One PC cannot access some sites

[navman]

Hi Folks..

I have just got the super hub and it appears to be working fine as far as speed is concerned.....

It may be a coincidence but since then my desktop cannot access some sites www.t3.com being one. I have tried hard wired and wireless without any joy. As soon as I enter a proxy in, webcache.virginmedia.com it works fine albeit slow...very slow.

I get the same issue with Firefox. IE and Chrome

All the other PC's IPhones etc work fine and can access sites such as t3.com.

I have checked for Trojans and virus problems etc but all appears to be clean.

I have pinged t3.com and there are no lost packets etc.

As I say the superhub may be a red herring. I have contacted Virgin and on teh second attempt got through to someone who knew more than me :-). He was very helpful and went through several checks without any joy. He spoke to his supervisor who said it is the PC at fault.

Any ideas at all folks I have reached the end of my knowledge....

Cheers

Bob

[General Maximus]

when you ping it from your pc are you pingng the name or the ip address?

[kwikbreaks]

Have you ever manually assigned the DNS on that PC?

It sounds to me like the VM supervisor was correct in blaming the PC if others on the same network are working OK but of course that doesn't help with fixing it.

[navman]

Thanks folks, I pinger the name and no I re the DNS on that PC.

[Nopanic]

Not sure what you mean there .. the term "pinger" suggests your not 100% sure what you're doing ..

http://www.mediacollege.com/computer/network/dns.html

[navman]

Sorry typo I pinged the address not the ip address

[General Maximus]

just out of curiosity can you try using a different dns server. If you go into control panel, click on network connections, right click your network connection, right click and properties, click tcp/ip v4, click properties click on use the following dns server addresses and type in 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4, these are the addresses for the google dns servers. CLick ok to come out of all of that.

Click start, run and type in cmd to bring up a a command prompt and type in

ipconfig /release

and then

ipconfig /renew

and this will clear all your old settings and bits that the pc was using and get new ones with the new dns addresses.

If this works you can over write the dns servers the hub uses (hopefully) so your whole network will go to google for name resolution and not VM.

(and before anyone starts whining, I know it doesnt look like he is having a problem with DNS, I am just curious)

[navman]

Thanks for the reply and I am at a stage where I will try most things...

Tried that and no joy I am afraid

Bob

[kwikbreaks]

One thing you can try but I doubt it will help tbh is to right click on the connection icon in the system tray and select "repair". Note any error messages that may appear.

Is it only some sites that fail? How exactly do they fail? What messages?

---------- Post added at 10:13 ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 ----------

If this works you can over write the dns servers the hub uses (hopefully) so your whole network will go to google for name resolution and not VM.
That's one of the (many) features the Superhub doesn't support.

[navman]

Maybe I should have said I am running windows 7 on the PC that is having the problem. I have tried the troubleshooting option and I get this message

Website www.t3.com is online but isn't responding to connection attempts

It is only some sites that fail. TY3.com is one of them.The error message I get when trying to connect to these websites is

The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.

Thanks again for helping... I appreciate it

[Dai]

So, ping is ok, so let's try the next stage.

From a CMD window run "tracert t3.com" (without quotes)

Let's see if the route to t3 is short and sweet. Look for any hops along the way that show particularly high ping times and see if the complete route shows successfully. If any hop is odd, try again a couple of times to see if it improves.

If that completes OK then the problem is almost certainly in your pc, but that's for later.

[navman]

Thanks again for the help...

These are the results of the tracerthttps://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/08/50.jpg

[Dai]

OK. That all looks as it should. What you have established with the ping and traceroute is that a valid connection exists between your pc and the target webserver.
So, what remains is to establish why your browser cannot connect. I see you have already tried a variety of browsers without success so it's unlikely to be settings within a specific browser. That narrows it down a bit.

I'd like to try overriding the DNS settings in your hub to try the google dns servers. From the Network and Sharing center click on your connections: Local area connection and click on 'properties' button.
Highlight Internet Connection Version 4 and click 'properties' again. At the bottom of the page put a dot in 'use the following dns addresses' and fill in 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
OK out of that.

Now from a cmd window do 'ipconfig /flushdns' without quotes.

Now try browsing to t3.com without any proxy set.

[navman]

Done all that and no change. Still the same message :-(

[kwikbreaks]

It sounds to me like your network type may not be set to "Home network" and your firewall is blocking you from connecting.

Right click the connection icon and open the network & sharing centre. Your active network needs to say "Home network"

When you first connected to the hub Windows would have asked what network type it was and I'm guessing you didn't select "home network".

If it isn't Home then click on the link saying what it is (Home, Work, Public) then click on Home in the window that opens.

[navman]

Nope all set to home network...... I am glad it is not something simple that I had overlooked... Thanks for all the ideas folks

[kwikbreaks]

I guess that makes some sort of sense because it probably wouldn't work with any sites if it was incorrect.

There are two puzzles here - why only one PC (and I suspect the fact it's Win 7 is somehow the reason) and why only some sites - especially as the DNS resolution and routing look good.

[navman]

I agree... While I may not be the sharpest thing as far as DNS setting are concerned I have looked about a lot in the internet to find a solutions. As I said if I put a proxy in it works fine. I have tried FF, IE and Chrome, run virus and trogan checkers until they come out of my ear... :-)

[Dai]

why only some sites - especially as the DNS resolution and routing look good.

That's the bit that's baffling me as well. I knew it was a long shot trying different dns servers but had to be done.

All I can think of now is either firewall or HOSTS file, but surely either of those would also block browsing via the proxy?

[navman]

I have turned off the firewall to see if it was that... :-) No real knowledge about the host file...

[Dai]

I have turned off the firewall to see if it was that... :-) No real knowledge about the host file...

Look in C:/Windows/System32/Drivers/etc

Yes, the folder is really called "etc"

There should be a file in there called hosts. You can open it in Notepad or any text editor although it will need to be manually selected as the file has no .txt extension. The raw unchanged hosts file should look like this:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[navman]

This is the contents of mine....

127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost
# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost

[General Maximus]

One thing you can try but I doubt it will help tbh is to right click on the connection icon in the system tray and select "repair". Note any error messages that may appear.

Is it only some sites that fail? How exactly do they fail? What messages?

---------- Post added at 10:13 ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 ----------


That's one of the (many) features the Superhub doesn't support.

as far as I am concerned then VM shouldn't legally be allowed to call it a router. What sort of [mod:edit] routers [mod:edit] dont let you specify your dns servers?

[qasdfdsaq]

It sounds to me like your network type may not be set to "Home network" and your firewall is blocking you from connecting.

Windows firewall places no controls or restrictions on connecting to anything. It only ever affects inbound connections.

---------- Post added at 23:05 ---------- Previous post was at 23:03 ----------

as far as I am concerned then VM shouldn't legally be allowed to call it a router. What sort of [mod:edit] routers [mod:edit] dont let you specify your dns servers?
Ones that obtain them automatically. 99%+ of home users won't ever change the DNS settings on their router, nor want to.

That said, the rest of us who want/need to change them for whatever reason, can't, but then again it's not far off wanting to use another device but they won't let you either.

[kwikbreaks]

Windows firewall places no controls or restrictions on connecting to anything. It only ever affects inbound connections.
Oh yes it can....

Download Failed (1)

but only at program level admittedly.

[Kymmy]

Can I remind members that the swear filter is there to stop members from breaking the rules and not as a shield to hide your swearing behind. Any more swearing on this family friendly forum will incur infractions whether or not the word is obfuscated out and the meaning is still clear.

[qasdfdsaq]

Oh yes it can....

http://www.kwikbreaks.webspace.virginmedia.com/firewall.jpg

but only at program level admittedly.
That's still inbound connections, it has nothing to do with outbound.

[kwikbreaks]

http://www.kwikbreaks.webspace.virginmedia.com/outbound.jpg

[qasdfdsaq]

OK, fair point. If you go to advanced settings and go through a 15 step process to create a custom rule, then you can block outbound connections.

None of the options in control panel or the defaults, nomatter what the user clicks will do this however, so it won't be affecting anyone who hasn't gone through a very deliberate and long advanced rule creation process...

[kwikbreaks]

When you connect to a new router (as he did) Win 7 detects it and asks you what network type it is. If you screw up and say it's a public network (easy to do in a rush as I've been stupid enough to do it myself which is why I remembered it can cause problems but not exactly what at the time I suggested checking) then by default it will block the browsers from accessing the internet as you can see in the first picture where it isn't allowing Firefox access.

It wasn't his problem and the symptoms as it happened didn't match but saying the Windows firewall is only applicable to inbound connects is plain wrong.

[arcimedes]

as far as I am concerned then VM shouldn't legally be allowed to call it a router. What sort of routers dont let you specify your dns servers?

A router just sends packets of data to the relevent port based on IP address. There is no requirement for it be able to provide DNS servers as it never sees a normal user friendly address.

It will be the cable modem part of the software that provides DNS servers.

[kwikbreaks]

It will be the cable modem part of the software that provides DNS servers.General Maximus was talking about the ability to override the ISP DHCP provided DNS.

My router has no modem at all cable or otherwise yet, like most, can be used to specify what DNS IPs are provided to DHCP clients. That is what the Superhub can't do.

[qasdfdsaq]

When you connect to a new router (as he did) Win 7 detects it and asks you what network type it is. If you screw up and say it's a public network (easy to do in a rush as I've been stupid enough to do it myself which is why I remembered it can cause problems but not exactly what at the time I suggested checking) then by default it will block the browsers from accessing the internet as you can see in the first picture where it isn't allowing Firefox access.

It wasn't his problem and the symptoms as it happened didn't match but saying the Windows firewall is only applicable to inbound connects is plain wrong.
No it doesn't, anything you click on that page only affects inbound connections, and will never block a web browser. As I've said, it's impossible to accidentally block outbound connections, the *only* way to do it is a 15 step advanced manual rule setup.

The first picture only shows inbound connections being blocked. It has no effect on your web browsing.

[navman]

Bump... anyone with any other ideas at all. I appreciate the ideas and thoughts so far

[Dragon88]

Hi there, I'm having the exact same problems.

Can access a list of websites through other computers at home, but not on my vista laptop. Let me know if you find a solution mate.

[navman]

Will do mate..... Can you access t3.com. I use that as a test at the moment....

[Dragon88]

Nope can't get onto t3.com.

I've got a thread on another forum, will let you know if anything comes up.

http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Up-to-30Mb-and-50Mb-broadband/Cannot-Access-Certain-Sites-From-My-Laptop-Only/td-p/661399

[navman]

Cheers mate. I am running windows 7 on the machine with the problems. With Virgin Super hub either plugged or wireless