Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

Hi all,

firstly this is also posted here:

http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/...g/td-p/2951901

But hoping someone on this forum can help as well.

Basically I cannot access www.themoviedb.org via my virgin media connection on ANY device (android phone, pc's etc). I can access it if I enable my PIA VPN on my windows PC.

I think i've therefore ruled out any kind of firewall type issue as my android phone can't access it via the VM connection, but can if I disable wifi and use 4g.

I've also ruled out DNS by switching to use google's DNS and the site still won't load.

I've contacted the site and been told that my IP isn't blocked, but realistically what other option is there? Some kind of VM routing issue?

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

I can access it from my VM connection in Leeds (via PC, iPad, and Android phone).

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

No problem through VM here in Sussex but I am using Google's DNS rather than VM's.

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

Loads for me as well, I am using google's dns in Lincoln

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

Try putting this IP into your browswer 23.21.110.82 as that will tell you if it's a DNS issue

If it works then just add it to your hosts file for a short term solution until someone can give you a better option

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

Sadly, this doesn't work either.

It all smacks of my ip address being blocked somehow, even though the site say it isn't.

I can access the site via my VPN or even via an online proxy... just not directly via VM connection.

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

Kymmy has got it the wrong way round, the address she gave you is the one your VM connection is resolving. Have you tried http://54.83.202.158 which is what your vpn is resolving? (don't turn your vpn on, just see if you can get to the ip through VM). This one also works fine for me over my VM connection.

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

Routing SNAFU?

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

http://54.83.202.158 doesn't work either unfortunately.

I did wonder about routing, but others on here have said it works OK for them and I'd think routing would affect everyone?

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

Just to add insult to injury, it works OK for me too on a VM connection.

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

No, routing issues by definition would not affect everyone.

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

nope, at worst it could affect a large proportion of VM's customers by blocking all traffic going out of one of the peering links onto another network but that would affect only the customers geographically situated near that transit point. Most routing issues go mostly unnoticed because they are very local to you and only affect a minority of customers (as in this case because none else has is experiencing the same symptoms). The last one I saw was earlier in the year in north Manchester (I think) where a router went down, everyone lost connectivity and all the traffic had to be rerouted through south Manchester which ended up screwing their router as well and everything in Manchester ended going at snail speed. Only the users served by those routers in Manchester were affected though.

The nice thing about traceroutes is that they give you an idea of the route your traffic take from your pc to a particular destination and more often my traffic will take a completely different route across VM's network to the destination than yours will and sometimes won't even go through the same exit point on VM's network so it is literally like two different paths. The best way to think of a network is like a spiders web and not a tree. We are not a tree where everything ends up going down the same route (the trunk), we are a spiders web where there are multiples routes from A to B and although their may be an optimal router (the most direct), there are lots of routes to get to the same destination. (Another analogy is driving; it might be quicker to go on the motorway to get somewhere but if the motorway is close between certain junctions then you take the A and B roads round it. You still get there but it just takes longer. If you and I are in different locations (north and south of England) and were going to Alton Towers, the chances are that we wouldn't go any of the same roads or motorways and the only common path in our journey would be the last few miles to Alton Towers which is the last hop(s) local to the destinations host network and routers).

I couldn't resist the temptation to do some screen dumps to show you the difference. They are 1-6 left to right:

1) Your initial trace using VM's dns
2) My trace using that ip VM resolved for you
3) My trace using the url (notice google's dns has resolved it to a different ip than VM and PIA)
4) My trace using your VM ip over PIA using a London server
5) Your trace using the ip PIA resolved
6) My trace over PIA using your PIA ip


https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2015/10/5.jpghttps://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2015/10/6.jpg

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2015/10/7.jpghttps://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2015/10/8.jpg

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2015/10/9.jpghttps://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2015/10/10.jpg



You can analyse the routes at your leisure but the two things which stand out for me and highlight the differences big time is the ip VM gave you I get to the router in your hop 8 in 5 hops (using my VM connection) and in contrast it takes me 9 hops using your PIA resolved ip to get to what you do in 5 (using PIA). Even though we are both on the same network we take different routes!

(Ps: which ming mong said forum links don't work :D?)

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

Your spiders web analogy pretty much explains routing in simplistic terms that anyone should be able to understand.

(Ps: I'm not that ming mong :D:D:D:D:D)

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

ya, I was tempted to draw some diagrams and explain routing tables and metrics but I haven't got the time and stuff like that can be googled instead.

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

tl;dr.

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

thanks for the detailed replies!

So I guess my only option is to try to force my modem to pick up a different IP and see if that works. Although if its routing as you suggest, it probably won't help.

If I leave the modem off overnight will that likely force a new IP when I switch it on in the morning?

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

In my experience if i wanted to change my IP turning it off over night will usually give me a new IP or during the day while at work, but this was donkeys years ago so may not work now, also maybe an easier way.

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

works fine here in Swansea.

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

no it won't. You will probably get a new ip if you leave your shub off for 24 hours but you are restricted to the pool of ip addresses which are allocated to the cmts. It won't make any difference because regardless of your ip, the routers you go through on VM's network are still going to be the same as they serve your geographical location.

The reason why the vpn works isn't because of your ip address, it is because you are connected to a server in a different area of the country which will be served by a different service provider and thus routers you go through on the local network and routing tables will be different.

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

OK I still haven't had chance to try leaving the modem off, but I have now identified another site I can't access via my VM connection.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk

This surely must mean its a problem within VM somewhere now its more than one site? It can't be IP blocking at just one site.

Again simply enabling my VPN and the site above loads. Good job as I had to book some tickets for my son!

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

eventbrite loaded fine ok here although slowly.

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

and now my vodafone suresignal won't work suddenly... this must all be related.

How can I get someone in VM to look into this. When I called the support agent just said it must be an issue with my PC (i tried to explain it was the same with phones etc too).

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

Have you posted on the VM forum?

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

I have yes... no replies from anyone official unfortunately.

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

OK well, I finally rebooted my modem and left it off for a while. Unfortunately however I got the same IP address again when I switched it back on...

However, there seems to be a change now which has me flummoxed.

I now can access these sites via wireless devices (laptop/tablet/phone), but my two wired PC's still cannot access the sites, except via a VPN or proxy!

Has anyone ever seen this before where something on the wired network would work differently to wireless?

I have rebooted my asus router, so I guess the next option is to remove that from the chain and connect direct to the VM router to rule out my asus router being the problem.

What a strange issue...!

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

good idea because I am curious to see what happens. Your wireless devices shouldn't be affected because they are still receiving their local ip addresses, default gateway and dns servers via dhcp from the asus router and will be using your single wan ip to go out on the internet and will be using the same router/path as described previously.

Re: Cannot access themoviedb.org
 

Just change your MAC and you will instantly get a new IP, guaranteed.