Zen Internet Support Forum

Hi all,

 

OK, I have a problem with my http access and it's driving me to distraction as I can't find what is wrong or resolve the issue I am having.

 

Basically, my http access is screwed up. If I don't access http for a while - the length of time seems to vary so I can't be specific here, sorry - then, whenever I try to access a web page, I get a page not found error. I can press refresh anywhere between 1 and 3 times before the page, magically, CAN be found and the website can be viewed normally. HTTP access is then rock solid as long as I use it continuously as, if i stop using it for a while, the problem then resurfaces.

 

It doesn't seem limited to my browser as the problem can be replicated in the following browsers:-

 

Firefox (my prefered browser)

IE7

Opera

Netscape

Flock

Safari

Even the Thunderbird welcome page when you first load it suffers from this issue.

I have tried disabling both my firewall (COMODO Pro) and my anti-virus program (AVG 8) to eliminate them and the problem remains. I have tried flushing my DNS cache and the problem remians. I don't use a proxy server so that isn't the problem. I've used the Windows network connection diagnosis and repair tool and, while it seems to regularly find a TCP connection problem, repairing this "problem" still sees the issue with http access remaining.

I have a Thompson Speedtouch ST546 but can't seem to find any  mention of it having a disconnect on idle option so don't know if this is a reason behind my problems.

And it's only http access that is so screwed up.

IM (both YIM and MSN) work fine

Online gaming (EVE Online) is rock solid. 

NNTP works with no issue

SNTP works as well

POP3 works fine

FTP does too

 

So can anyone help me with diagnosing what's wrong? I've tried several help forums and they've been as much use as a chocolate teapot! I got the feeling that the people responding to my request for help had done nothing more than get all the possible "reasons" for this happening as they could and just listing them verbatim while leaving me to, figuratively, hunt for the needle in the haystack. 

 

Many thanks for any hwelp that anyone may give me in this because I'm at my wit's end trying to get to the bottom of this problem.

 

SR 

Have you been able to replicate the problem on a second PC behind the same router to narrow down if the problem lies with the router or the computer?

---

David Nelson
Team Leader
Business Support Unit
Zen Internet

Hello,

Humm!! I'm wondering if this is really a DNS related problem i.e. a problem either with your DNS resolver cache? or a dirty or corrupted HOSTS file?

No.1 If the problem IS just a dirty DNS resolver cache that can quickly & easily be sorted out by rebooting the entire machine, the cache will be cleaned out during this process. You can also try clearing the DNS cache by opening a DOS window and then at the command prompt typing C:\>IPCONFIG /FLUSHDNS press enter. And that should do it.

No.2 The hosts file is a file that is found inside the windows folder (c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts). The hosts file acts like having a local telephone directory of frequently used websites & means that commonly visited sites load up much faster because the address information is found in the hosts file. If your hosts file has been hijacked or corrupted that would possibly cause delays in website address's being resolved and then loaded. This would make sense of some of what your describing.

No.3 Check you do have the correct Zen Primary & secondary DNS servers in association with your internet connection configuration. They should be (PRI) = 212.23.06.100 & (Sec) = 212.23.03.100.

No.4 OR could still be a problem of settings in the router. Check ALL the router settings from the admin or set up pages with a fine tooth comb. Make 100% sure they are correct. 

Hope that might help?

Kind Regards Ivan 

 

Just a brief comment - we don't have the concept of a primary and secondary DNS server set. 212.23.3.100 and 212.23.6.100 are identical in operation. DSL users are given them out in the order best suiting where they appear on our network, eg someone terminating in Manchester will get 212.23.6.100 before 212.23.3.100 whereas someone terminating in Rochdale will have them in the other order.

---

--
Jerry Nicholls
Principal Systems Engineer
perl -e '$_=q(print "perl -e \x27\$_=q($_);eval\x27\n");eval'

Hello Jerry,

Sorry! you have lost me completely on that one?

**DON'T ALL ISP's use primary & secondary DNS servers, I thought this was associated with the nature of DNS and how it works?

Ivan 

For a domain's authoritative nameservers there will usually be a 1ry and a 2ndry nameserver, i.e. both servers can give out records for that domain but usually one copies (slaves) the records off from the other. Here at Zen both NS0 and NS1, our authoritative servers, are actually secondaries getting their records from a 'stealth' primary but that's by-the-by.

I was referring to the caching resolver service that we offer (212.23.3.100 and 212.23.6.100). With those both addresses are functionally identical and no one should be chosen over the other except where one is 'geographically' closer (in network terms) than the other. We give them out via RADIUS to our DSL customers in the order that makes most sense with respect to where that customer appears on our network, hence you may see the order swap in your router (assuming you've not hard-coded them) after a reconnection.

Hope that all made sense.

 

---

--
Jerry Nicholls
Principal Systems Engineer
perl -e '$_=q(print "perl -e \x27\$_=q($_);eval\x27\n");eval'

Hello Jerry,

Oh!! OK thats interesting and all makes perfect sense to me now. Cheers!

Ivan 

David Nelson:

Have you been able to replicate the problem on a second PC behind the same router to narrow down if the problem lies with the router or the computer?

 

First of all, sorry for not replying sooner. I've been rather busy of late.

As for your question - no, I've not been able to replicate it on another PC which is why I've been looking at things like the DNS cache, firewall and anti-virus.

Many thanks,

SR
 

cyteck:

Hello,

Humm!! I'm wondering if this is really a DNS related problem i.e. a problem either with your DNS resolver cache? or a dirty or corrupted HOSTS file?

No.1 If the problem IS just a dirty DNS resolver cache that can quickly & easily be sorted out by rebooting the entire machine, the cache will be cleaned out during this process. You can also try clearing the DNS cache by opening a DOS window and then at the command prompt typing C:\>IPCONFIG /FLUSHDNS press enter. And that should do it.

No.2 The hosts file is a file that is found inside the windows folder (c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts). The hosts file acts like having a local telephone directory of frequently used websites & means that commonly visited sites load up much faster because the address information is found in the hosts file. If your hosts file has been hijacked or corrupted that would possibly cause delays in website address's being resolved and then loaded. This would make sense of some of what your describing.

No.3 Check you do have the correct Zen Primary & secondary DNS servers in association with your internet connection configuration. They should be (PRI) = 212.23.06.100 & (Sec) = 212.23.03.100.

No.4 OR could still be a problem of settings in the router. Check ALL the router settings from the admin or set up pages with a fine tooth comb. Make 100% sure they are correct. 

Hope that might help?

Kind Regards Ivan 

 

Hi and thanks for your reply.

I've flushed my DNS cache a couple of times already and that hasn't seemed to resolve the issue. In that case, how do I go about determining if my HOSTS file is corrupt or dirty and sorting it out/resetting it?

Many thanks,

SR 

cyteck:

No.3 Check you do have the correct Zen Primary & secondary DNS servers in association with your internet connection configuration. They should be (PRI) = 212.23.06.100 & (Sec) = 212.23.03.100.

Hi again,

Just checked this and I have the primary DNS set to 212.23.06.100 and the secondary to 212.23.3.100

Many thanks,

SR
 

Hello again,

YES! it is possible for a hosts file to become hijacked by malware or perhaps by a virus. Usually the tell tale symptoms are when you cannot locate your favorite websites easily, or get redirected to sites you either don't want, or haven't asked for, or haven't seen before. 

**The HOSTS file can be found here in windows XP c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts , or if your using another version of windows you can quickly find it by running a file search.

**The HOSTS file can easily be viewed or edited provided you use just a simple text editor such as windows notepad (DON'T use any other kind of editor which might leave hidden codes such as a normal word processor). Notepad is safe use this if you have it.

MY ADVISE:- find the HOSTS file and just make a single copy of this file, put it into a temporary folder such as C:\temp (leaving the original untouched or unchanged).  And then load it into notepad to see if the contents make sense and look OK.

Normally the HOSTS file contains two columns

http://www.websitename.com ----------> IP address of the website (such as 192.122.33.05) 

And ends with LOCAL HOST 127.00.00.01

**IF the hosts is damaged or corrupted you might find all sorts or weird website addresses or perhaps porn websites or porn IP's this is common sadly.

**If corrupted you should just remove the offending websites & IP's and save to a fresh HOSTS file. When saving the HOSTS file don't give it an extension this is normal but it should just be a plain text file.

Hope that helps? 

Regards Ivan 

 

cyteck:

And ends with LOCAL HOST 127.00.00.01

**IF the hosts is damaged or corrupted you might find all sorts or weird website addresses or perhaps porn websites or porn IP's this is common sadly.

**If corrupted you should just remove the offending websites & IP's and save to a fresh HOSTS file. When saving the HOSTS file don't give it an extension this is normal but it should just be a plain text file.

Hope that helps? 

Regards Ivan 

 

 

Hi Ivan,

 

OK, I've opened up my HOSTS file and there's only 2 lines in it:-

127.0.0.1       localhost
::1             localhost

What's the ::1 all about? Is that something I need to be concerned about or is that not a problem?

Many thanks,

SR
 

SheppeyRed:

Hi Ivan,

 

OK, I've opened up my HOSTS file and there's only 2 lines in it:-

127.0.0.1       localhost
::1             localhost

What's the ::1 all about? Is that something I need to be concerned about or is that not a problem?

Many thanks,

SR
 

Hmm, are you on Vista? As I've got the ::1 in my Hosts file and I've never seen it before now on a Linux Slackware box or my XP installs.

 I'd assume that it's to do with IPv6 since that is the only thing that I can think of that Vista has installed that is extra by default...   So, I don't "Think" it's a problem
 

I won't post my Host file, it is to large (2.28 MB) : )

Once you have the location of the host file and you know it's OK write protect it. 

You can use it to rule out local DNS problems.

To make google.com = 72.14.207.99

72.14.207.99    google.com

To make it block access to google.com

127.0.0.1        google.com

AndyM77:

SheppeyRed:

Hi Ivan,

 

OK, I've opened up my HOSTS file and there's only 2 lines in it:-

127.0.0.1       localhost
::1             localhost

What's the ::1 all about? Is that something I need to be concerned about or is that not a problem?

Many thanks,

SR
 

Hmm, are you on Vista? As I've got the ::1 in my Hosts file and I've never seen it before now on a Linux Slackware box or my XP installs.

 I'd assume that it's to do with IPv6 since that is the only thing that I can think of that Vista has installed that is extra by default...   So, I don't "Think" it's a problem
 

 

Hi,

 

As a matter of fact I am.

I'm still no closer to sorting this out and getting really fed up now. Surely someone has a clue as to what's going on and can help me out before this drives me up the wall?

SR