thanks, guys (tommie, php, dlewis23, FallowEarth), for the posted replies. i'll try those things you mentioned the next time this happens. the other day, while i was out for the weekend, i got word that my broadband connection got well again, the browsers (internet explorer & mozilla firefox) could browse normally again. and indeed, now that i'm at my computer with the broadband, the connection is working again like nothing happened. gheez!
thanks again, guys.