Ridiculous issue: Only GMail refuses to open

This has suddenly started to happen since yesterday. I'm on through a college internet connection through the college proxy. Every other thing works well, it's just GMail PLUS the entire google login system which refuses to work.

If I open Gmail in Chrome, I get a blank page, with loading in the tab name and "Sending Request" in the status bar. Then after a while:

This webpage is not available
Google Chrome could not load the webpage because mail.google.com took too long to respond. The website may be down, or you may be experiencing issues with your Internet connection.
Here are some suggestions:
Reload this webpage later.
Check your Internet connection. Restart any router, modem, or other network devices you may be using.
Add Google Chrome as a permitted program in your firewall's or antivirus software's settings. If it is already a permitted program, try deleting it from the list of permitted programs and adding it again.
If you use a proxy server, check your proxy settings or contact your network administrator to make sure the proxy server is working. If you don't believe you should be using a proxy server, adjust your proxy settings: Go to the wrench menu > Options > Under the Hood > Change proxy settings... > LAN Settings and deselect the "Use a proxy server for your LAN" checkbox.

I've tried other browsers too, it just doesn't work.

A few more points:
1. My hosts file is completely fine.
2. I've done virus checks
3. If I go to internet options -> Connections -> LAN Settings -> Proxy, the "Use a proxy..." box is ticked, but the "Address" and "Port" textboxes are greyed out!
If I go to "Advanced" then I can see the correct proxy and port though.


This is a very confusing problem, and GMail is probably the most important website for me, so please help!

I've tried my laptop from other LAN ports in other rooms, GMail still doesn't work. Then I tried other laptops from my LAN Port, gmail works.
I still spoke to them and they say there's no sort of blockage on GMail.

cyanide911 said:

...If I go to internet options -> Connections -> LAN Settings -> Proxy, the "Use a proxy..." box is ticked, but the "Address" and "Port" textboxes are greyed out!
If I go to "Advanced" then I can see the correct proxy and port though...

They should be greyed out if you are not using the same advanced settings for all protocols. If, OTOH, you have checked "Use the same proxy server for all protocols." then the one common proxy and port will appear.

You could try a reset: Internet Options/Advanced/Reset... and check the option to "delete personal settings". After the reset, put back the correct proxy settings.

Could you tell us the exact address you're using to (try to) connect to Gmail?

Is it an SSL-encrypted connection (i.e. are you going to https://mail.google.com ?)

SSL connections will typically use port 443 rather than port 80.

You may have had some kind of corruption in your new internet connection. Since this just recently happened, why not try a System Restore? And/or disconnect from the internet connection, reboot, and then re-connect the internet connection.

Problem solved, thanks a lot guys.
For some reason, 'Use same proxy for all protocols' had been unticked, and my proxy was only on HTTP, not secured. Hence HTTPS wouldn't open.
No idea why that happened.