblockers. On my Macs I have no antivirus software installed. OS X Firewall is running I think, and the router is Airport Extreme with default security options, nothing fancy. The Win 7 notebook has MS Security Essentials running but nothing else.