Can't access certain websites

[Wyckyd1]

Hi,

Someone with a small office called me today looking for help. The office is like 4 people and they share internet connection via dial up.

Most sites are accessible however some are not (the ones they need of course). He said this started happening at the beginning of the year and according to him, it happens all the time with these sites.

He goes to ping a known "good" site <a href="http://www.yahoo.com" target="_blank">www.yahoo.com</a> and gets 3 replies so OK.
I get same results.

He goes to ping a known "bad" site: <a href="http://www.mapquest.com" target="_blank">www.mapquest.com</a> and gets 3 packets lost so not ok.
I get same results HOWEVER I can bring up the site.

He does a tracert on known bad site (www.mapquest.com) and it times out right after
Ptni5-mc2-P0-0.ptn.aol.com [64.12.32.82]
I do a tracert and it times out right after
ptni6-mc2-P0-0.ptn.aol.com [64.12.32.90]
(So same domain different machine ??????)
HOWEVER I can still bring up <a href="http://www.mapquest.com" target="_blank">www.mapquest.com</a>

He does a ping on <a href="http://www.epa.gov" target="_blank">www.epa.gov</a> and gets a 100% loss.
I do a ping and get 50% loss.
HOWEVER I can bring up this site he can't from that location.

He does a tracert on <a href="http://www.epa.gov" target="_blank">www.epa.gov</a> and right after
rtp-cbn-f00-00.nccr.epa.gov [134.67.7.1] he gets destination host unreachable.
I do a treacert and get the same thing at same place but I immediately try to bring up the site and it comes up ok for me.

Any ideas on what is happening and who I should contact? We use different ISPs and are in different parts of the country.

Your insight is greatly appreciated,Thanks.

[LagMonster]

this happen to me once...I downloaded some internet boost program...

I can't remember exactly what registry keys I had to delete....I got the answer from the support site at ms..


You need to remove your network card or whatever it is you connect with...remove the drivers, remove all the registry keys associate with it, nad then remove the inf file in the system DIR.

I am sorry I can give you more specifics...I am afraid if I try to 'wing' registry keys for someone else you could delete one you shouldn't have, then I'd feel like a peice of poop.

It did solve my problem...

I remember the ms article specificaly has the keys though.

Sorry I wasn't a full help...

Good luck.

[Deity]

There are several issues at work here.

First...many sites have ping and tracert blocked. Hence the "destination host unreachable". This is to avoid ping of death type of attacks and such. I don't put too much faith in ping or tracert when trying to determine connectivity to web sites.

Next...there could be some type of restrictions on the computers or the ISP account. Content advisor type of settings. I've seen where restrictive settings trying to block users from viewing porn caused problems viewing secure(https) sites. Check all the systems and the account for any content restrictions.

Next...check with the ISP. Is it local or national. Maybe the ISP has a flaky connection, or junk hardware. Just another possibility.

My gut tells me that the content restrictions would be to blame. But this should give you a few things to try.

Hope this helps.

[ilovetheusers]

What deity said - content editor may be turned on. Also - see what version of IE they are on. Upgrade them to 5.5.

[Deity]

[quote]Originally posted by ilovetheusers:
<strong>Also - see what version of IE they are on. Upgrade them to 5.5.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Good point. I forgot to mention that. Versions of IE prior to 5.5 do not support SSL. Make sure you upgrade to at least SP2. Versions earlier than that were susceptible to various worm attacks like Nimda.

[Quiet Thunder]

[quote]Originally posted by Wyckyd1:
<strong>He goes to ping a known "good" site <a href="http://www.yahoo.com" target="_blank">www.yahoo.com</a> and gets 3 replies so OK.
I get same results.

He goes to ping a known "bad" site: <a href="http://www.mapquest.com" target="_blank">www.mapquest.com</a> and gets 3 packets lost so not ok.
I get same results HOWEVER I can bring up the site.

He does a ping on <a href="http://www.epa.gov" target="_blank">www.epa.gov</a> and gets a 100% loss.
I do a ping and get 50% loss.
HOWEVER I can bring up this site he can't from that location.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I pinged Mapquest, Yahoo, and Epa.gov from my work location (all three sites I know I can view, and only Yahoo sent me a reply. Only to help further Deity's theorys.

[Wyckyd1]

I would like to thank you all for the ideas and help.
They do have IE 5.5 sp2.
I then dialed up using thier account and ISP (same access number).
Much to my dissappointment I could indeed bring up the sites in questions (DARNIT).
The shared connection is actually a DIAL up router (yup a dial up router).
I am starting to suspect that this is the bad equipment. Am I jumping the gun? D/K
All I know is certain sites refuse to download on thier network. The certain sites makes it all the more perplexing. All or nothing would be more absolute.

Thanks again all.

[Deity]

You still might want to check the content advisor in IE. If the content rating is too high there, it would act the way you are describing.

You would have to check the Internet Options on each system and verify that content advisor is not set too restrictive. If it is on, you might want to disable it all together and see what the result is.

[ilovetheusers]

[quote]Originally posted by Wyckyd1:
<strong>I would like to thank you all for the ideas and help.
They do have IE 5.5 sp2.
I then dialed up using thier account and ISP (same access number).
Much to my dissappointment I could indeed bring up the sites in questions (DARNIT).
The shared connection is actually a DIAL up router (yup a dial up router).
I am starting to suspect that this is the bad equipment. Am I jumping the gun? D/K
All I know is certain sites refuse to download on thier network. The certain sites makes it all the more perplexing. All or nothing would be more absolute.

Thanks again all.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Maybe jumping the gun. Check the content editor as deity says. Also, take a laptop with you (If you have one) and plug it in and see how it works behind the router. Or take the router and use it somewhere else to test it. Do whatever you can do to narrow it down.

Also, check the settings on the router - it may have some sort of "thing" running that blocks one site and not another.

If the router is at fault suggest a new router and get them a cable/dsl line. The phone line and ISP account probably run them the same as high speed line.

[korpse]

Can he access the sites by IP rather than by domain name? It could be a DNS issue.

[weazel]

sometimes this issue can be caused by the RWIN, MTU and/or the defaultrecievewindow setting in the registry being set too high. I don't know anything about a dialup router and if there is any configuration for where you could possibly adjust them in the router...if not try adjusting them to lower values on the machines themselves. I'd suggest possibly doing a tweak test at <a href="http://www.dslreports.com" target="_blank">www.dslreports.com</a> to find what values are already set then download drtcp.exe and make adjustments with that. We see this alot with xdsl connections and occasionally with dialup though I've no experience with a dialup router.

[ilovetheusers]

[quote]Originally posted by korpse:
<strong>Can he access the sites by IP rather than by domain name? It could be a DNS issue.</strong><hr></blockquote>


Excelent point - check that the router has the correct DNS server address for the ISP! They could have changed it without informing him - wouldn't be the first time that happened.