very strange.
HFS currently ignores the hostname, it makes no use of it (sadly), so i'd rather say that probably HFS is not the real cause of the problem.
i have no idea, but i would proceed with more tests.
You say that you see the connections established.
What is the "source" ip of the connection?
is the connection dropped?
Is any byte exchanged?
if anything is exchanged, what?
what if i telnet to it, instead of using a browser?
what if i connect from a different computer?
what from a different network?