Internet problems that only affect certain sites?

[steve(thelil)]

This morning I've been having a weird problem. I've had it before on a few occasions. It's baffling.

It's as if I'm not connected to the internet on certain sites, while I am on most.

I can't connect to Facebook Similarly, I can't connect to the NY Times or Spotify. And yet most sites, including this, are working fine. (I know the sites I can't connect to aren't down, because I can connect using my data plan on my iPad.

Any thoughts?

[Mike Schwartz]

[steve(thelil)]

I've rebooted many times, if that's what you're getting at, Mike.

It's almost as if I'm getting the "signal" or whatever the f you call it, but not strong enough, I think. I made this diagnosis because on Amazon I am connecting, but not well enough for the page to load more than a little.

[steve(thelil)]

I've rebooted many times, if that's what you're getting at, Mike.

It's almost as if I'm getting the "signal" or whatever the f you call it, but not strong enough, I think. I made this diagnosis because on Amazon I am connecting, but not well enough for the page to load more than a little.

In the past when I had this problem, I was able to access certain sites w/ Internet Explorer but not chrome.

Now I'm on a Mac, which doesn't have an IE app. I installed Firefox, but that is performing the same limited way as Safari.

[bluenoter]

Edit: I hadn't seen any of the posts after #1, but I'm letting this stand.

I can't connect to Facebook Similarly, I can't connect to the NY Times or Spotify.

My working assumption in what follows is that your Cookies for each of those sites have become corrupted or have begun to conflict with each other.

First, try using different browsers, if you use more than one, and see if you can connect to those sites with any of your browsers. If so, focus on the browsers in which you can't connect.

I'm guessing that Cookies have been set by each of the sites you can't reach. Find those existing Cookies for the sites you can't reach---in each of the problematic browsers---and delete them. If you don't know how, tell us which browser(s) you're dealing with.

Next, delete your Bookmarks or Favorites for the sites you can't reach---in each of the problematic browsers. Navigate to the sites you can't reach manually by typing just the bare-bones URL into the address bar: Facebook.com, NYTimes.com, Spotify.com. If you succeed in getting that far, navigate to your "I'm a member" page manually. If you get that far, you can create a fresh Bookmark or Favorite.

Try out your new Bookmark or Favorite. If it doesn't work, set only the bare-bones URL as a Bookmark or Favorite (and resign yourself to navigating to the "I'm a member" page manually). Try out that Bookmark or Favorite.

Hope that's sorta kinda clear and turns out to be helpful.

[steve(thelil)]

Thanks for your help Rita and Scott.


I figured out that it's my fucking almost brand new MediaLink router.

I know this because I just switched to my old fucking Linksys router that craps out every 15 minutes and I can now get all the sites.

Woe is me.

[bluenoter]

Sorry my approach was so far away. I suggested it because it's what's worked for me when I've had the same symptoms (as described in #1, which was the only post I'd read at the time). But I'm wire-bound and have no router, so WTFDIK?

[stonemonkts]

FWIW I have had trouble sending emails to people who live in NYC all morning, so it may be a regional server issue (pretending I know wtf I am talking about). But seriously, all email attempts to NYC have been kicked back.

[steve(thelil)]

FWIW I have had trouble sending emails to people who live in NYC all morning, so it may be a regional server issue (pretending I know wtf I am talking about). But seriously, all email attempts to NYC have been kicked back.

That is weird. How many different addresses did you try to send to?

I did figure out that my problem was my (quite new) router, because when i switched to my old one that I replaced because would crap out after 15 minutes and need rebooting, I could connect wherever I wanted.

PS. Naturally, the old router has now been working without rebooting for an hour and 15 minutes.

[stonemonkts]

I tried three different email addresses all located in midtown.

[sozamora]

Pete Cherches happened to mention in FB that Time Warner Cable in NY is having DNS problems. That might be it.

[bluenoter]

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1 ... 3698584246

The Wall Street Journal
Technology

Outage Disrupts East Coast Internet Traffic

By Drew FitzGerald

Updated Oct. 19, 2013 6:35 p.m. ET

Internet users from Brooklyn to Philadelphia suffered slow to nonexistent service Saturday after equipment at a New York-area network hub broke down, disrupting service for several hours.

A spokesman for the Internet service provider Level 3 Communications Inc. said technicians were working quickly to fix the outage, which cascaded down to customers using Cablevision Systems Corp.'s Optimum service and Time Warner Cable Inc., among others.

"Maintaining a high-performing, efficient network for customers is our top priority," Level 3 spokesman Jon Paul McLeary said. "At this time, we do not have an estimated time when service will be restored."

Spokespeople for Cablevision and Time Warner Cable didn't immediately respond to calls for comment.

Level 3 carries Internet traffic for large corporations and other Internet service providers, which puts it in control of a major swath of the Internet's backbone. The company scored a high-profile contract during the summer when it unseated AT&T Inc. as the service provider for Starbucks Corp.'s more than 7,000 U.S. stores, part of a partnership with Google Inc.

Internet companies deal with equipment failures on a regular basis. Technicians usually keep spare parts nearby and can minimize the impact of replacing them by announcing the bad routes to other network operators.

It wasn't immediately clear Saturday why traffic from cable subscribers in New York and New Jersey wasn't rerouted around Level 3. Customers reported that some sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, were unavailable, while other Web addresses reached subscribers smoothly.