Why won't anything but Google load?

September 4, 2007 8:01 AM

Laptop connected to DSL via Linksys WRT54G - Connected by ethernet = no problem. Connected wirelessly = only www.google.com will load.

A few more details:
Laptop - Dell Inspiron 2200, Win XP (SP2)

Also, I have two other computers that connect fine: one via ethernet and one via wireless (a Dell Inspiron E1705 running Win XP (SP2)). Neither of these two computers have any problems accessing every webpage I have tried.

That would suggest it has something to do with the one laptop. It's running AVG, so I've turned off the firewall - pages still don't load. Windows firewall, on/off - pages still don't load. Ping? Google pings with no packets dropped. Every other website, host not found. DNS flushed. Temp files and internet options purged. What am I missing? (As I mentioned earlier, when I plug in the ethernet cable from the router, all pages load fine.)

posted by imposster to Technology (17 answers total)

The obvious question is whether your DNS server is responding or not.

Try pinging Metafilter: 74.53.68.130
posted by onalark at 8:04 AM on September 4, 2007

Standard advice for squirrelly networking: install Wireshark on the laptop, observe what's actually going over the wire and what's actually going over the wireless, and look for clues.
posted by flabdablet at 8:05 AM on September 4, 2007

Response by poster: Okay, pinging www.metafilter.com gets "host not found." Pinging the IP address works, no packets dropped 76ms average.
posted by imposster at 8:08 AM on September 4, 2007

Are you sure that you're connecting to your access point, and not a neighbor's?

While connected each way, start a command tool and type

ipconfig /all

then post the results here.
posted by dws at 8:12 AM on September 4, 2007

I had a similar problem, but with another router. Try setting the MTU size to 1500 or 1492 for wireless on your router.
posted by sebas at 8:15 AM on September 4, 2007

Response by poster: Here's the ipconfig/all. There's no other wireless routers in the neighborhood.

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : D4PX4J71
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : myhome.westell.com

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : myhome.westell.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1370 WLAN Mini-PCI Car
d
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-90-4B-DA-6D-7B
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.100
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 212.119.6.50
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, September 04, 2007 10:14:37
AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, September 05, 2007 10:14:
37 AM

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : myhome.westell.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-12-3F-04-96-F5
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.103
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 207.230.192.254
209.142.136.220
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, September 04, 2007 10:10:07
AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, September 05, 2007 10:10:
07 AM
posted by imposster at 8:18 AM on September 4, 2007

Is the DNS server set as static or auto?
posted by tmcw at 8:25 AM on September 4, 2007

Response by poster: sebas: I've tried MTU auto and 1492 - no change.

tmcw: I'm not sure how to find that out.
posted by imposster at 8:28 AM on September 4, 2007

Best answer: DNS server 212.119.6.50 is anathema to your wireless network, I'm guessing this is not the DNS server you want to use, you want to use the ones connected to your ISP: 207.230.192.254 and 209.142.136.220.

See if somehow you've manually entered the first DNS IP into your wireless setup. If you have, try removing it and see what happens.

As a last resort you can manually enter the two working DNS server addresses into your wireless settings.
posted by onalark at 8:40 AM on September 4, 2007

Best answer: Well the DNS server you're receving on your wireless connection is probably wrong: It resolves as ns2.eu.ntt.net, and you are supposedly a Centurytel customer. So why are you getting one of NTT/Verio's DNS servers from Europe?

In any case, in your wireless connection, enter the two IP's you have listed for DNS servers in your wired connection (207.230.192.254 and 209.142.136.220) and enter them as your preferred DNS servers (in your TCP/IP Properties you can choose to not get DNS servers automatically).

And on preview what onalark said
posted by poppo at 8:43 AM on September 4, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for your help. Please forgive my ignorance, the DNS information needs to be changed in the router configuration or in the wireless setup? I'm not sure where I need to enter the DNS addresses.
posted by imposster at 9:10 AM on September 4, 2007

Response by poster: Okay, figured it out - had to change the network settings on the laptop. It had been set manually. Everything is up and running. Thanks again for all the of help.
posted by imposster at 9:51 AM on September 4, 2007

Since the question has been answered and can't be derailed, I'm going to chime in here.

flabdablet: I've seen you give the Wireshark advice many times, and it remains just as bad an idea for most people as it ever did.

Telling normal people to read network traces is precisely like asking them to read an EEG. It is not a reasonable early troubleshooting step. It requires a deep knowledge of TCP/IP that only experts have. It should be a last-ditch, final effort, and you should read the packet dumps for them after telling them how to collect the traffic.

The flippant 'install Wireshark!' comments are going to waste an assload of time for anyone who actually follows the advice. Given a non-techie asker, it is not a good answer for anything but the most stubborn of network problems.
posted by Malor at 10:17 AM on September 4, 2007

Another thought, six hours later: if they know enough to read a packet dump, they would never post on AskMe in the first place.

It's a stupid thing to suggest. You should stop, lest someone actually try.
posted by Malor at 2:21 PM on September 4, 2007

All I know is that I knew nothing about TCP/IP the first time I ever had to fix a network problem, and a colleague watched me struggling and said "Ethereal is your friend", and I installed it, and it wasn't terribly long before I'd fixed the problem and learned a whole heap about TCP/IP in the process. So now it has indeed become the first tool I reach for when a networked machine is doing something I don't understand.

"Install Wireshark" is in no way a flippant comment. It worked for me. It can work for other people, if they're interested in fixing problems by understanding them, as opposed to fixing them by following a recipe.

It seems to me that somebody who is techie enough to know how to isolate the problem to the machine responsible, control a firewall, purge temporary files and flush a DNS cache is techie enough to learn to drive Wireshark, and derive benefit from doing so.
posted by flabdablet at 8:25 PM on September 4, 2007

if they're interested in fixing problems by understanding them, as opposed to fixing them by following a recipe.

The vast majority of people who install Ethereal/Wireshark will be left entirely helpless. You have to have a very sound basis in computers and networking to have any hope of making sense of a network trace, especially when you don't have a HEALTHY dump to compare it to.

This person didn't even know enough to check the DNS server settings, and you're telling them read a packet dump? It is absolutely insane to think they're going to derive any benefit from that advice.
posted by Malor at 5:32 AM on September 5, 2007

OK, so you don't like my advice. Fine. Don't take it. But I repeat: it was advice given to me when I didn't know enough to check the DNS server settings, and I personally derived considerable benefit from it. If you want to tell people you don't think my free advice is worth what they're paying for it, that's fine by me. But I don't ever give flippant technical advice, and I am neither stupid nor insane. So I'd appreciate it if you could, you know, just stick your insults up your arse.
posted by flabdablet at 5:54 AM on September 5, 2007