Topic: Blocked Website

[Ken (OP)]

My system has blocked one of my woodworking sites!!! 

No clue how this happened, but one of my fav woodworking site will not load up on any of my PC's. Might be my router???

[Skhilled]

Are you using the same browser? Check your browser settings or try a different browser.

What is the URL to the woodworking site?

[Ken (OP)]

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/forum.php

I've tried:
Different browsers
Browser settings
Three different PC's... my Lenovo LT, old HP LT and my Dell desktop, all have the same issue. (that's why I'm wondering about the router)

[Skhilled]

It works for me. Have you tried a cell phone? Perhaps they blocked you inadvertently for some reason.

Also, check your firewaall settings...

[Ken (OP)]

My cell phone gets the same result... maybe they've blocked my ip?

[Skhilled]

Looks like it. Are you using your wifi with the cell or your cell service?

EDIT: You could also email them, give your details of your account and let them know what's going on. You can provide them with your IP by going to:

https://www.whatismyip.com/

If that does not work (you still can't get in touch with them) let me know and I'll try to contact them for you.

[Ken (OP)]

The ip is... #######

I've already reached out to them, but have not heard back from them. I do have one name that might work, the forum's system sent me an email that 'Berta' had sent me a PM, she may have a forum email and if so then an email to berta@ncwoodworker.net might work. (I used 'admin@ncwoodworker.net' when trying to contact them)

Let me try my phone outside, on it's own connection, to see what that will do, but I just might need to take you up on the offer to contact them on my behalf.

[Skhilled]

I edited your post to remove your IP so you will not get bad things happen to you. You shouldn't openly post email addresses as well unless that is allowed by them.

OK, let me know how it goes. It may take a day or two for them to contact you.

[Ken (OP)]

Thanks for the edit. 

The cell trick worked! I went outside and it went to the site with no difficulty at all. I was able to respond to Berta's PM and asked her to check my IP because it appears to be blocked.

[Skhilled]

The server may have blocked it for some reason.

[Ken (OP)]

That may be the case... just have to wait now to see if she responds to my PM and the email that was sent to her(?) email.

[Ken (OP)]

Ahhh... finally was able to reach someone! 
The admin@ email worked and they are checking into the issue. 

[Skhilled]

Good deal!

[Ken (OP)]

OK, got this response from the NCWW IT guy:

To: Ken Kimbrell Cc: Ronald Natalie; admin@ncwoodworker.net

I have a feeling that Ken will wish to follow up with his Internet provider as there do seem to be issues on that end at present. The reverse DNS servers for their provider either are not functioning or, far more likely I suspect, there exists no functional path back to Hughes Network within the maximum allowable hops (typically the maximum will be between 30-32 hops). Another very real possibility is that a circular reference may exist within their routing tables causing an endless loop between two or more routers, which also results in packets that eventually expire since they can only keep passing through the same two, or more, routers over and over again. 

There exists a functional route from the NCWOODWORKER.NET server to Hughes Network via Level3 (a major backbone provider) but there appears to exist no functional route within Hughes Network that would lead back to Ken, which means that reply packets are likely being lost within the Hughes Network internal routers. I would not be surprised if packets to our server, from Ken, are likely also being lost within the internal Hughes Network routers as well. I can not find any record in our logs of any traffic from 67.45.*.* ever reaching our server nor any record that I could find of such traffic being dropped or rejected. The absolute hard proof would be to have Ken endlessly ping our server IP, then snoop our server's Ethernet interface in promiscuous mode to see if there is any sign that those packets are ever even hitting the server interface to begin with (but at this time there should be sufficient evidence for Ken to pursue a resolution with directly with his Provider, but we will coordinate this if we must).

Such issues do not necessarily result in one's entire internet connection failing as every block of IP addresses has its own routing rules on each and every router that the packets must pass through along their trip between point of origin and eventual destination, so some, often most, IP blocks may have perfectly functional routes while other routes have become unroutable either due to equipment fault, severed wiring or fiber optics, or incorrect routing rules in the router's configuration. Obviously this can create a lot of confusion since many other sites will continue to function as expected. It is very much like an issue where a telephone area code has become unreachable for whatever reason, unless you actually try to call someone in that area code you would never be aware of the outage, only if you happen to live in that area code does the rest of the world seem to have disappeared!

Due to the vagueries in the information available and the fact that a lot must be inferred based upon tests and a working knowledge of networking and routing behavior, the above is not absolutely conclusive but does very strongly suggest a real problem within the routing tables being used internally within Hughes Network's own internal network (either a bad route or an excessive number of hops resulting in packets expiring in transit), so at this point the best course of action at this time would be for Ken to try and escalate matters directly with his Internet provider since I can find no evidence that there exists any issue at this end at this time as relates to this specific matter. 

But I would suggest one last diagnostic measure prior to making that call, and that is to momentarily disable any antivirus, firewall or other security packages running on Ken's PC just long enough to verify that there are no unintended blocks by his computer's own security software, then immediately reenable such afterwards (it can also be a good idea to reboot afterwards then verify everything is in fact turned back on after having disabled such security). Also, if there exist other computers or devices on this home network that support a web browser then it is also good practice to attempt accessing the site from them as well to further rule out possible issues with a specific computer or device configuration. It is also good practice to reboot your internet router (and satellite receiver if applicable) and any internet switches, WiFi access points or routers, and rebooting computers or devices to rule out crashing hardware. But if these still fail to resolve your issues after trying them all then you strengthen your case when you call the ISP since you can pretty conclusively that it is not an issue related to a misconfigured or crashing hardware on your end (particularly if you have made no configuration changes since things were last working properly). I do not expect these will resolve anything, but strongly suggest trying them all prior to your first call since it substantially rules out many possible issues on the Customer end and can help expedite the progress made during your call since you will have already tried most everything they would ordinarily walk you through. 

Do expect resolution to take some time on their end, however, as diagnosing routing issues typically requires escalation up to their network operations center and their very highest tier of network technicians in order to resolve the issue as such issues are generally well above the technical knowledge and job description of typical technical support technicians. Odds are you will never actually speak to the network operations personnel, rather a message from "up high" will be handed down informing you, along with the regular tech support technicians, that the issue should now be resolved and asking you to give things a try as soon as possible and report back if you still have trouble. Alternatively, there will bo no message handed down and you will just notice that things magically begin working some hours or days later -- it all depends upon how well they communicate internally.

To the Board, if you should receive any communications from Hughes Network requesting assistance on our end, please feel free to pass such on to me via email or PM and I will get in touch with them and, if necessary, place them in touch with WHM (our provider) as well. I am more than happy to try and work through matters directly with them if need be. But at the moment this really looks like an internal configuration issue within Hughes Network's own internal routing tables and, if so, should be well within their ability to resolve internally -- they likely just need to be made aware of the issue.

Best wishes for a prompt resolution and please let me know how things progress.

--
Ethan H. Poole, KW4EK, WQYW561

I've tried the reboot of modems, router and PC's that he suggested and the result remains the same, so I guess that it's time to contact Hughes Net. Generally contacting HN is a wasted effort.

And, it's nice to see a web site with a fully versed IT pro helping out. 

[Skhilled]

did you just reboot the router or did you reset it? Big difference! reset will make you change your passwrod, etc. and your IP...changes everything. Reboot may or may not change your IP...