UKC

Hi

Can anyone help me out? I cannot access certain websites anymore e.g. screwfix.com

I used to be able to access them (it) but have not been able to for the last 4-6 weeks, all I get is a "waiting for screwfix.com" message but the page never loads.

I have tried temporarily disabling Norton antivirus and sygate firewall but it makes no difference. I've tried different browsers (i.e, firefox and opera). I then tried using different computers on the same home network (a laptop and a netgem [linux based freeview box with internet access]), again no luck. I tried putting the pc outside of the NAT firewall temporarily by using the routers config options - again, no difference.

I'm kinda running out of ideas other than my isp (talktalk) blocking these sites which would seem a bit strange - any ideas?

In reply to Coop: Works fine with me. You might have some sort of virus though. I had one - and when I tried to go to certain sites, I got transfered to porn sites. Fine under normal situations, but not when you are trying to show your mum how you can look up cinema times online!

I had to reinstall to get rid of it. Like you say - Firefox had no effect.

In reply to Coop:

you might need to change your VPN settings, if you go to www.netgear.com and onto the support it tells you all the major ISP's VPN settings, change them to what they should be and all should be fine.

if you need anymore help drop me a line.

Karl

In reply to Jon Dittman:

I'm pretty sure its not a virus - I've used Norton for years and its always up to date, I'm pretty careful with attachments etc and the linux set top box is doing the same thing and I think its unlikely that a virus would exploit both windows and a linux derivation.

Thanks for answering though

cheers
Neil

In reply to ro8x: Isn't VPN for secure connection to the work network from home via the interboll0cks? If so I don't think thats me.

Cheers
Neil

In reply to Coop:

Not sure what it does, i know that some websites that have certain elements won't load unless the VPN is correct.

VPN is also a secure network setting, but the vpn you may need to alter are in your router config pages. 192.168.1.1 - that should get you into your router config page.

In reply to Coop:

I fixed a similar problem earlier this week, by updating the browser used from IE 5 to IE 6SP1.

Might be that simple. These days there's so much code running on the average website that you can run into compatibility problems.

In reply to ro8x:

Clearly.

>i know that some websites that have certain elements won't load unless the VPN is correct.

With respect, utter tosh dear boy.


VPN = Virtual Private Network. An encrypted (scrambled to you, sir) tunnel between your PC and another, typically across t'internet.

If you happen to use a work PC at home to connect to your company's systems, chances are they will use a VPN to connect. Most routers on the market need to be tweaked slightly to allow this encrypted traffic to pass through without any interruption or fiddling with by the router. (eg, NATting the IP of the source PC's address screws it right up - the VPN has to be a direct point to point connection.)

Not the problem here.

In reply to Coop:

Rather than a Virus it may well be malware (adware etc) that is causing the problem. Only the very latest virus software tends to include malware protection, so these can get through even the most aware users.

Get hold of the free versions of "Adaware" from Lavasoft.com and "SpyBot Search & Destroy" - run em a few times, but make sure that System Restore is off before you do so.

In reply to Coop:

well, thank you for that.
Just that when my VPN settings were incorrect i had problems access websites with cgi elements.

In reply to ro8x:

You won't have been establishing a VPN tunnel, so adjusting the VPN setting shouldn't make any difference to normal browsing. Sounds more like a bug in the router's code TBH.

Wasn't a Belkin by any chance? They are industrial-strength odd in some areas.

Sounds like a DNS issue. Manually assign the DNS details within your router settings yourself. Try 195.74.102.146

In reply to deadlock: Thanks, but I don't think its malware - we're talking about 3 different machine with 2 different Operating Systems. But thanks for reminding me - I haven't run s&d or adaware for a while.

cheers
Neil

In reply to Anonymous:

Nope, Netgear DG834G.
Works fine now, msn always disconnects whenever it feels like it though, but my connection isn't dropping. Probably just shoddy software 'cos it's a mac.

In reply to Coop:

Well, first you'd have to check if you can ping www.screwfix.com or whatever other site you're having trouble with.

You know how to check that?

In reply to daveg360: Thanks Dave, I've just tried your suggested DNS, but still no luck!

cheers
Neil

In reply to theboyhope: You'll have to remind me I'm afraid.

cheers
Neil

In reply to Coop:

Get a command prompt open, type `ping www.somethingorother.com` and see what it says. If you can't ping it then try `tracert www.somethingorother.com` and see how far along the pipe to it you can get, or if it can't resolve it.

HTH.

PS - The screwfix servers won't respond to pings so try it with one of the other sites you can't get to.

PPS - You could also try 213.174.200.38 in your browser address bar and see if that works.

In reply to theboyhope: Thanks. I get the same result if I type in the ip address.

I've tried tracert and I get 12 hops before it time out. The last hop was to fhr1-at-1-1-0-960.lo6.savvis.net [206.24.172.69]

Most hops were taking 15-35 ms up to that point.

In reply to Coop:

ok you can try flushing the cached DNS on your computer. You could also try reseting the tcp/ip to its original state, ive had to do this to two computers this week to fix similar problems, howvere usually you can't get on anything outside you LAN if its tcp/ip. So try these things:

Flush the dns:

in cmd:

iponfig /flushdns

To reset tcp/ip:
in cmd:

netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt

restart comp.

In reply to Coop:

Problem at ISP maybe?

http://www.savvis.net/corp

In reply to Coop:

The last hop to fhr1-at-1-1-0-960.lo6.savvis.net [206.24.172.69] means you're there. Savvis are hosting the Screwfix website. Looks like your connection is fine so I'd say it's something wrong with your machine.

If you have another web browser installed then try it. If not, grab Firefox or Opera or whatever and see if it works with that.

In reply to theboyhope:

good point but read the OP

In reply to JR:

Oh, aye. Ummmmm ... I'm not surprised he's running out of ideas. :O/

Coop - what are the other websites you can't access? There must be some sort of common theme.

In reply to Coop: Sounds like a routing issue. I'd talk to your ISP if I were you.

If you have dynamic IP addressing on your WAN connection you could try rebooting the router and seeing if you get a different IP and if that makes any difference.
I guess you probably don't have a dynamic IP though if you are able to put a computer on the net side of a NAT device but thought it might be worth a mention.

In reply to Anonymous:

I can see the page above.

In reply to Coop:

Sorry, what i meant was that your last hop was on one of their boxes, then it all goes wrong.

As that's a commercial host, I was wondering if the problem was maybe either with your ISP or Screwfix's host, rather than your PC.

In reply to theory: Hi Theory. I do have a dynamic connection. The router (Belkin F5D8230) has an option called DMZ which allows you to specify one computer on the LAN to be placed outside the NAT firewall. I've tried rebooting the router a couple of times but it doesn't seem to make any difference.

Talktalk have forgotten to charge me for the last 12 months, so I'm a bit loath to wake them up!

In reply to theboyhope: A couple of other sites that I cannot access are: fasthosts.co.uk and orange.co.uk

cheers
Neil

In reply to JR: Cheers JR, I tried what you suggested, but things are still the same.

cheers
Neil

In reply to Coop: Yeah I can understand why you wouldn't want to alert them to that one

Ummmm can you tell me what DNS servers you are using?

If you open up a command window and type ipconfig /all it should list them for you. If it gives you 192.168.x.x you will need to check on the router to see what servers it's using.

Also can you run (from a command prompt) Nslookup. then once it's open type the urls of a site you can't get to and hit enter. Repeat with all the sites and then post the IP's you get back here?

I really don't think it's DNS based but it's something to check. Failing that you could try using something like http://www.anonymizer.com/ to proxy your requests for those pages. Just go to the URL and in the top right there is a box that you type the URL you want to view in.

Hope this helps.

In reply to Coop:

so,

fasthosts.co.uk
screwfix.co.uk
orange.co.uk

don't work.

if you PING

213.171.192.215 (strangely, this doesn't work for me either, but it is in their range)
213.174.200.38
195.92.248.7

Do you get replies?

If not, there's likely something wrong at the ISP.

Also have a look at the tools on http://www.dnsstuff.com/

In reply to Anonymous: Thanks. I got timed out on pinging those 3.

cheers
Neil

In reply to Coop:

So we know it's not DNS, as the IP addresses don't work either.

Does this happen ALL the time? Has it started recently? Does it only happen at certain time of day?

I would maybe invite a friend with another PC round, see if they get the same problem. If they do, at least it then rules out your PC as the problem.

I have a bizarre suggestion here -

Unplug the router, put into a plastic bag, pop in freezer for 30 mins, reconnect.

This sounds truly loopy, but it may well work - my Belkin F5D7633 would disconnect and do all sorts of strange stuff. Popping it in the freezer restored normal service for about an hour at a time. Ended up getting a replacement from Belkin.

In reply to theory: Thanks Theory. I'm using the isp's default dns server, but I've also tried the one suggested by someone above.

Nslookup brings back the following "non-authorative" answers:

screwfix - 213.174.200.38
orange - 195.92.248.7
fasthosts - 213.171.192.215

Nice thinking with anonymizer - unfortunately we can add it to the list of sites that I can't get at!

In reply to Coop:

Double-check those using the tools at dnsstuff.com, and you'll at leas tknow if your DNS is working OK.

In reply to Anonymous: I don't think its the pc as I have the same problem on 3 machines. The problem has been going on for about 6-8 weeks now but time of day etc does not seem to be a factor.

I haven't actually tried disconnecting the router and going straight into the modem though. I'll give that a try now.

cheers
Neil

In reply to Coop: Its the same with the router taken out - so at least I can discard it as a possible cause.

I did get a couple of internet worm messages from Norton though - I was only without the NAT firewall for 2-3 minutes! I've ducked back behind it now 'cos I'm scared!

In reply to Coop:
Hey bro

have you tried plugging one of your PCs directly into the cable modem? This will take your router out of the equation.

cheers
Paul