Fudzilla.com blocked from my computer only

[BernardP]

For about a week, now, my home computer hasn't been able to connect directly to fudzilla.com. This problem exists with IE8 and Firefox 3.

However, I can access it through a proxy, such as TheCloak or Hotspot Shield.

I'm using AVG Free 8.5 and can't find anything on the AVG forums about this.

I don't know much about this, but I remember seeing that a "host" file in the Windows folder might contain a list of blocked sites. The hosts file I have only contains a generic explanation of the workings of this file.

I know that Fudzilla.com is accessible, since I can easily access it at work or through a proxy from my home computer. I'm not aware of any other web site that is blocked.

Ideas?

[TropicalBound]

Have you disabled AVG and tried to access the site?

Open a command prompt (Start / Run / CMD)
In the command Window, type:

ping fudzilla.com

Post back with the results.

<Since you didn't say, I'm assuming you're running Windows XP>

TB

[BernardP]

Thanks TropicalBound,

I will check out your suggestions when I get home tonight. I have repeatedly tried to restart in Safe Mode (to bypass AVG and anything else), tapping the F8 key during boot, but all I get is the drive selection boot menu. From there, the computer boots normally. I can't even get to the menu where I could select Safe Boot . Yes, I have Win XP SP3 (see my sig).

[BernardP]

OK, I have tried a lot of things that don't work:

- pinging fudzilla.com results in 4 successive timeouts
- disabling AVG
- booting in Safe Mode (network), still doesn't work
- emptying IE browser cache, even though I have the same problem with Firefox
- checking for blocked sites in IE8, even though...
- scanning whole C disk with AVG
- clearing the DNS cache with ipconfig /flushdns
- uninstalling PeerGuardian and Hotspot Shield

As I finish writing this, I see that I can access Fudzilla.com through kproxy.com, but not directly.

[BernardP]

Others things I tried, based on the theory that the web site is blocking me:

- manually releasing and renewing my IP address
- disconnecting the cable modem overnight to try to force a change in IP address

Both don't work, as the IP address stays the same after these operations. I know my ISP doesn't provide a true static IP, but evidently, it can remain static for some time.

[TropicalBound]

Pining fudzilla.com will timeout for security reasons. However, I wanted to know if it was resolving to an IP Address. Did it reply with one?

TB

[BernardP]

Pining fudzilla.com will timeout for security reasons. However, I wanted to know if it was resolving to an IP Address. Did it reply with one?
TB

No, there is no reply from the web site, only timeouts.

[TropicalBound]

Well, I need to recant my earlier statement. Looks like fudzilla does allow ICMP requests:

Pinging fudzilla.com [208.43.251.45] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 208.43.251.45: bytes=32 time=39ms TTL=50
Reply from 208.43.251.45: bytes=32 time=64ms TTL=50
Reply from 208.43.251.45: bytes=32 time=88ms TTL=50
Reply from 208.43.251.45: bytes=32 time=57ms TTL=50

Ping statistics for 208.43.251.45:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 39ms, Maximum = 88ms, Average = 62ms

However, I think I'm still confusing you. I'm not wanting to know if it replied, I'm wanting to know if it gave you an IP Address (see above).

TB

[troyz]

goto command prompt and type

tracert www.fudzilla.com >c:\tracert.txt

open log file and copy/paste tracert results

if you get an access denied error put the output file in another directory c:\somedirectory\tracert.txt

[BernardP]

OK TropicalBound, here are the results of my ping. My system is in French, so I have tranlated using your own results:

--------------------------------------

Pinging fudzilla.com [208.43.251.45] with 32 bytes of data:

Timeout
Timeout
Timeout
Timeout

Ping statistics for 208.43.251.45:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss)

---------------------------------------

Here is the exact copy/paste in french:

-----------------------------------

Envoi d'une requête 'ping' sur fudzilla.com [208.43.251.45] avec 32 octets de données*:

Délai d'attente de la demande dépassé.
Délai d'attente de la demande dépassé.
Délai d'attente de la demande dépassé.
Délai d'attente de la demande dépassé.

Statistiques Ping pour 208.43.251.45:
Paquets*: envoyés = 4, reçus = 0, perdus = 4 (perte 100%)

[BernardP]

And now troyz, for the tracert log. The first part is in french and means roughly: path to fudzilla.com with a maximum of 30 jumps. Here goes:

--------------------------------

Détermination de l'itinéraire vers fudzilla.com [208.43.251.45]

avec un maximum de 30 sauts:



1 9 ms 5 ms 7 ms 10.18.40.1

2 12 ms 12 ms 12 ms 24.200.224.14

3 11 ms 10 ms 11 ms 24.200.250.93

4 13 ms 11 ms 13 ms 216.113.123.109

5 12 ms 12 ms 12 ms 216.113.123.106

6 27 ms 24 ms 26 ms ia-bebn-bb04-ge14-0-0-cpe098.vtl.net [216.113.122.98]

7 24 ms 26 ms 23 ms cr2-paix-peer.nym009.internap.net [198.32.118.94]

8

[troyz]

This tells me that there is nothing wrong with your computer. Rather there is a routing issue between your isp and the website your trying to reach. More then likely a router is misconfigured or possibly down.

I would see if you can open a ticket with your ISP regarding the issue.

[BernardP]

Thanks troyz, I'll ask friends who have the same ISP if they can access Fudzilla.com. If not, then I'll know it's the ISP's problem and call them.

[BernardP]

After testing, others report no connection problem through my ISP (Videotron.ca). Here is one traceroute:

------------------------------------

traceroute to fudzilla.com (208.43.251.45), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets
1 10.21.112.1 (10.21.112.1) 4.696 ms 9.781 ms 9.802 ms
2 10.170.161.146 (10.170.161.146) 9.777 ms 9.740 ms 9.912 ms
3 216.113.123.121 (216.113.123.121) 9.924 ms 9.902 ms 9.896 ms
4 216.113.123.106 (216.113.123.106) 9.874 ms 10.151 ms 10.138 ms
5 ia-bebn-bb04-ge14-0-0-cpe098.vtl.net (216.113.122.98) 23.401 ms 23.391 ms
23.374 ms
6 cr2-paix-peer.nym009.internap.net (198.32.118.94) 104.004 ms 91.659 ms 69
.822 ms
7 * * *
8 * * *
9 cr1.wdc005.inappnet.cr1.phi004.internap.net (66.79.147.18) 28.722 ms 28.71
0 ms 28.697 ms
10 core2.wdc002.inappnet-62.cr1.wdc005.internap.net (66.79.151.130) 26.939 ms
26.926 ms 26.909 ms
11 border1.te7-1-bbnet1.wdc008.pnap.net (216.52.127.36) 26.794 ms 22.994 ms
27.191 ms
12 te1-1.cer01.wdc01.washingtondc-datacenter.com (66.151.100.66) 28.052 ms 28
.045 ms 26.523 ms
13 po1.fcr01.wdc01.washingtondc-datacenter.com (208.43.118.134) 28.171 ms 28.
163 ms 24.728 ms
14 * * *

[TropicalBound]

You know, I never did ask what errors you're seeing. Do you just get the generic 'Page cannot be displayed' message?

What happens if you try to access the site by IP instead of the domain name (http://208.43.251.45)?

TB

[BernardP]

Yes, I get the generic error message. I have also tried to connect by IP and it doesn't work either.

I have the impression that the website is blocking me. That is why I would like to find a way to force my IP address to change.

[TropicalBound]

Gotcha. I assume you're using a router, so changing the IP Address on your computer itself wouldn't do any good. You need to get the WAN IP Address on your router to change.

Not sure what you're using, but in Linksys routers, you can change the MAC address on the WAN side. When you release / renew the address, you should get a different one. You may want to document the existing MAC address just in case......

TB

[BernardP]

I'm not using a router. Cable modem is plugged directly into the computer's integrated network card.

[Shinma]

Consideration, try OpenDNS,
Use OpenDNS (https://www.opendns.com/start/device/windows-xp)

[TropicalBound]

I'm not using a router

I hope you're using a firewall (I believe AVG Free is strictly antivirus / spyware).

If you shut your computer off for an extended period, you might get a new IP Address (most ISPs have a 24 hour DHCP lease time).

There's a chance your network card has a configurable MAC. Go to the properties of the NIC and see.

Other than that (meaning without spending money on a new NIC or router), you're pretty much stuck with your current IP Address.

TB

[BernardP]

TropicalBound, I use Windows Firewall. I have already looked in there to see if there was a problem. First, I'll try unplugging the cable modem for 24 hours and see if I get a new IP. I have looked into the Network card properties and don't see anything about configurable MAC. (It's integrated on the mobo)

Shinma, I will try OpenDNS if I can't get a new IP.

[BernardP]

Update: The problem solved itself when my IP was changed by my ISP. I don't have a static IP, and from time to time (weeks...months...), the IP address changes.

I tried OpenDNS and could connect to fudzilla.com. I thought that had done it, but it was probably the new IP address.