Hmm, well I can't even get ossoweather do setup a working account for me (it used to be fine, but the latest install I just put on doesn't let me choose anything for add, I have to manually enter a zip code, and then it still doesn't do anything...) so I'm having a bit of trouble testing it... but theoretically I can't see why one would work (i.e. browser) and the other wouldn't.

Did you install the .deb package for USB networking and run the appropriate commands, or are you doing it all manually? You said you followed the instructions in the wiki, but was that the entry for USB networking, or the entry for USB host mode?