Issue: Web browser cannot access common web sites
Description: At times you might run into problems with your Internet browsing running slowly, with sites timing out or only loading halfway. Many times this has to do with a browser-specific problem, and the things to do initially if these problems are en
At times you might run into problems with your Internet browsing running slowly, with sites timing out or only loading halfway. Many times this has to do with a browser-specific problem, and the things to do initially if these problems are encountered are to: empty the cache, delete the history, remove the preference file for the browser, and if all else fails, reset the browser. For Safari this can be done with the "Reset Safari" option in the "Safari" menu.
While browser-specific issues are a major cause of slow or nonfunctional Web sites, in some instances multiple browsers may experience the same problem, where a select few sites will lag or not load. This has happened recently for some people in Chile, where Google's search page didn't seem to be accessible.
LaciGal--
"We have just moved to Chile for a few months. We have Wi-fi in the apartment, and everything was working fine until yesterday, when Google stopped working. I can no longer access Google.com for searches. Gmail works, so does Google Maps, but Google itself does not. I use both Safari and Firefox, and neither work."
For this kind of problem, a DNS server malfunction may be to blame. Generally, ISPs automatically assign DNS servers, which should work to resolve host names to network addresses. In some instances, however, the DNS server may not be functioning correctly, which will result in URLs not resolving properly and sites not loading.
One way to test DNS functionality is to use the terminal command "host" to try to resolve a URL to an IP address. For instance, if you open Terminal and enter the following command:
host www.apple.com
You should see an output such as the following:
www.apple.com is an alias for www.apple.com.akadns.net.
www.apple.com.akadns.net has address 17.251.200.32
This routine accesses the DNS servers and shows what the final IP address is for the Apple Web site, which can be tested by entering the resolved IP address in your Web browser (for example: http://17.251.200.32) and should bring up the desired Web site (this may depend on how the Web server is configured, but should work for most major sites).
Entering an incorrect URL with the "host" command (such as "host www.apple-xyz.com") should give a "host not found" error, which will happen to correct URLs if they are not in the DNS tables of the DNS servers you are using. If entering a correct URL with the "host" command gives a "host not found" error, and that site is also not working in any browser, then you are most likely dealing with a DNS server problem. Luckily this can be fixed by supplying your own DNS servers to the system.
Fix:
Enter custom DNS servers for your computer.
Go to your "Network" system preferences and select the active network connection. Then click the "Advanced..." button and go to the "DNS" tab. Click the plus sign under the "DNS Servers" list and enter the following IP addresses, which are two DNS servers from the "Open DNS" project (http://www.opendns.com/).
208.67.220.220
208.67.222.222
With these servers in the DNS list, try accessing the nonfunctional Web sites again and hopefully they should resolve properly. You can also now test out the URLs using the "hosts" command, which now should properly display an IP address for the Web sites.
Refer to Apple discussion boards for additional information: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1936841&tstart=30
Experiencing Problems? Have Feedback? Let us know! http://www.macfixit.com/contact
Resources