These problems are usually:
-Difficulties with your ISP’s Domain Name Service - the sites are still there, but your ISP can’t properly tell your browser how to get to them.
-Difficulties with your ISP’s proxy -automated setups often include configuring your browser to use their proxy/cache (for God knows what reason) - removing the reference to their proxy in your internet settings hardly ever does any harm and often helps.
-Difficulties with your ISP’s connectivity - some friendly gas repairman may have dug through the cables carrying some of their bandwidth provision.
Hmm, I’m on Sympatico too, and I was experiencing problems this afternoon. I think our service goes through Toronto so I can see why that was down. It was strange though, being able to access some pages and not others!