I had to stop the web shield to gain internet access. Will this lower my protection level?
Yes it will.
It is very recommended to not pause or stop the webshield, which can and does detect threats on sites that may have been hacked; have malware links embedded (usually in a hidden manner)in them.
Sometimes warnings from AV’s such as Avast have been the warning to site operators that all is not well.
In terms of general internet access, the problem in your case is likely to be firewall related, or related to a previous AV installed.
What firewall do you use?
What AV was on the system before Avast?
By the way, this is related to both your earlier threads, (having just briefly browsed them) and I really think you should continue in one of those threads.
If the advice you are getting appears confusing ask for clarification.
Adding another thread regarding the same problem will just confuse the helpers.
I have used various firewalls and antivirus but i was sure to uninstall and used a registry cleaner to remove leftover
files etc.
None were active when i installed avast.
In the firewall settings i was told to copy ashwebsv.dll to application rules and set to TCP Port 12080
and i copied iexplorer.exe (internet explorer) and set to Port 80.
I only got access by stopping the web shield.
Agreed.
@ ds123, If this is the thread that you want to continue with getting help, then copy and paste your other thread url in a post so other helpers like me know what is going on and what has happened. Then make a post stating that the thread moved to this thread and add this url to the other thread and close the thread (add “Resolved” in front of the subject title on the first post). Or vice versa since the other thread appears longer.
Man! Haven’t you read the forum? Every second post is “Web shield blocking…”. It’s Avast issue. Contact your engineers and correct the problem.
Man! Haven't you read the forum? Every second post is "Web shield blocking.....". It's Avast issue. Contact your engineers and correct the problem.I have read a bit of the forum. Believe it or not, most Avast users do not have a problem with the web shield.
A minority do. Which is why it’s reported here. It’s usually firewall or proxy issues, AFAIK.
How about if you don’t have anything helpful to offer you sound off in your own thread, please? >:(
They do not like the answers there: 
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=65775.0
I know 2 more systems except mine with that problem since yesterday, and the admin didn’t even bother to look at the support forums (like most of ht e people), just got rid of avast. Have a nice evening/day.
This is most certainly a web shield problem. Search google “web browsers can’t connect”. My browsers both just stopped accessing despite a live connection. One link leads to a microsoft forum response, something to the effect that web shields may cause this problem, as well as firewalls. In my case stopping the sheild instantly restored my browsers. This also just occurred on my wife’s computer, possibly due to an avast update?
Webshield!
I have a 20mb/s connection - with webshield active it’s reduced to 6mb/s. seems to be a transparent proxy for all HTTP traffic and kills bandwidth.
I have a 10Mb connection.
The speeds are almost identical with the web shield on or off. Default settings.
Something else is at play.
To all helpers, please see Post #2 in this thread: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=65854.0.