Website can now only be accessed from my home 50% of the time, but is fine to others?

Shady Coatrack · 04-14-2009, 09:16 PM

I've got a particular website I visit multiple times a day. Until now, it's been fine, but now it only seems to load maybe half the time. Yet it works absolutely fine for everyone else. It doesn't work from any machine in my house, or on any browser, so... what could be wrong? :s

The error Firefox gives is Address not found / The browser could not find the host server for the provided address.

I'd appreciate any ideas. I'm stumped. :(

Shady Coatrack · 04-14-2009, 11:59 PM

And yes, I have tried OpenDNS. :s

**johnwill** · 04-15-2009, 07:38 AM

This could be an issue with the ISP. When it's not working, please do this. Obviously, in the command below, you replace <site_url> with the mystery site URL.

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following command:

TRACERT <site_url>

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter to copy the contents to the clipboard.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

Shady Coatrack · 04-15-2009, 08:35 AM

"Unable to resolve target system name" is the error I get when it's not working. I can't ping it, either, but others can. :(

Shady Coatrack · 04-15-2009, 11:29 AM

I think it must be something with the domain? I can access the site fine by entering its name through the hosting provider (you know, sitename.hostingprovider.com), but the domain just resolves to "Can't find the host server" a lot of the time. The domain works for others even during that time, though.

I did a tracert when it was working, and got a perfectly normal response - 6 hops, around a 300ms ping (this is normal, international, about the same as I get to amazon.com).

Any idea what it could be? :\

(And no, I can't simply use the sitename.hostingprovider.com option all the time, it interferes with the vBulletin redirects and such.)

**johnwill** · 04-16-2009, 08:39 AM

This sounds like an issue with the routing to the location. I've had several ISP issues with the very same type of issue here over the years.

If it works some of the time and not other times, I can't believe it's your system...

04-14-2009, 09:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
Shady Coatrack Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 17 OS: Windows XP Pro SP3	Website can now only be accessed from my home 50% of the time, but is fine to others? I've got a particular website I visit multiple times a day. Until now, it's been fine, but now it only seems to load maybe half the time. Yet it works absolutely fine for everyone else. It doesn't work from any machine in my house, or on any browser, so... what could be wrong? :s The error Firefox gives is Address not found / The browser could not find the host server for the provided address. I'd appreciate any ideas. I'm stumped. :(

04-14-2009, 11:59 PM	#2 (permalink)
Shady Coatrack Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 17 OS: Windows XP Pro SP3	Re: Website can now only be accessed from my home 50% of the time, but is fine to oth And yes, I have tried OpenDNS. :s

04-15-2009, 07:38 AM	#3 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,940 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	Re: Website can now only be accessed from my home 50% of the time, but is fine to oth This could be an issue with the ISP. When it's not working, please do this. Obviously, in the command below, you replace *<site_url>* with the mystery site URL. Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt: In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following command: TRACERT *<site_url>* Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter to copy the contents to the clipboard. Paste the results in a message here. If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

04-15-2009, 08:35 AM	#4 (permalink)
Shady Coatrack Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 17 OS: Windows XP Pro SP3	Re: Website can now only be accessed from my home 50% of the time, but is fine to oth "Unable to resolve target system name" is the error I get when it's not working. I can't ping it, either, but others can. :(

04-15-2009, 11:29 AM	#5 (permalink)
Shady Coatrack Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 17 OS: Windows XP Pro SP3	Re: Website can now only be accessed from my home 50% of the time, but is fine to oth I think it must be something with the domain? I can access the site fine by entering its name through the hosting provider (you know, sitename.hostingprovider.com), but the domain just resolves to "Can't find the host server" a lot of the time. The domain works for others even during that time, though. I did a tracert when it was working, and got a perfectly normal response - 6 hops, around a 300ms ping (this is normal, international, about the same as I get to amazon.com). Any idea what it could be? :\ (And no, I can't simply use the sitename.hostingprovider.com option all the time, it interferes with the vBulletin redirects and such.)

04-16-2009, 08:39 AM	#6 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,940 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	Re: Website can now only be accessed from my home 50% of the time, but is fine to oth This sounds like an issue with the routing to the location. I've had several ISP issues with the very same type of issue here over the years. If it works some of the time and not other times, I can't believe it's your system... __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience