Cannot connect to one specific site

[ddrmast3r]

Hey, guys,

I've become absolutely fed up with this recurring problem, and so I thought I'd ask here since no one else seems to know what my problem is.

Currently, I can't connect to a certain site. Specifically, it's r21freak.com - it doesn't matter much, but I thought I'd include it. About two months ago, I could access it fine. One day, it stopped loading at all. Pinging the site yields in packet timeouts.

My firewall isn't blocking any ports to the site, since I can access it from, say, my school network. I checked with the site admin and told him my IP, and he said it's not on the list of banned IPs. I talked to my ISP, who told me that they're not blocking it or restricting access to it or anything. I'm also the only tech-savvy person in my household, but just in case, I checked all the settings on my router, and could find no hint of it being blocked. As a final check, I reset it to its factory settings, and after reconfiguring the internet, it didn't help.

As far as the information about my computers/network, I have a Dell Inspiron running XP. The other computers in my household are also running XP, and have the same connection failure to this one site as I do. My router is a Linksys WRT54GS (I think? - something like that). But, if my router isn't blocking it and my ISP claims to have no interference, what could be the problem?

If anyone could shed light on this situation, I'd be more than grateful. I'm getting tired of using a proxy to access one of the sites I'm on most, or not accessing it at all. Thanks in advance!

 

[JohnWill]

Have you tried connecting the machine directly to the modem (model unknown unless you tell us), and seeing if you can connect to the site with the direct connection? That's the first thing to try.

 

[nessyguin]

What browser are you using , and have you tried connecting with a different browser ? Try clearing the cache , also ...

*Ignore this , I failed to notice the problem occurs on the network , not just on one PC . My bad !!

 

[ddrmast3r]

JohnWill - Sorry, I forgot to mention that. I had previously tried that, too. And like before, connecting my computer directly to my modem results in the LAN giving me "limited or no connectivity". Unfortunately, my knowledge of wired connections is very limited, so I'm not entirely sure why this is. I gave it a static IP and DNS server (it seemed that a DNS server wasn't assigned), but to no avail. The model of my modem is a WebStar modem by Scientific Atlanta, model DPX2203 series.

nessyguin - Yeah, I cleared the cache and tried with Firefox/IE on multiple computers. No worries!

 

[JohnWill]

Did you power cycle the modem when you changed from the router to the computer? That's a MANDATORY step for cable modems.

 

[ddrmast3r]

Heh, you learn something new every day! ^^;

I power cycled, and now I'm connected. I tried accessing the site, and it works! I guess that means something regarding my router is making the site fail to load. However, if I already reset the router to its factory settings, do you have any idea why it's still blocking the site?

 

[JohnWill]

Try turning off the SPI feature of the router's firewall, that's a common issue.

 

[ddrmast3r]

Unfortunately, that didn't help. Any other suggestions?

 

[JohnWill]

Some things you can try here.

1. Update the firmware to the latest version available on the manufacturer's site.
2. Reset the router to factory defaults and reconfigure.

Many times these measures will resolve a lot of router issues. If this doesn't do it, I'm at a loss to suggest anything else for the router.

 

[Desperado58]

Who is the ISP? Ae you receiving "Network Error(DNS_Server_failure)?
I had the same thing with another site and went through about anything you could with a computer, ISP the site in question and alot of help from the users here.

A user on the blocked site suggested treewalkdns and it worked on the 2 XP systems but not on Vista.
The users here suggested OpenDNS and it worked on my Vista system.

I am back on the site not.

Rod

 

[JohnWill]

The users here suggested OpenDNS and it worked on my Vista system.

I can't imagine how it can be DNS failures since it works fine connected directly to the modem. I suggest you actually read the thread before suggesting fixes.

 

[ddrmast3r]

Nah, I wasn't getting that message. And, coincidentally enough, I use OpenDNS.

Ugh, in any case, I updated the firmware and reset and everything to no avail.

 

[JohnWill]

Try going back to your ISP's DNS servers. Maybe OpenDNS has an issue.

 

[ddrmast3r]

Haha, how I wish your advice wouldn't go in vain...

Nothing. I powercycled my router, too. I'm thinking about having a chat with Linksys, 'cause I want a new router at this point.

 

[JohnWill]

Did you go back to the ISP DNS servers?