debian haing during network connection

[wiler at loa.com]

here is the deal
i am running debian, on an network
can get connected to the net just fine.
when i ping the machine i get about a 10ms response from another machine.
when i try and connect with telnet or ftp
the client connects to the machine,, but it takes forever or never gets to
a system prompt
such as login, etc.
the same thing for mail
when i try and retreve mail that has been delivered to the machine locally,
i eventually get a response but it takes a long time.
don't think its dns, because it connects to the machine right away, if it
were dns it wouldn't connect at all.