WiFi connection issue - IE cannot display the web page

I have a Studio 1537 laptop that I would like to be able to use for remote WiFi access.   This is the first time I've tried to this.  I recently went to a Panera Bread which has free WiFi.  I was able to connect to their site.  I tried to navigate to another site, like my home page.  The connection was really slow.  Then I got the message "Internet explorer cannot display the web page".  I clicked on the Diagnose Problem button and after Windows ran its process, it said it couldn't find any problem with my network connection.  When I closed that little window, my home page then displayed.  It wasn't my customized Yahoo home page but the generic home page.  When I tried to navigate to another site, I got the same message as before.  Sometimes when I refreshed the page, it would then display; sometimes it wouldn't.

I've been doing some research and found out I may need to load IE without add-ons.  I will try that.  I don't know if the problem might be my internal card doesn't have a strong enough signal.  The wireless card is a Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN half mini card 4312BC.  I was thinking about getting a wireless adapter that would boost the signal or something.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.