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Question Can't access Anandtech or the forums via wi-fi

BoomerD

BoomerD

No Lifer
All o f a sudden starting this morning, I've lost the ability to connect to AT and the AT forums via wi-fi. ALL other sites work just fine on wi-fi and I can connect to AT/forums on my PC which is hardwired to my modem...it's just AT and wi-fi.

I've cleared the cache in both the Samsung browser and android Chrome as well as the iPad versions of Chrome and Firefox...no luck. I've rebooted my router, no luck...again, this seems to ONLY be affecting anandtech forums and the main site connecting via wi-fi. If I turn wi-fi OFF, I can connect..

Any ideas/suggestions?
 
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Check your MTU/MSS. Try setting MTU to 1492 or even 1400.


Also check "Jumbo Frames", turn them off.
 
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OK, talk to me like I'm stupid...because I am...more info on how to do those. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and 2017 iPad. (and Netgear router)

Again, this...glitch only affects the Anandtech site and forums, no other site seems to be affected.
 
BoomerD said:
Anandtech site and forums
Click to expand...
It could be a poisoned DNS server depending on which one you're using. I use Pihole for my clients but, on the server itself it's using at least 2 servers for this reason. I'm using 8.8.8,8/1.1.1.1 and haven't seen any issues with the forum.

In android you just go into settings and then the network connection and set the DNS manually. Not sure about IOS but it should be similar.

The other issue with non-PC devices and/or browsers is that they're starting to use their own built in DNS to circumvent what's supplied by DHCP options from your server/router. I disable it on my devices since it's defeats the purpose of pihole blocking all of the junk from pages. There's 2 places this setting is found in both the system and the browser settings. It's kind of a PITA unless you're not into digging deeper into making your devices more efficient.
 
BoomerD said:
OK, talk to me like I'm stupid...because I am...more info on how to do those. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and 2017 iPad. (and Netgear router)

Again, this...glitch only affects the Anandtech site and forums, no other site seems to be affected.
Click to expand...
That's pretty bizarre. For starters, you should explain exactly what happens when it doesn't work. Is there a long timeout? A browser error message that offers any clues?

Even if a consumer router allows you to change the MTU, don't mess with that. It is highly unlikely that MTU is the root cause in a consumer setting.
Can you test with more WiFi devices besides these two?

DNS may or may not be relevant, but you can easily change this on the device as a test. You can manually set the device to use public DNS servers: 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8

www.howtogeek.com

How to Change the DNS Server on Your iPhone or iPad

Your iPhone or iPad normally uses the DNS servers provided by whatever Wi-Fi network you use.
www.howtogeek.com www.howtogeek.com
 
That sure looks like DNS if everything else is working. Another trick to check would be opening it in "private" mode which bypasses normal settings.
 
BoomerD said:
Just checked with my wife's S21 ultra and her iPad...neither will connect to AT.
Click to expand...
Did you manually configure the DNS servers on one of your devices to test if the behavior changes?

If the problem persists, it could be useful to test your PC with WiFi instead of Ethernet. If that also fails, you'll be able to run ipconfig as @ch33zw1z suggested and paste the output here.
 
manly said:
Did you manually configure the DNS servers on one of your devices to test if the behavior changes?

If the problem persists, it could be useful to test your PC with WiFi instead of Ethernet. If that also fails, you'll be able to run ipconfig as @ch33zw1z suggested and paste the output here.
Click to expand...
Hmmm...the pc DOES have wifi...when I get home I can try that.

VirtualLarry said:
Don't forget the old standby, "when in doubt, disable IPv6".
Click to expand...

No idear how to do that.

Boomer isn't a network guy.

So, I'm at one of the local watering holes using their wifi...working just fine.
 
What's your router model? Disable it's support of IPv6 as suggested and change DNS to
1.1.1.1 / 4.2.2.1 / 8.8.8.8 / 9.9.9.9
 
Well…for whatever reason, the problem resolved itself overnight.
Thanks to all who chimed in with possible fixes.

(it makes me nervous…and suspicious when stuff like this happens…and fixes itself.)
 
Just do a hard reset on your modem and router (hold the reset button on all the things for 10 seconds) and then set-up your network again.
 
ch33zw1z said:
Most likely your router, or upstream DNS acting weird. Don’t be surprised if it returns
Click to expand...
It did... 😡

GodisanAtheist said:
Just do a hard reset on your modem and router (hold the reset button on all the things for 10 seconds) and then set-up your network again.
Click to expand...
I generally just unplug everything for 30 seconds...reset will be a PITA, but that might be the "needful."

Can anyone explain why this ONLY affects the AT sites...and ONLY on MY wi-fi, but works fine on my PC's ethernet connection or wi-fi when I'm out of the house?

If it affected ALL my connections, that would be one thing, but just one group of specific sites?

I did a DNS query on the ipad, here's the results of that:

1715794165878.png

1715794134429.png
 
Lordy, look at that response time

Try manually setting a device to aim for a dns provider, examples:

1.1.1.1 - cloudflare
8.8.8.8 - google
9.9.9.9 - quad9 (currently what I use)
 
Code: 
 nslookup
> forums.anandtech.com
Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   forums.anandtech.com
Address: 45.32.83.182

> www.anandtech.com
Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   www.anandtech.com
Address: 18.161.134.18
Name:   www.anandtech.com
Address: 18.161.134.91
Name:   www.anandtech.com
Address: 18.161.134.87
Name:   www.anandtech.com
Address: 18.161.134.15

Obviously the WWW side is load / location balanced yet the forums is the same across the board.

So, your devices are seeing the correct info from DNS but being blocked somewhere else. Rebooting the ISP/router fixes things but then it comes back. Android / IOS so it's not OS dependent just connection dependent / WIFI only

Are you using the same browser on both devices? Chrome?
chrome://settings/security?search=dns
1715797160434.png

This is what I was talking about for the browser side. The device side has a DNS option as well.

Another thing that might pose an issue with the page coming up is if you have JS disabled. I block it by default on portable devices and enable it only for sites I want to visit. It keeps the fluff factor down when it comes to data / ads / tracking.
 
Switching to good DNS resolvers is sound advice, but some folks seem content to recommend a "nuke and repave" option. 😛

OP, how old is your router? How often are you resetting it? If often, or your router is older than say WiFi 5, then it could be time to replace it.


ch33zw1z said:
Lordy, look at that response time

[snipped]
Click to expand...
Isn't that the caching nameserver on the router? (AT's TTL is fairly short, but not relevant.)

WTH, why does Chrome have its own DNS settings lol.
 
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