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Groups > comp.os.ms-windows.networking.misc > #109

Re: Can't connect to Web

Cross-posted to 3 groups.

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Stef <not@this.address.com> wrote:

> Steve Hayes wrote:
> 
>> This morning I suddenly lost my connection to the web while I was
>> browsing. 
>>
>> Mail still worked, news still worked, but the web connection did not. 
>>
>> I reset the router, rebooted my computer, but still nothing. 
>>
>> I wondered if it was a browser fault (I use Firefox) so tried Internet
>> Explorer. It too could not connect, but offered to run diagnostics.
>> This is what was found:
>>
>> ---- diagnostic report ----
>> [snip]
>>
>>
>> DNS Client Diagnostic 
>> DNS - Not a home user scenario 
>>
>> info Using Web Proxy: no 
>> info Resolving name ok for (www.microsoft.com): yes 
>> No DNS servers 
>>
>> DNS failure 
> 
> I haven't read the entire thread, but this is mostly likely your
> problem.
> 
> Your default Domain Name Server is down or can't be accessed. When you
> can't access "The Web" with your browser, but mail, ftp, etc work
> (they don't use DNS), that's where I'd start the troubleshooting.

WRONG.  Anytime you use a hostname (host.domain.tld) to specify a host,
like for an e-mail or ftp or "etc" server, DNS gets used.  Humans like
names.  Computers demand numbers.  How many times have you encountered a
user that specifies the IP address address for their e-mail server when
configuring an account within their local e-mail client?  Look at your
own e-mail config in whatever local e-mail client you use.  Did you
enter a hostname or an IP address?  Unless you do the DNS lookup when
configuring the e-mail account in your e-mail client, you don't get that
info from the e-mail provider as they give you hostnames.  How many web
pages have you visited where absolute references (non-relative or just a
path under the current location) to sources in a web page use IP
addresses instead of hostnames?  If DNS were unusable to the OP, he
wouldn't be doing e-mail or newsgroups.  If the OP were having to use IP
addresses for everything, he would've mentioned it and maybe how he got
those IP addresses.

> Here's a couple articles
> 
>   https://www.lifewire.com/find-the-ip-address-of-a-web-site-818155

Requires DNS be working.

>   https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-the-ip-address-of-google-818153

Requires DNS be working.

Also, if DNS was unusable, how would the OP get to the lifewire site?
You didn't give him the IP address for that site.

> pinging both the domain name of a site and its IP address will test the
> DNS, too.

That depends on the site.  They can disable echo request in ICMP or
block it in their firewall which means ping won't work to there.
Besides, you don't need to rely on ping to convert a hostname to an IP
address.  Just use nslookup.

You can also ping by hostname (which obviously requires a DNS server to
get the IP address and then do the actual ping) or ping by IP address.
How is the OP going to get the IP address (to ensure the site actually
responds to echo requests) if DNS is unusable?

The OP said e-mail and newsgroups worked.  It is extremely rare a user
enters IP addresses for the server hostnames in the configuration of
their local clients.  So DNS is working because the OP said he can do
e-mail and newsgroups.  Per the OP's statement, we don't even know HOW
the OP is doing e-mail and newsgroups.  He could be using a local client
(in which case, he specified hostnames, not IP addresses) or he could be
using HTTP to a web page (in which case, "can't connect" is misleading
because the OP can get to some sites but it's probably the HTTPS ones he
cannot establish a session).

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Thread

Can't connect to Web Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2017-05-26 10:04 +0200
  Re: Can't connect to Web rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-05-26 04:47 -0400
    Re: Can't connect to Web Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2017-05-28 06:21 +0200
      Re: Can't connect to Web VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2017-05-27 23:33 -0500
      Re: Can't connect to Web rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-05-28 01:24 -0400
        Re: Can't connect to Web Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2017-05-28 02:17 -0400
          Re: Can't connect to Web rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-05-28 03:18 -0400
            Re: Can't connect to Web VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2017-05-28 05:31 -0500
  Re: Can't connect to Web VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2017-05-26 13:39 -0500
  Re: Can't connect to Web Stef <not@this.address.com> - 2017-05-28 17:16 +0000
    Re: Can't connect to Web Bert <bert@iphouse.com> - 2017-05-28 17:48 +0000
      Re: Can't connect to Web Stef <not@this.address.com> - 2017-05-29 19:05 +0000
        Re: Can't connect to Web Bert <bert@iphouse.com> - 2017-05-31 17:51 +0000
          Re: Can't connect to Web Stef <not@this.address.com> - 2017-05-31 23:03 +0000
          Re: Can't connect to Web Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2017-06-13 15:10 -0500
    Re: Can't connect to Web VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2017-05-28 15:11 -0500
      Re: Can't connect to Web rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-05-29 00:20 -0400
      Re: Can't connect to Web Stef <not@this.address.com> - 2017-05-29 18:57 +0000
    Re: Can't connect to Web Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2017-05-29 03:53 +0200
      Re: Can't connect to Web Stef <not@this.address.com> - 2017-05-29 16:27 +0000
      Re: Can't connect to Web VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2017-05-31 15:41 -0500
        Re: Can't connect to Web Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2017-06-01 08:52 +0200
          Re: Can't connect to Web Rene Lamontagne <rlamont@shaw.ca> - 2017-06-20 20:50 -0500

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