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Router randomly blocking websites
This is one of the stranger things that I have ever seen.
My router is connected to the internet...and I can get to the internet...at least some of it.
It is blocking certain websites however.
Now to be clear..these are not FTP sites..or anything that I would think should cause any form of Security to block.
As an example...one site is the bank where I pay my monthly house mortgage. Another is the website of a local University.
I used to be able to get to both websites ...but something changed a few weeks ago.
There are no blocked IP's ...or blocked anything of any kind set up in the configs. I even went to far as to add access of a PC's IP to "allow access to blocked sites" just as a test..that does not work either.
I have reset more times that I care to say.
I have set the router to the factory default.
I have reloaded the firmware.
I have looked for anything or any reason in this router as to why it might be blocking these websites and I can not find anything.
I am sure some are asking if I have hard isolated it to the router. Yes I have.
When my cell is on the house WIFI, it can not get to these sites.
When WIFI is turned off, my cell can get to the sites fine.
This is happening to anything routing through that router...both wired and wireless.
I have confirmed with my ISP that they are not blocking anything.
I know they are not the issue anyways because when I bypass the router and go straight to the cable modem, the websites are no longer blocked.
In addition, I have used an old TP-Link router in place of this router and the sites are not blocked.
For anybody wondering about Chrome, Firefox and IE... I tried all 3.
I cleared the cache and cookies in all 3.
As I said...this problem is hard isolated to this router.
I am really hoping that somebody can offer some advice because this thing is about to go out a window. I did not pay this much money for this level of aggravation in my life.
I tried to call Netgear... I got as far as the request for the Serial...where I am supposed to say "Got It". And no matter how I said it, yelled it....etc..the Netgear phone system just kept playing that stupid music and telling me to say "Got it" when ready.
Honestly...if they can not manage a phone system any better than this, perhaps this is what I should expect from this router.
Yes..I called at least 5 times and got the same exact experience each time.
My router is connected to the internet...and I can get to the internet...at least some of it.
It is blocking certain websites however.
Now to be clear..these are not FTP sites..or anything that I would think should cause any form of Security to block.
As an example...one site is the bank where I pay my monthly house mortgage. Another is the website of a local University.
I used to be able to get to both websites ...but something changed a few weeks ago.
There are no blocked IP's ...or blocked anything of any kind set up in the configs. I even went to far as to add access of a PC's IP to "allow access to blocked sites" just as a test..that does not work either.
I have reset more times that I care to say.
I have set the router to the factory default.
I have reloaded the firmware.
I have looked for anything or any reason in this router as to why it might be blocking these websites and I can not find anything.
I am sure some are asking if I have hard isolated it to the router. Yes I have.
When my cell is on the house WIFI, it can not get to these sites.
When WIFI is turned off, my cell can get to the sites fine.
This is happening to anything routing through that router...both wired and wireless.
I have confirmed with my ISP that they are not blocking anything.
I know they are not the issue anyways because when I bypass the router and go straight to the cable modem, the websites are no longer blocked.
In addition, I have used an old TP-Link router in place of this router and the sites are not blocked.
For anybody wondering about Chrome, Firefox and IE... I tried all 3.
I cleared the cache and cookies in all 3.
As I said...this problem is hard isolated to this router.
I am really hoping that somebody can offer some advice because this thing is about to go out a window. I did not pay this much money for this level of aggravation in my life.
I tried to call Netgear... I got as far as the request for the Serial...where I am supposed to say "Got It". And no matter how I said it, yelled it....etc..the Netgear phone system just kept playing that stupid music and telling me to say "Got it" when ready.
Honestly...if they can not manage a phone system any better than this, perhaps this is what I should expect from this router.
Yes..I called at least 5 times and got the same exact experience each time.
The most imortant part of the MAC address change process is that you power cycle the modem (the router also if you want, but particularly the modem). If you don't do this the MAC address change at the router will simply kill your Internet connection. More often than not this fixes the issue of unreachable websites, which more often than not is nothing to do with the router (whatever the brand).lottathought wrote: I did try your suggestion Searay..in fact I tried several combinations....nothing.
21 Replies
- Possible issue with DNS? lottathought, Since you've indicated you are connected to the internet, "some of it". How about opening a command prompt and trying to ping the sites you are unable to reach. What is the exact message you receive when you attempt to open or navigate to a site that worked previously. The router doesn't block sites by default.
- I want to thank you guys for trying to help me.
Unfortunately the problem is not solved.
I did try your suggestion Searay..in fact I tried several combinations....nothing.
Shadowsports... I pinged 2 different sites from CMD.
I pinged Google..a known, general site that I have no problem reaching....and I pinged the bank.
I reached Google with 100% of the packets.
I had 100% packet loss to the bank.
Perhaps it is not usual for a router to block sites....but this one is definitely doing it. - Shadowsports...I neglected to answer your 2nd question.
I will use the Mtg company as an example since it is a site that I can not reach.
The exact message that I get is....
The connection has timed out
The server at www.nationstarmtg.com is taking too long to respond.
The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments.
If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network connection.
If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web. - Can you post the result of running tracert to a "blocked" site?
- Just curious. Didn't see this posted. Did you try the same thing directly connect to your you ISP device (router / modem)?
netwrks wrote: Just curious. Didn't see this posted. Did you try the same thing directly connect to your you ISP device (router / modem)?
I did...and it works perfectly when I do. I can tell you with certainty that the router is the reason that certain websites are being blocked.
As far as the pinging....the packets timed out and ...just like you would expect if it can not reach an IP.
I appreciate everyone's help.
I have had it with this router though.
I have now worked on this for 2 months and have tried everything that even seemed remotely relevant to fix this. I am not inexperienced with routers. I troubleshoot networks for a living. I would have RMA'ed this device long ago.
As it stands, I replaced the router today with an Asus.
I have now been at this long enough...and tried enough things...I am convinced that this router is un-repairable as a router. Whatever the cause, wiping the firmware and re-writing back in multiple times should have cleared this if it could be cleared.
This is now going to serve as an AP in a distant part of the house. The wireless works properly....even if the router will not.- It would have been nice to have seen the tracert. While a ping will tell you about packet loss, a tracert would have told you which device was responsible for dropping the packets. I had similar issues as you. A tracert revealed to me that my ISP was dropping only IPv6 packets inside their network. A web search confirmed that many others were seeing the same thing and that the ISP's handling of IPv6 was to blame. Disabling IPv6 fixed my problems. Anyway, it's too bad you were not able to figure out the issue with your R7000. You never gave us enough information to help you. It's good that you fixed your network by getting the Asus but we'll never know if or how the R7000 was to blame.
The most imortant part of the MAC address change process is that you power cycle the modem (the router also if you want, but particularly the modem). If you don't do this the MAC address change at the router will simply kill your Internet connection. More often than not this fixes the issue of unreachable websites, which more often than not is nothing to do with the router (whatever the brand).lottathought wrote: I did try your suggestion Searay..in fact I tried several combinations....nothing. Everyone, I believe Andy is absolutely correct.
It is not the router. This has happened to me with 3 different name brand routers and usually occurs after 3 to 4 weeks of use.
My present netgear router has just done the same thing and it is always one site.
The site is : philmartproducts.us : Sad part is, I own the site but it is hosted on Cashmoneyservers.
Phil
PS. Does seem to happen quite often to a lot of people.
Sorry,
I forgot to mention that Andy's fix was spot on!
Everyone of my routers now work just fine!
Thanks Andy,
Phil
I have the same problem, and set a ticket up with Netgear, They wanted DNS set to 8888 but that didn't fix it. They then wanted ping data. The sites time out. Having done all this other guy did, this looks like a router issue.Hi tedl2,
Have you tried the suggestion of Andy?
Cloning my Mac address worked for me
What is the process for cloning the Mac address?
