Browser cannot access websites but newsgroups working ok

Hi folks, I am hoping someone can give me some pointers here.
Over the last two weeks or so I have been experiencing some oddness while
attempting to access the web.
I am on an orange broadband package, up to 8mb with a 2gb cap. Pc is running
xp home, and connects using a Thomson Speedtouch usb modem. Initially I was
unable to connect to the net at all, so I phoned orange and after a few
calls, trying resetting the modem and finally changing the microfilter for a
spare, all appeared cured for a few days.
However, much of the time now I am unable to access websites. The connection
icon shows that I have an internet connection, however neither firefox nor
IE can reach any website. There are no error messages, but they simply never
load any pages.
Also having trouble signing into msn messenger but not yahoo, which works
fine.
Oddly, newsgroup access with Outlook Express is working fine.

Any suggestions?

Cheers
Ainslie

In uk.telecom.broadband, on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:48:29, Gingerpose wrote:

>The connection icon shows that I have an internet connection, however
>neither firefox nor IE can reach any website. There are no error
>messages, but they simply never load any pages. Also having trouble
>signing into msn messenger but not yahoo, which works fine. Oddly,
>newsgroup access with Outlook Express is working fine.

A DNS issue. Whatever DNS servers you are using aren't resolving in a
timely fashion. Suggestion, use your own - Treewalk:
http://treewalkdns.com/ works right out of the box, no tweaks required,
does need a re-boot after installation though.

--
Jim Crowther

Ato_Zee wrote:
>> However, much of the time now I am unable to access websites.
>> Any suggestions?
>
> Sounds very much like a DNS problem.
> Type www.google.com into your browser, it doesn't
> connect and times out?
> Now put (no www or anything else)
> 209.85.229.147
> into your browser and hit return or the right arrow.
> Do you get Googles home page?
> If the numbers (including the dots between the groups
> of 3 numbers) works but not www.google.com
> it's DNS thats screwed.
> Can be your PC's config or your routers config.
> USB modems are a bit temperamental and
> AFAIK don't have a control panel with connection
> data. So getting link information and statistics
> can be a problem.
> Think of a proper modem/router from a tenner
> upwards on eBay.
> Report back here if the numbers work, but not
> www.google.com

neither the numbers nor the www address worked. newsgroups and msn
unaffected and working fine!

On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:48:29 -0000, Gingerpose wrote:
> However, much of the time now I am unable to access websites. The connection
> icon shows that I have an internet connection, however neither firefox nor
> IE can reach any website. There are no error messages, but they simply never
> load any pages.

How long do you wait? I would guess that after 2 or 3 minutes you should at
least get a timeout.

Anyway, do you have any proxy servers configured in your browsers?

BTW, one thing to try is to do a "netstat -n" in a command line window when
you are trying to load a website. You will probably see a TCP connection in
the SYN_SENT state there - maybe you could post the output here.


Christof

--
http://cmeerw.org sip:cmeerw at cmeerw.org
mailto:cmeerw at cmeerw.org xmpp:cmeerw at cmeerw.org

Christof Meerwald wrote:
> On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:48:29 -0000, Gingerpose wrote:
>> However, much of the time now I am unable to access websites. The
>> connection icon shows that I have an internet connection, however
>> neither firefox nor IE can reach any website. There are no error
>> messages, but they simply never load any pages.
>
> How long do you wait? I would guess that after 2 or 3 minutes you
> should at least get a timeout.
>
> Anyway, do you have any proxy servers configured in your browsers?
>
> BTW, one thing to try is to do a "netstat -n" in a command line
> window when you are trying to load a website. You will probably see a
> TCP connection in the SYN_SENT state there - maybe you could post the
> output here.
>
>
> Christof

I have no proxies set up in any browser. The waiting is endless, browser
just displays the "waiting for news.bbc.co.uk" for example, no timeout. I
did run the netstat -n command but the results scrolled past too quickly to
see.

In uk.telecom.broadband, on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:43:57, Gingerpose wrote:

>Christof Meerwald wrote:
>> On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:48:29 -0000, Gingerpose wrote:
>>> However, much of the time now I am unable to access websites. The
>>> connection icon shows that I have an internet connection, however
>>> neither firefox nor IE can reach any website. There are no error
>>> messages, but they simply never load any pages.
>>
>> How long do you wait? I would guess that after 2 or 3 minutes you
>> should at least get a timeout.
>>
>> Anyway, do you have any proxy servers configured in your browsers?
>>
>> BTW, one thing to try is to do a "netstat -n" in a command line
>> window when you are trying to load a website. You will probably see a
>> TCP connection in the SYN_SENT state there - maybe you could post the
>> output here.
>>
>>
>> Christof
>
>I have no proxies set up in any browser. The waiting is endless, browser
>just displays the "waiting for news.bbc.co.uk" for example, no timeout. I
>did run the netstat -n command but the results scrolled past too quickly to
>see.

<Start><Run>

Enter "cmd" without the quotes.

'OK' it.

Enter "netstat -n" without the quotes.




--
Jim Crowther

Gingerpose wrote:
> Christof Meerwald wrote:
>> On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:48:29 -0000, Gingerpose wrote:
>>> However, much of the time now I am unable to access websites. The
>>> connection icon shows that I have an internet connection, however
>>> neither firefox nor IE can reach any website. There are no error
>>> messages, but they simply never load any pages.
>> How long do you wait? I would guess that after 2 or 3 minutes you
>> should at least get a timeout.
>>
>> Anyway, do you have any proxy servers configured in your browsers?
>>
>> BTW, one thing to try is to do a "netstat -n" in a command line
>> window when you are trying to load a website. You will probably see a
>> TCP connection in the SYN_SENT state there - maybe you could post the
>> output here.
>>
>>
>> Christof
>
> I have no proxies set up in any browser. The waiting is endless, browser
> just displays the "waiting for news.bbc.co.uk" for example, no timeout. I
> did run the netstat -n command but the results scrolled past too quickly to
> see.
>
>
It a long shot, but try setting tcp MTU size to 1400 bytes or
less..worked for me when my ISP went 'funny' on me..

Its in control panel under networking->TCPIP-> properties or something.

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Gingerpose
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
>Hi folks, I am hoping someone can give me some pointers here.
>Over the last two weeks or so I have been experiencing some oddness while
>attempting to access the web.
>I am on an orange broadband package, up to 8mb with a 2gb cap. Pc is running
>xp home, and connects using a Thomson Speedtouch usb modem. Initially I was
>unable to connect to the net at all, so I phoned orange and after a few
>calls, trying resetting the modem and finally changing the microfilter for a
>spare, all appeared cured for a few days.
>However, much of the time now I am unable to access websites. The connection
>icon shows that I have an internet connection, however neither firefox nor
>IE can reach any website. There are no error messages, but they simply never
>load any pages.
>Also having trouble signing into msn messenger but not yahoo, which works
>fine.
>Oddly, newsgroup access with Outlook Express is working fine.
>
>Any suggestions?
>

Firewall accidentally set to block http traffic? As a quick test turn
off your firewall.

--

Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:48:29 -0000, "Gingerpose"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I am on an orange broadband package, up to 8mb with a 2gb cap. Pc is running
>xp home, and connects using a Thomson Speedtouch usb modem. Initially I was
>unable to connect to the net at all, so I phoned orange and after a few
>calls, trying resetting the modem and finally changing the microfilter for a
>spare, all appeared cured for a few days.

You might try resetting the winsock by typing at a command prompt
"netsh winsock reset catalog"


Jim.

Jim Crowther wrote:
> In uk.telecom.broadband, on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:43:57, Gingerpose
> wrote:
>> Christof Meerwald wrote:
>>> On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:48:29 -0000, Gingerpose wrote:
>>>> However, much of the time now I am unable to access websites. The
>>>> connection icon shows that I have an internet connection, however
>>>> neither firefox nor IE can reach any website. There are no error
>>>> messages, but they simply never load any pages.
>>>
>>> How long do you wait? I would guess that after 2 or 3 minutes you
>>> should at least get a timeout.
>>>
>>> Anyway, do you have any proxy servers configured in your browsers?
>>>
>>> BTW, one thing to try is to do a "netstat -n" in a command line
>>> window when you are trying to load a website. You will probably see
>>> a TCP connection in the SYN_SENT state there - maybe you could post
>>> the output here.
>>>
>>>
>>> Christof
>>
>> I have no proxies set up in any browser. The waiting is endless,
>> browser just displays the "waiting for news.bbc.co.uk" for example,
>> no timeout. I did run the netstat -n command but the results
>> scrolled past too quickly to see.
>
> <Start><Run>
>
> Enter "cmd" without the quotes.
>
> 'OK' it.
>
> Enter "netstat -n" without the quotes.

tried that just now, doesn't recognise the command