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General discussion

Roadrunner/Netgear router and problems with certain websites

Apr 9, 2005 1:24AM PDT

I have a problem that's been driving me nuts for months now. I've isolated it to either my wireless router or my ISP.

The problem: I get timeouts or "document contains no data" errors with *certain* websites. If I take my computer to a public wireless node I can use them fine. The problem is the same with all the browsers I've tried. File uploads through the browser and certain transactions always fail; some others succeed or fail unpredictably. Other kinds of network connections (SSH logins, SSH file transfers, FTP) all seem to work fine. I can't figure out what kind of router or ISP issues could cause this bizarre behavior.

My setup:

Powerbook G4 running Mac OS X 10.3.8
Netgear MR814 v1 wireless router, firmware version 4.14 RC4 Dec 11 2003
RoadRunner cable with Ambit 60194E-004 cable modem
All the browsers on hand: Firefox 1.0, Safari, MSIE 5 for Mac, Netscape

The sites (among others):

- Yahoo 360
- Orkut
- American Airlines' frequent flyer reservation system (but not their regular reservation system!)
- certain library applications

Maybe I could live without these but it's maddening that every time I run into problems on some other site I have to wonder whether the trouble is at their end or mine.

Any ideas?

-- Prentiss Riddle riddle@io.com http://prentissriddle.com

Discussion is locked

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Read this about an ongoing issue with DNS pollution.
Apr 9, 2005 1:36AM PDT
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DNS pollution?
Apr 9, 2005 9:18AM PDT

Thanks, Bob. But are you saying that DNS pollution might be the cause of my problem? Note that on each of the websites in questions there are things I can do and others which time out or produce null results, in particular file uploads. That doesn't sound like purely a DNS problem to me. Or am I missing something?

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Just sharing..
Apr 9, 2005 10:24AM PDT

The issue is there and can be the DNS is polluted. One time you'll get the right answer and the next click... poof.

If you feel it's not that or you, call the ISP.

bob

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Nothing there
Apr 17, 2005 10:58AM PDT

This is a prolem I experienced about a year ago as a Roadrunner user here in Hawaii. It took a phone call to the local support center with a local tech (that's the reason for the local support center) who after listening to a one minute description of the problem, gave me a 30 second cure. Talking with the national support desk never got me anywhere. The problem was a connection point that was not updated. Ben

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Non-routers "the usuals."
Apr 9, 2005 10:25AM PDT

1. Spyware.

Bottomline = don't let it on your machine.

2. Browser cache. Clear it.

3. Download accelerators. Don't.

Bob

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The usuals
Apr 17, 2005 11:03AM PDT

Gosh, spyware = painware. The home wireless network is now running on a Belkin pre-N unit supporting multiple laptops. I have tried the spyware programs, looking toward those that support network operation. Each computer is running a spyware program (one is Microsoft's beta program, and SpyBot on two of them). What I really like with these types of programs is the ability to run and control in-depth testing from any machine on the network. Anti spyware programs became a necessity when the desktop server slowed to a crawl. Now after a full day of looking looking for it, the system is free of it (until the next game is installed somewhere). Ben