Comments on: Is It Me or the ISP? http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/ The Business of Technology Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:05:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU hourly 1 By: Reed Bailey http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-883819 Reed Bailey Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:07:31 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-883819 Has anyone discovered more? I have two computers and have this ongoing battle with "Problem loading page" when website is active and has recent cached Google page. Can get Google cache and can not get actual web site. Then 10 minutes later or next day and voila the page is available from web site. (Computers = 1 Ubuntu, 1 Win NT) Curious is the few major web sites I do directly contact -- ones that sell stuff -- tell me it me. And try to tell me it is all the usual browser stuff. Intuitively, this is too widespread and pervasive to be a few of us. We are just ones that notice. Is this possibly related to Apache server rootkit issues or to recent OpenSSl debacle or something else? (rootkit = for many months, rootkits have been on ISP servers and user private stuff has been stolen) (SSL = bad certificate keys, Verisign etc..) Has anyone discovered more? I have two computers and have this ongoing battle with “Problem loading page” when website is active and has recent cached Google page. Can get Google cache and can not get actual web site. Then 10 minutes later or next day and voila the page is available from web site. (Computers = 1 Ubuntu, 1 Win NT)

Curious is the few major web sites I do directly contact — ones that sell stuff — tell me it me. And try to tell me it is all the usual browser stuff.

Intuitively, this is too widespread and pervasive to be a few of us. We are just ones that notice.

Is this possibly related to Apache server rootkit issues or to recent OpenSSl debacle or something else? (rootkit = for many months, rootkits have been on ISP servers and user private stuff has been stolen) (SSL = bad certificate keys, Verisign etc..)

]]> By: Logical Extremes http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872459 Logical Extremes Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:43:04 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872459 <p>DNS is a reasonable suspect and OpenDNS is a very solid alternate DNS service as Brian Hart points out.</p> <p>Also, sometimes with intermittent connectivity issues, your local DNS cache can get out of whack. If you're on a Mac, you can clear it with:</p> <p>dscacheutil -flushcache</p> DNS is a reasonable suspect and OpenDNS is a very solid alternate DNS service as Brian Hart points out.

Also, sometimes with intermittent connectivity issues, your local DNS cache can get out of whack. If you’re on a Mac, you can clear it with:

dscacheutil -flushcache

]]> By: Stacey Higginbotham http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872432 Stacey Higginbotham Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:46:50 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872432 <p>Thanks for all the good advice so far. Y'all were much more pleasant and helpful than Road Runner support. I'm going to try the OpenDNS option and see where that gets me.</p> Thanks for all the good advice so far. Y’all were much more pleasant and helpful than Road Runner support. I’m going to try the OpenDNS option and see where that gets me.

]]> By: Chetan http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872370 Chetan Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:56:57 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872370 <p>I witnessed/ing same problems from India and locked in a battle with my ISP.</p> I witnessed/ing same problems from India and locked in a battle with my ISP.

]]> By: Cotton Rohrscheib http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872357 Cotton Rohrscheib Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:29:22 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872357 <p>Actually I think that there some sort of global issue going on today w/ the web in general. I also couldn't access some websites and could others, I can't put my finger on what exactly the issue was but I know of two other people in different locations w/ different isp's that were experiencing the same issue. I have been researching online and haven't been able to locate what the issue was yet...</p> Actually I think that there some sort of global issue going on today w/ the web in general. I also couldn’t access some websites and could others, I can’t put my finger on what exactly the issue was but I know of two other people in different locations w/ different isp’s that were experiencing the same issue. I have been researching online and haven’t been able to locate what the issue was yet…

]]> By: Brian Hart http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872335 Brian Hart Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:16:23 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872335 <p>I used to have problems like this fairly often when I was pointing to Comcast DNS servers. Not saying your problem is necessarily DNS-related, but it's possible. Try pointing your router to OpenDNS (208.67.220.220 & 208.67.222.222) for DNS, then release/renew DHCP on your laptop (or reboot).</p> <p>Spend a few minutes learning nslookup, ping, and telnet basics to help troubleshoot for next time, or email me and I can provide a primer.</p> I used to have problems like this fairly often when I was pointing to Comcast DNS servers. Not saying your problem is necessarily DNS-related, but it’s possible. Try pointing your router to OpenDNS (208.67.220.220 & 208.67.222.222) for DNS, then release/renew DHCP on your laptop (or reboot).

Spend a few minutes learning nslookup, ping, and telnet basics to help troubleshoot for next time, or email me and I can provide a primer.

]]> By: Tim Panton http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872332 Tim Panton Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:07:13 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872332 <p>It may be a routing problem where the routing between the ISPs drops into a hole until someone tweaks a table somewhere.</p> <p>We have a cheap server in a hosting center. One of it's jobs is to run as a (squid) proxy. Whenever we have a problem getting to some sites, I change my config from browsing directly to browsing via the proxy. It is slower, but often gets me out of a problem.</p> It may be a routing problem where the routing between the ISPs drops into a hole until someone tweaks a table somewhere.

We have a cheap server in a hosting center. One of it’s jobs is to run as a (squid) proxy. Whenever we have
a problem getting to some sites, I change my config from browsing directly to browsing via the proxy.
It is slower, but often gets me out of a problem.

]]> By: Michael http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872323 Michael Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:01:29 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872323 <p>I often find that refreshing my WAN address is effective - and I also noticed then when I do this, I often land in a new subnet from Comcast.</p> <p>When I want a new IP, I open my router interface,</p> <p>clone (or unclone) the mac adress of the router to change it,</p> <p>powerdown the cable modem,</p> <p>powerdown the router,</p> <p>powerup the router</p> <p>powerup the cable modem and enjoy my fresh IP/subnet.</p> I often find that refreshing my WAN address is effective - and I also noticed then when I do this, I often land in a new subnet from Comcast.

When I want a new IP, I open my router interface,

clone (or unclone) the mac adress of the router to change it,

powerdown the cable modem,

powerdown the router,

powerup the router

powerup the cable modem and enjoy my fresh IP/subnet.

]]> By: Adam http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872299 Adam Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:45:16 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872299 <p>Hi, Sounds like it could be the MTU setting on your router.</p> <p>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_transmission_unit</p> <p>Most ADSL Routers allow you to 'tweak' the MTU setting. Try setting it to 1420, then save/reboot your router.</p> <p>If it is MTU, then you will be able to browse all those sites consistently again.</p> <p>Kind Regards, Adam :)</p> Hi, Sounds like it could be the MTU setting on your router.

(link)

Most ADSL Routers allow you to ‘tweak’ the MTU setting. Try setting it to 1420, then save/reboot your router.

If it is MTU, then you will be able to browse all those sites consistently again.

Kind Regards,
Adam :)

]]> By: AlexC http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872295 AlexC Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:27:03 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872295 <p>Did you try resetting your router, too? Sometimes, that does it for me. But generally, I'd agree with Ronald on the DNS issue.</p> Did you try resetting your router, too? Sometimes, that does it for me. But generally, I’d agree with Ronald on the DNS issue.

]]> By: Abdur http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872294 Abdur Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:25:39 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872294 <p>I have been using our real-time twitter search to see if others are having problems with a site or service. Helped me NOT trouble shoot my mail when Google's IMAP support stopped last week. Let me know if it helps others: http://twitter.summize.com</p> I have been using our real-time twitter search to see if others are having problems with a site or service. Helped me NOT trouble shoot my mail when Google’s IMAP support stopped last week. Let me know if it helps others:
(link)

]]> By: ronald http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872290 ronald Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:01:23 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872290 <p>So Google didn't pay their dues to Time Warner ...again :-) On a serious note, did you check DNS. My ISP, Comcast, doesn't have a clue how to run a DNS service, so I just setup one for my home network and perceived uptime has gone up dramatically. I mean you don't care if ip can not be routed or a domain name can not be resolved, for most people the result is the same. Booting should not resolve it, except you got a new DNS server assigned via DHCP before it crashed since everybody else got it assigned too. It's hard to know without poking around what Time Warner does,and then there is always the little rst flag my ISP likes so much.</p> So Google didn’t pay their dues to Time Warner …again :-)
On a serious note, did you check DNS. My ISP, Comcast, doesn’t have a clue how to run a DNS service, so I just setup one for my home network and perceived uptime has gone up dramatically. I mean you don’t care if ip can not be routed or a domain name can not be resolved, for most people the result is the same.
Booting should not resolve it, except you got a new DNS server assigned via DHCP before it crashed since everybody else got it assigned too.
It’s hard to know without poking around what Time Warner does,and then there is always the little rst flag my ISP likes so much.

]]> By: Alex Goldman http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872288 Alex Goldman Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:56:10 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872288 <p>Maybe dual WAN routers have improved to the point where you no longer need sysadmin skills to run one, but in the past, they had serious flaws:</p> <p>http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/frame/2005/0103wan1.html</p> <p>(and hey, I'm linking to some other company here, not mine)</p> Maybe dual WAN routers have improved to the point where you no longer need sysadmin skills to run one, but in the past, they had serious flaws:

(link)

(and hey, I’m linking to some other company here, not mine)

]]> By: rossgoodman http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872278 rossgoodman Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:56:02 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872278 <p>I'm in the lucky (slighlty expensive) position of having two phone lines coming into my house. The advantage is that I can have two different ISPs; one on each line. Internal networking is a bit more complex but it's great when you have issues on one line, just being able to switch over to the other to check. nothing beats being able to raise a web ticket with your ISP to say your DSL connection is down ! Ross http://www.RossGoodman.com</p> I’m in the lucky (slighlty expensive) position of having two phone lines coming into my house.
The advantage is that I can have two different ISPs; one on each line.
Internal networking is a bit more complex but it’s great when you have issues on one line, just being able to switch over to the other to check.
nothing beats being able to raise a web ticket with your ISP to say your DSL connection is down !
Ross
(link)

]]> By: Stacey Higginbotham http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872275 Stacey Higginbotham Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:34:01 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872275 <p>Guys, it's not my internet connection overall, it's my ability to get to certain sites using Time Warner. For example I could get to CNN.com, but not Google. It looks like this guy (comment No. 13) also was having problems: http://domainnamewire.com/2008/02/09/time-warner-yahoo-team-up-to-cybersquat/</p> Guys, it’s not my internet connection overall, it’s my ability to get to certain sites using Time Warner. For example I could get to CNN.com, but not Google. It looks like this guy (comment No. 13) also was having problems: (link)

]]> By: Greg Glockner http://gigaom.com/2008/04/21/is-it-me-or-the-isp/#comment-872263 Greg Glockner Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:54:05 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=12220#comment-872263 <p>Three words: Dual WAN Router. I think that anyone who is a full-time telecommuter should invest in both DSL and Cable and get a Dual WAN router. You'll get incredibly fast speeds for regular uses, and nearly 100% uptime. You won't get 100% uptime from <em>any</em> residential broadband service.</p> Three words: Dual WAN Router. I think that anyone who is a full-time telecommuter should invest in both DSL and Cable and get a Dual WAN router. You’ll get incredibly fast speeds for regular uses, and nearly 100% uptime. You won’t get 100% uptime from any residential broadband service.

]]>