If services such as Dropbox, Google Drive and Skype are online and working, yet you cannot find websites with your Internet Browser (Firefox, IE, Chrom, etc), then your internet provider's DNS server may be experiencing difficulties.
The DNS Server finds the IP address for a given domain name. An IP address is required to connect comupters. So when you type "google.com.au" into your internet browser, the DNS server will come back with an IP address "173.194.46.55". With this IP address, your computer can connect with Google.
DNS server settings are normally automatically set. But you can manually set them if you want to by...
- Go to "Network and Sharing Centre"
- Click the link next to "Connections:"
- Click "Properties" button
- Select "Internet Protocol Version 4" and then "Properties" button
- Select "Use teh following DNS server addresses:" and type in your manual address.
Below are some standard DNS servers for Western Australian providers. If you are having problems with your internet provider DNS server, you can try the Google one as a temporary fix until hey fix it up.
iiNet DNS
Primary: 203.0.178.191
Secondary: 203.215.29.191
Telstra DNS
Primary: 61.9.242.33
Secondary: 61.9.226.33
https://go.telstra.com.au/helpandsupport/-/dns-settings-for-accessing-bigpond
Google DNS
Primary: 8.8.8.8
Secondary: 8.8.4.4