CANT ACCESS certain websites??

Edx · 01-03-2009, 18:24

Hi tech support wizards!

So I recently got Virgin Media broadband in my flat, I had one helleva bitch of a time trying to get the wireless to work and still really need to get a booster ariel to stop such low signal strength but anyway thats not why Im posting...

I first noticed the problem when trying to access the game websites www.wcsaga.com and www.wcnews.com. They simply dont work. I get errors like the ones below, as you can see I tried several different ways...

Firefox:
http://www.edbradshawmusic.com/error.jpg

Safari:
http://www.edbradshawmusic.com/errorsafari.jpg

And even with Telnet:
http://www.edbradshawmusic.com/errortelnet.jpg

The problem was someone was trying to send me a file, so he knew the website was working. He even gave me a link to a JPG on the same domain, it didnt work of course but I did put the url into ImageShack which then downloaded the image just fine!

Later on, I try updating my virus checker, but it said it couldnt connect! It seems www.agv.com doesnt work either!!

Later on, I try playing some of the Tonehammer demos from Vi-Control forum. It doesnt work, so I figure I will try going directly to the ToneHammer website and downloading it manually. Apparently THAT TOO doesnt work!

But google works, ebay works and a whole load of other websites work. Websites like www.vi-control.net do work but is a little more on the slow side than I am used to, but at least it does connect.

So I call Virgin Media Broadband Tech Supoort and he tells me it may be a problem with the website. I know that Mr Techsupport but the chances of all 4 websites being down at the same time are pretty slim especially as I know at least 1 onethem definitely works. I even get him to try the avg.com website to see if HE can open it, and it works! He claims he is using Virgin Media (Im not so sure as the signal was bad and he was indian, international call centre?)... but anyway point is this proved avg.com WAS working. He then said the firewall could be the issue, but when I turned it off it made no difference. Then he gave up and said he was sorry they dont have any more information.

I have no idea what to do! Am I just not able to get on these websites forever??

This makes no sence to me!

---------- Post added at 19:24 ---------- Previous post was at 19:21 ----------

Btw, someone just suggested this:

Quote:

, if you can NOT ping edbradshawmusic.com but you CAN ping its IP address, which I found to be 80.94.198.60, then it is a problem with Virgin Media's DNS servers. They are not properly resolving the host name.

If that is the case, try calling them again and tell them their DNS server is not resolving host names correctly - or at all. OR, bypass Virgin completely and use a different, free DNS server such as OpenDNS -- see: http://www.opendns.com/

Even more bizzarly I went to OpenDNS looked at their video demo, then the website suddenly decided that it couldnt connect to THAT either! "www.opendns.com could not be found"

I guess its possible it could be a temporary thing that just happened to occur when I was using it, but whats the chances of that?

Any idea as to what is going on?

I'd like to make sure its Virgin before I go and complain!

moaningmags · 01-03-2009, 18:24

I can access www.wcsaga.com which is wing commander.

The Safari pic says www.wcsaga.net not .com
Although that works fine for me too.

The avg link is wrong you have agv.

Can you traceroute to the site?

I can't ping www.edbradshawmusic.com but I can view the site.

Edx · 01-03-2009, 18:30

Hi!

Quote:

Originally Posted by moaningmags

I can access www.wcsaga.com which is wing commander.

The Safari pic says www.wcsaga.net not .com

Theres a ".net" as well, my friend told me to try it. As you can see I had no luck there either.

Quote:

The avg link is wrong you have agv.

AVG program told me to go to avg.com, but I tried the google link for the them which is http://free.avg.com/ and it doesnt work either.

Quote:

Can you traceroute to the site?

In cmd I have only tried the command:

"ping www.wcsaga.com"

etc, but it all comes back with the same error message. It just cant see the website.

If you mean I should try something else then Im not sure what traceroute means.

EDIT: Btw the person I am talking to thinks I cant see edbradshawmusic.com, he is confused, I CAN see this domain, thats how I am able to upload my error screenshots to it. But his advise might still be correct? That its a DNS issue?

Ed

moaningmags · 01-03-2009, 18:33

In the black window type

tracert www.wcsaga.com

Should get something like the following

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Mum>tracert www.wcsaga.com

Tracing route to www.wcsaga.com [92.51.131.171]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.1.1
2 9 ms 12 ms 10 ms 10.138.0.1
3 12 ms 11 ms 9 ms host-80-194-128-4.static.telewest.net [80.194.12
8.4]
4 11 ms 9 ms 12 ms uddi-t3core-1b-ge-010-0.network.virginmedia.net
[80.3.16.129]
5 22 ms 17 ms 16 ms man-bb-b-so-320-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.1
05.175.193]
6 22 ms 15 ms 28 ms man-bb-a-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.1
87.177]
7 25 ms 20 ms 21 ms bre-bb-b-so-300-0.network.virginmedia.net [212.4
3.162.198]
8 23 ms 22 ms 22 ms telc-ic-1-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.
185.74]
9 25 ms 23 ms 22 ms ldn-b2-link.telia.net [213.248.100.97]
10 22 ms 21 ms 21 ms ldn-bb2-link.telia.net [80.91.250.229]
11 31 ms 29 ms 33 ms prs-bb2-pos6-0-0.telia.net [213.248.65.114]
12 39 ms 42 ms 46 ms ffm-bb2-pos6-0-0.telia.net [213.248.65.118]
13 38 ms 39 ms 75 ms ffm-b7-link.telia.net [80.91.254.253]
14 * * * Request timed out.
15 45 ms 42 ms 43 ms xe-0-1-0.cr-altair.cgn2.hosteurope.de [80.237.12
9.86]
16 1300 ms 46 ms 42 ms xe-0-3-0.cr-pollux.cgn3.hosteurope.de [80.237.12
9.65]
17 47 ms 53 ms 46 ms xe-16-1.cs-master.r1.cgn3.hosteurope.de [80.237.
129.118]
18 * * * Request timed out.
19 44 ms 42 ms 45 ms lvps92-51-131-171.dedicated.hosteurope.de [92.51
.131.171]

Trace complete.

Edx · 01-03-2009, 18:40

Hi,

Ok I tried that on 3 websites i cant access:

www.wcsaga.com
www.tonehammer.com
www.opendns.com

They all come back after tracert with the same error. Heres what I got when trying www.wcsaga.com.

Quote:

tracert www.opendns.com
Unable to resolve target system name www.wcsaga.com.

moaningmags · 01-03-2009, 18:44

If you type ipconfig/all in the black window what does it give as your dns servers?

If it's 192.168.1.1 can you type that addy into your web browser, you should get asked for username/password which should be virgin/password.
Once in there go to router status, this will given you your dns servers.

Edx · 01-03-2009, 18:51

Thank for the reply again!

Quote:

Originally Posted by moaningmags

If you type ipconfig/all in the black window what does it give as your dns servers?

When I type ipconfig it says DNS is 192.168.1.1 can you type that addy into your web browser, you should get asked for username/password which should be virgin/password.
Once in there go to router status, this will given you your dns servers.

It says its 192.168.1.2. I cant login I guess I have to do it directly with an ethernet cable which will be a HUGE pain because we're on a wireless connection! I'll have to get my friend nearer to do it.

When I do get into the settings though, what am I looking for and what needs changing or.. ?

moaningmags · 01-03-2009, 18:53

Type 192.168.1.1 into your web browser this gives you the page

Edx · 01-03-2009, 18:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by moaningmags

Type 192.168.1.1 into your web browser this gives you the page

Yes I know that, it just says...

Quote:

The operation timed out when attempting to contact 192.168.1.2.

I think its because I need to connect to the router with an ethernet cable rather than a wireless usb.

moaningmags · 01-03-2009, 19:00

Nope, if you're connected wirelessly to the router you can access that page.
I connect wirelessly and did just that as I couldn't remember offhand where the dns server information was.

Are you definitely connected to your own wireless router?

graf_von_anonym · 01-03-2009, 19:11

Your DNS settings appear to suggest that one of your router's connected machines, rather than the router, is turning website addresses into IP numbers. You shouldn't need to go directly to the router if you can access any pages.

Are you sure that it's listing your DNS as 192.168.1.2? That might be your IP address. Could you maybe post the results you get when you type ipconfig/all ? What we're looking for is:

Your IP address, your default gateway, and what it's got listed for your DNS servers.*

That should help track down what is what.

*none of this information should put your privacy at risk, in this context.

Edx · 01-03-2009, 19:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by moaningmags

Nope, if you're connected wirelessly to the router you can access that page.
I connect wirelessly and did just that as I couldn't remember offhand where the dns server information was.

Are you definitely connected to your own wireless router?

Well just to make sure I just rebooted...

Now it says I can access 192.168.0.2, heres what I can see.

www.edbradshawmusic.com/errordns.jpg

What should I be looking for?

moaningmags · 01-03-2009, 19:19

192.168.0.2 is not a netgear router.

You're connected to someone's unsecured router unless you have a dynamode router.

Edx · 01-03-2009, 19:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by moaningmags

192.168.0.2 is not a netgear router.

You're connected to someone's unsecured router unless you have a dynamode router.

Its not a netgear router but VM didnt give me one, they told me I had to buy a Dynamode Wireless 802.11g (BR6004W-G). It was in the Virgin shop but its not there now.

I didnt secure it yet because I dont know how and needed to also figure out how to do that. I tried WEP but that stopped be being able to connect it at AT ALL.

Ed

moaningmags · 01-03-2009, 19:29

My apologies, I assumed you were using a Netgear router.

Did the Dynamode not come with a setup disk?
If so, running the disk should set the security for you.
If not, you need to set the security from the page you were in, preferably to WPA encryption. Once you apply this, you should lose the connection and when you try to connect again it will ask you for the network key which is the WPA password you set in the router page.