Ah well. Since I'm not getting any answers from MR, i decided to do my own research and I managed to resolve my own issues.
For those who are interested, this is my solution (it basically solved all my connectivity issues so far, including connection to Crashplan cloud servers):
Issue - Can ping and tracert to (some) websites, but cannot use browsers to connect to them
The issue is due to my MTU on my Ethernet LAN port needs to be set at a lower value than the default 1500.
Step 1 - Find your ideal (best) MTU value from this instructions:
Best MTU and MRU settings for ADSL2 Modems? - The Warcom Blog
or
MTU Limit - Test and change your connection's MTU limit - Windows 7 Help Forums
Step 2 - Edit your Ethernet LAN port MTU to the (best) value found in Step 1.
How do I change the MTU setting in Windows 7? - Microsoft Community
[Summary steps for Step 2]
1. Open a command line window as an Administrator (ie. right click on
All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt and select
Run as administrator) ...
2. Type the command
netsh and wait for the prompt to change to
netsh>
3. Type the command
interface and wait for the prompt to change to
netsh>interface
4. Type the command
ipv4 and wait for the prompt to change to
netsh>interface>ipv4
5. Type the command
show interfaces
6. Note the
Name of your ipv4 interface
7. Type the command
set subinterface "full Name of the interface" mtu=xxxx store=persistent
Where "
full Name of the interface" = something like "Local Area Connection 4" (notice the
4 on the end) and "
xxxx" = your router MTU, such as "1492"
8. Hit Enter and you should receive an
OK. confirmation
9. Type the command
show interfaces to confirm the MTU was updated to the new value
10. Type
exit to return to the command prompt from netsh
Done!
Other Steps - I also altered the MTU settings for my Router, NAS, other PCs/Macs etc.
Hope this helps some folks here.