Why can't my computer reach certain sites? How do I fix it?

May 26, 2004 1:27 AM

Cable modem problem or my computers problem? [more inside]

Two weeks ago I noticed that I couldn't get to certain websites. I didn't think much of it at the time, but after I while I noticed certain patterns.

About half of the sites I frequent I can no longer get to. I can't reach them in firefox nor explorer, so its not browser specific.

I can reach some community sites (mefi) but not others (television without pity), I can't reach pair.com, nor dreamhost.com. I can reach some personal sites, and not others. I can't reach blogger or typepad.

It really seems random. For every one site I visit and can still reach, I can't reach another site. And it stays the same. I can always reach mefi, but never ebay.

When I try to reach a site that I can't connect to it just doesn't go anywhere and then goes to the google search page.

The sites I can't reach are reachable through megaproxy.com. Not sure what that says.

So tonight I finally called charter.net support, and of course the guy knows next to nothing. He couldn't even comprehend my problem, and his only solution turning the modem off for a minute. When that didn't work he told me it was my computers problem and not theirs. I told him it was theirs, so I now have a work order number for a call tomorrow from a charter tech. BUT, if it turns out to be my computers problem, they will charge me.

I have an old computer, but I fail to see why my computer will allow me to reach certain sites but not others. So does anyone know where the likely problem lies?

posted by justgary to computers & internet (16 comments total)

Please people, if you're asking a computer problem, say what operating system you're using. You speak of explorer, and I don't think many people on MacOS or solaris use that anymore, so let's assume some variant of windows.

My first guess would be spyware or a worm, they sometimes try to block disinfection-related sites, and in doing so block other stuff too.
Try hooking up a different computer to your cablemodem and see if the sites work.

Chances are it's not your ISP, as this kind of problem would mean a lot of people would be affected, and even the worst ISP would have undertaken action by now.
posted by fvw at 3:00 AM on May 26, 2004

I'm assuming you've got a windows PC.
The first thing to work out is if the error is a nameserver error or an IP Error.
Open up a command Prompt and type "tracert pair.com"
You should get something like ....

Tracing route to pair.com [66.39.3.7]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 10 ms <1 0 ms 10 ms 217.8.23.54br> ...
15 130 ms 130 ms 131 ms www.pair.com [66.39.3.7]

If your computer doesn't identify pair.com as 66.39.3.7, then the error will be a nameserver error. Type "Ipconfig /all", and make a note of the DNS Servers. (For Win9x, type winipcfg, and do the same)

Post all the information you've collected, and we'll take it from there.
posted by seanyboy at 3:55 AM on May 26, 2004

i've never seen a cable modem problem like that. while it could be external dns i'd put money on worm/virus.
what are the contents (lines that don't start with #) of C:\i386\HOSTS ? (or, if that doesn't exist, use search from the start menu to find the file called HOSTS and open it with wordpad).
posted by andrew cooke at 4:05 AM on May 26, 2004

This is likely a virus/worm problem. Run your antivirus software and let us know what happens. Also try deleting all the entries in your host file.
posted by monkeyman at 6:33 AM on May 26, 2004

Download Spybots and Ad-aware too.
posted by monkeyman at 6:34 AM on May 26, 2004

Try housecall, a free, powerful online virus/malware scanner. If you can't get to housecall but can get other places, that's a sure sign that a virus has intentionally prevented your access to antivirus sites. Your hosts file holds the key to that problem.
posted by ulotrichous at 9:17 AM on May 26, 2004

Thanks everyone. I'll try those suggestions.
posted by justgary at 9:24 AM on May 26, 2004

And sorry, it is windows 98.
posted by justgary at 9:25 AM on May 26, 2004

I've previously had problems like you describe, and it turned out to be a Windows TCP/IP problem. I think the packet size or MTU was set incorrectly.
posted by reverendX at 12:57 PM on May 26, 2004

sorry, i gave the wrong locn for the hosts file (someone just put me right on another thread).
posted by andrew cooke at 1:35 PM on May 26, 2004

Also, if you have to enter a DNS address manually, confirm it is still correct. The DNS server that I had listed for years with Comcast started acting weird and I had intermittent Internet problems for 2 months until I finally figured it out.
posted by Tallguy at 2:16 PM on May 26, 2004

O.k. Here's what I've done so far:

Open up a command Prompt and type "tracert pair.com"

It tried to connect 30 times and failed... no other info given.

Download Spybots and Ad-aware too.

Did that and they found some and got rid of them, but didn't help.

Try housecall, a free, powerful online virus/malware scanner.

Couldn't get to housecall. Ran panda's online virus scanner and it said I was clean.

I also opened the host file (windows/hosts) and this is all it says:

127.0.0.1 localhost

So I'm not sure what it is, and I know ask mefi isn't a support site. At least I know it's not charter. So I guess I'll just keep searching for the cause.

Thanks for the help though.
posted by justgary at 5:37 PM on May 26, 2004

If anyone's still reading this, I can completely cut and paste the HOSTS file and place in on the desktop and nothing changes.

So it's not a virus, not spyware, not the hosts file. Oh lord.
posted by justgary at 6:45 PM on May 26, 2004

Apparently Win98 is not affected by the Sasser worm which has been causing these Hosts file problems. Have you tried the Hijackthis download? You may be suffering from something that affects IE directly. Don't give up yet.
posted by monkeyman at 8:06 PM on May 26, 2004

Monkeyman~ I did download hijackthis and ran it. It came up with quite a bit of stuff. 95 percent of it I know isn't bad. The other 5 percent I have no idea about, and none of it really sticks out (although I really don't have the knowledge to discount anything).

I'm completely replaced the host file. i don't think that has anything to do with it. Wasn't a virus

I'm not giving up (well, just for tonight) but I've googled this for several hours and can find nothing other than what I've already tried. I also called charter to make sure I hadn't messed some connection setting up and they said there's really nothing to set up, so nothing to screw up.

So I have no idea. I just haven't heard of this happening to anyone else, and those that it did happen to ended up fixing the problem by doing something I've already done.

So it's a little bit frustrating ;)

Thanks so much for the help though.

PS. As far as affecting IE specifically, I get the same results with firefox.
posted by justgary at 11:06 PM on May 26, 2004

O.K. After 8 hours I solved it.

I ran winipcfg and "released all". (someone had mentioned something about that)

That's all it took. I really have no idea what that does (I have an idea) but thank god it worked.

I just wish I knew WHY that happened.

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me monkeyman when everyone else bailed.

;)
posted by justgary at 12:04 AM on May 27, 2004