Unable to access certain web-sites

[PW Cymru]

As of abot 2pm this afternoon my PC will not connect to UKGSer or various sites eg. Bloomberg, Thisismoney etc.

However Google and Yahoo are ok, even when I seach goole for UKGSer it wont let me open the site.

The laptop I'm typing on now is similar but not as restictive.

I've checked my Internet Properties and the security setting is on Medium.

Any thoughts, my provider is O2 which was recently installed (1-2 weeks) no issues till today.

 

[buellzebub]

I had a similar issue some time ago, it turned out to be some sort of conflict with Firefox and my firewall. I'm afraid I can't remember exactly what the remedy was but it might be worth checking your firewall settings.
Mick

 

[Deleted account 220427002]

try turning your router off and back on then see what happens

 

[Mezza]

Also could be the DNS server that your ISP uses. Had a similar issue myself where I could access the site if I typed in the ip address, but not by using the URL
The ip address of ukger is 65.38.186.190
Try that IP address instead of the URL (ukger.com) and see if you can get through

Rich

 

[cookie]

i think it's o2's DNS servers throwing a wobbly AFECKINGGAIN!

the one bit of their service that seems to fall over on a regular basis. i'm on o2 and mine's the same

at least it's cheap

 

[Muppet]

I was having similar issues at various times of the day (and night) when I found I could only connect to UK and some European hosted sites. Anything else just wouldn't connect (I beleive UKGSer is hosted in the US?).

I was with Be (owned now by O2) and it was happening for weeks at a time. Got fed up with it, got rid of them and now have Virgin cable broadband - so far so good.

 

[PW Cymru]

Thanks guys it appears to be an O2 issue as all appears well now.

I guess the help line was rather busy this afternoon as I couldn't get though.

 

[shugie]

If you get similar issues again, change the DNS setting to one of the following:-

208.67.222.222 = provided by OpenDNS
208.67.220.220 = provided by OpenDNS

Slower than the O2 ones, so change back after. Ping them first (type "cmd" in run or start search in Vista, then "ping 67.138.54.100" in the black DOS box that appears- if you get request timed out then try the other address.)

 

[wessie]

If you get similar issues again, change the DNS setting to one of the following:-

208.67.222.222 = provided by OpenDNS
208.67.220.220 = provided by OpenDNS

Slower than the O2 ones, so change back after. Ping them first (type "cmd" in run or start search in Vista, then "ping 67.138.54.100" in the black DOS box that appears- if you get request timed out then try the other address.)

I've added these as secondary DNS servers on my machine as my ISP (Virgin) has DNS problems from time to time

 

[wessie]

I was having similar issues at various times of the day (and night) when I found I could only connect to UK and some European hosted sites. Anything else just wouldn't connect (I beleive UKGSer is hosted in the US?).

I was with Be (owned now by O2) and it was happening for weeks at a time. Got fed up with it, got rid of them and now have Virgin cable broadband - so far so good.

Virgin will have DNS issues periodically. I get them on my current ADSL connection and experienced them when on cable at the last address. See the posts above for extra servers to back up your ISP.

 

[cookie]

If you get similar issues again, change the DNS setting to one of the following:-

208.67.222.222 = provided by OpenDNS
208.67.220.220 = provided by OpenDNS

Slower than the O2 ones, so change back after. Ping them first (type "cmd" in run or start search in Vista, then "ping 67.138.54.100" in the black DOS box that appears- if you get request timed out then try the other address.)

i've done this in the past on my mac and it's had variable results. am i right in thinking DNS should be set on the router, as that is supplying DNS to the computer?

if so, it's a somewhat more convoluted business with the o2 router.

 

[wessie]

i've done this in the past on my mac and it's had variable results. am i right in thinking DNS should be set on the router, as that is supplying DNS to the computer?

if so, it's a somewhat more convoluted business with the o2 router.

You can enter the settings into a router or onto each machine

On my WinXP box it's a simple case of unticking the "obtain DNS settings automatically" and entering the IP addresses of any servers you wish to use. I put the Virgin ones at the top of the list as the response from these should be quicker if they are working properly. If the Virgin DNS is unresponsive then XP will query the OpenDNS ones.

 

[shugie]

You can enter the settings into a router or onto each machine

On my WinXP box it's a simple case of unticking the "obtain DNS settings automatically" and entering the IP addresses of any servers you wish to use. I put the Virgin ones at the top of the list as the response from these should be quicker if they are working properly. If the Virgin DNS is unresponsive then XP will query the OpenDNS ones.

It depends on what the O2 DNS servers are doing, if they fail to respond, then the request should get sent to the next DNS server address, but if they are responding with an incorrect answer it might be best to put the OpenDNS one at the top of the list until the problem is sorted.

If the local machine, be it PC or Mac, has the router address as the first DNS server entry, then you will need to change the router settings also, as the router will always provide an answer quickly, even if the answer is "hang on a tick, I know where to ask for that". So the request will never get sent to the next server on your list.

But it's not always too obvious where the DNS server settings might be, as a lot of ISPs use DHCP to pass settings off to the router when it first connects.

 

[Paul G (BHT)]

To make sure you can always get to this place if you have DNS problems, put the following line at the bottom of your
c:\windows(or winnt)\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file:-

65.38.186.190 www.ukgser.com

Make sure you put a tab between the IP address and the URL