Just for the record, I fixed the problem of not getting to the internet. What I did, I have no idea because in my frustration I went into "click-fest" mode and sadly I cannot tell you what I did that was good.
I'm enjoying the hell out of OOTP3 btw, it's a great sim. I wouldn't mind the interface being cleaned up a little in OOTP4, but this game is so indepth, it's beautiful!