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Forum Discussion
Orbi blocking any website on the utah.edu domain
A month ago I purchased an RBK50 Orbi with one satellite and everything is working fine except, I cannot connect to any websites on the utah.edu domain. I contacted support 3 times and twice th...
You're having difficulty with support because this is not an issue with the Orbi and certainly not your Orbi hardware (thus, refusal to exchange). It may be caused by inserting a new networking/router device into your environment but it is a configuration issue, not a hardware or router software bug.
You need a tech expert who can look at your home DNS settings, cable modem, firewall software, etc. and figure out why this is happening. Unfortunately your cable provider will refuse to do so because you are using foreign Orbi networking equipment and likewise Netgear support can only help you with their hardware, not generic home networking issues.
Others here may be able to suggest investigative steps. If you also see the problem on your phone, not just your laptop, then that's surprising as it seems to rule out typical Windows firewall and public/private networking differences. What happens if you set your Orbi DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 (google)? Do you run any website blocking software or services? Is your laptop software Windows?
I have done a lot of troubleshooting, tried several different DNS settings, reset my modem and Orbi several times, tried all MTU sizes between 1400 and 1500. The problem is still there.
I can access utah.edu from my cell phone over the T-Moble network but cannot access it while on WiFi. It also works while I am directly connected to the modem. It is a router issue, most likely a software issue.
My RBK50 loads up the www.utah.edu home page lickety-split.
There was just a thread on here where a user couldn't load any google/gmail domains. He solved the problem by changing DNS setttings. Unfortunately, he didn't tell us exactly what he changed.
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Using-Gmail-with-an-Orbi-setup/m-p/1323887#M10284
I just installed the safe VPN Chrome extension and I am able to visit all utah.edu websites. As soon as I turn off the VPN the website doesn't load.
Its a bit of a long shot, but you could you check to see on your Orbi router setup, if you are cloning a MAC address or using its actual MAC address. If you could try cloning your laptop's MAC addresss (which is reaching the website just fine direct to your modem) for the Orbi to use instead of its own, and then see if you are able to visit the website without the use of VPN through the Orbi.
I remember a few Orbi users had some very random problems with web connectivity last year, and cloning the MAC address let them resolve it till they got something renewed/released/registered with their ISP.
