Problems with Firefox 16.0.2

Since installing the recent update to FF 16.0.2, I have been having constant issues. Sometimes as often as 3-4 times a day (other times it works ok for a couple of days at a time), FF will appear as though it has lost all access to the internet. Any tabs that I try to reload will just sit there and spin. 'Top' does not show any processes running out of control, and if I close and restart FF, everything works normally. I have not noticed any pattern to the sites I'm visiting when it stops working. It does not appear to be related to flash content, and sometimes I come back to my computer to see it stuck trying to reload a page, so it appears to lose its connection even when not being actively used. I do not have any proxies or other special setting for my network - it's just a straight connection to the local LAN. I had assumed it was just my computer, but today my wife informed me that she has also been having the same problems for the past week. Both systems are running Ubuntu 11.04 (natty), and all updates have been applied. I can't really work from a new profile because I need my bookmarks and plugins for daily work, and as I mentioned this problem does not immediately show up. However if anyone has other suggestions that I could look into, or if you have run across any other threads from people having similar problems, please let me know.