Ping Ok, Download Ok, But Cannot Open Website

[srs]

I know.

Internet in Thailand sucks.

And I am almost used to the low quality.

But until a few minutes ago I had a - at least for me - new situation.

I had no problem with websites hosted in Thailand at all.

But again international websites could not be opened.

Thaivisa.com could not be opened - but "pinged".

At the time these problems occured i was downloading a Linux distribution from a server in America.

Suddenly I could not access their website anymore.

Firefox just gives me a "The page cannot found/Error 404" after a while. (this is the exact phrase given by firefox???)

But i had no problem with the download or with performing a ping on the American website.

I restarted my modem.

I tried another modem.

I tried OpenDNS

I tried the DNS server addresses of TRUE

I tried without using specific DNS addresses at all.

Is there anything else I can do?

Or do I just have to live with that since this is Thailand?

Any ideas?

[cali]

Firefox just gives me a "The page cannot found/Error 404" after a while. (this is the exact phrase given by firefox???)

I am having the same problem with True ADSL as well. Using Vista & IE7 gets the same "The page cannot found/Error 404" so this message must be coming directly from true. I find myself locked out of seemingly random web sites for a day at a time. This has been going on for around a week. True has apparently made some changes and as usual seem to be in over their heads. The work around for me is VPN to bypass True's trash and presto the web sites suddenly all load perfectly fine.

[paveet]

On the error 404 in firefox, what does it say on the bottom of the page. Does it give a server signature of some kind, because an error 404 is usually a problem with dead links, but I wouldnt be too surprised if it was due to a misconfigured proxy.

[stumonster]

The page cannot found/Error 404

Any ideas?

farcical

[srs]

No server signature or anything like that at all.

Due to the wrong spelling of this error message and as cali mentioned the fact that this happens also in ie this is a message coming directly from TRUE.

The last two days I did not have any problems at all.

So I guess I just have to live with that - always keeping in mind that this is Thailand.

It is just in the nature of "Western"?? people like me to strongly believe that there should be a solution for all these internet problems in Thailand.

But I feel that TRUE and TOT and whoever have a different opinion about that.

[tonykimkr]

Hi Guys,

I have same problem too. Im Korean working in BKK. I have tried connect with many Korean and International websites.

But it sometimes ok and sometimes not. It has same problem around 1-2 month ago with true internet due to TOT router fails.

So, I have tried complaint thru my Thai staff to True. But thet even dont understant what is the problem. I have asked to my

colleague who has DSL on her house, but it has same problem. (she is using true too)

I dont think, its my PC problem. because there has no problem at all during I connect with Thai websites!!

it seems need to complaint again to True on Tue.

Edited May 3, 2008 by tonykimkr

[cali]

I am still seeing this on and off. For instance, while I can access most sites international today, at the same time I have not been able to get into gmail all day without that grammatically incorrect message coming through from true after a long delay. The only thing unusual about my setup I can think of is I am running OpenDNS. Could that be the cause? Anyone not running OpenDNS getting the error message The page cannot found/Error 404? It is hard to believe True has such a major problem impacting every single customer for this long.

[sniffdog]

In my friend's office I tried to open www.intel.com in explorer .... Page cannot found ....

Then in Firefox ... no problem ....

[A_Traveller]

The 404 error described herein is a True sourced 'document'.

The last few days performance from True has been abysmal {maybe yet another "Oh it's a hols so lets screw [sorry fix] things"

Regards

[OxfordWill]

misconfigured proxy, there is allegedly just one guy in charge of it and I dont think he is accountable to anyone.

[bkk_mike]

If ping works, try using the IP address in the web browser rather than the server name.

If that works it probably a DNS issue.

OpenDNS can get around True's DNS servers.

The other thing is you're probably cacheing the failed DNS lookup. There's a registry setting you can change to fix that.

Registry patch - look for dnscache

If you want to check the settings it's making, just extract the zip and open the file with notepad first.

[2008bangkok]

If ping works, try using the IP address in the web browser rather than the server name.

If that works it probably a DNS issue.

OpenDNS can get around True's DNS servers.

The other thing is you're probably cacheing the failed DNS lookup. There's a registry setting you can change to fix that.

Registry patch - look for dnscache

If you want to check the settings it's making, just extract the zip and open the file with notepad first.

It very much sounds like DNS, but no need for registry patch just flush the dns cache.. start >>run>>type cmd then ipconfig /flushdns

[bkk_mike]

If ping works, try using the IP address in the web browser rather than the server name.

If that works it probably a DNS issue.

OpenDNS can get around True's DNS servers.

The other thing is you're probably cacheing the failed DNS lookup. There's a registry setting you can change to fix that.

Registry patch - look for dnscache

If you want to check the settings it's making, just extract the zip and open the file with notepad first.

It very much sounds like DNS, but no need for registry patch just flush the dns cache.. start >>run>>type cmd then ipconfig /flushdns

The registry tweak stops you cacheing failed lookups for hood, not just for the current browser session

[bubba]

I had a similar problem last night, using Csloxinfo. No pages would resolve using any browser, mail wouldn't connect, etc. It turns out it was indeed a DNS problem, as when I changed my network settings to OpenDNS as my DNS server, everything worked fine.

[motoyen]

I'm having the same problem with TOT. Internet has been on and off now for the past few days. On for a few minutes then off for hours. Some Thai sites will load but most international sites won't. I tried calling TOT and they said they would look into and call me back, that was 3 days ago and still no call.

[tigerbeer]

switch browsers. i had lots of problems with FF 3 Beta.

[srs]

Yes, I also have DNS problems from time to time.

Then I switch to OpenDNS or back.

At the moment I am not using any specific DNS.

But again, my original problem was that I could not open any website but I could using email, pinging, downloading etc.

I tried using the IPs (provided by the successful pings) instead of URL. It did not help.

So I don't think that was a DNS issue.

Though for a few days now everything is working almost fine it still pi..es me off sometimes.

Although I know that this is Thailand I am still refusing to accept that they (TRUE, TOT, CAT, whoever) are not able or willing to solve these problems.

What about all these internet cafes in town? I never had a problem in one of them. Seeing the frequency of my problems statistically I should have experienced a problem at a cafe's computer.

Do they have any special provider I do not know of?

[A_Traveller]

Internet cafes are not immune in my experience, though the more professional ones do use a commercial line, which has less contention {fewer users sharing bandwidth} then domestic adsl connexions.

Regards

[ssw]

Hi,

I got this problem to day after tried to delete some trojan virus.

After some google research works, I foun this solution worked.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811259/en-us

Forget about the lengthy description.

The solution is to execute the commands:

"netsh winsock reset"

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

1. Start->execute(執行 in WinXP Cht ver.)

2. input:

netsh winsock reset

3. Click Confirm

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

[cclub75]

But again, my original problem was that I could not open any website but I could using email, pinging, downloading etc.

I tried using the IPs (provided by the successful pings) instead of URL. It did not help.

So I don't think that was a DNS issue.

Though for a few days now everything is working almost fine it still pi..es me off sometimes.

Although I know that this is Thailand I am still refusing to accept that they (TRUE, TOT, CAT, whoever) are not able or willing to solve these problems.

We are many to experience the same "problems" (honestly, it's getting worse since a few weeks)... and we are many to say "TIT" (This Is Thailand), and True, TOT etc have no clues... blablabla.

But other people start to have other explanations....

"Net slowdowns suggest government is monitoring traffic"

[lunatic02]

I had the same problem, but it comes from Proxy setup by providers. I have TRUE, i don't know if it's the same problem for other providers.

But TRUE is using a proxy between your connection and the final website, i think it was mainly for filtering foreign websites, but they also use for caching youtube, and many international websites.

Using a VPN can be a solution, but if your VPN is outside thailand, it will be slow on thai websites and other websites.

To solve my problem, I've setup a proxy in France on a port different from 80 (which is the standard web port, but filtered by TRUE), and made a configuration proxy file which allow firefox to use my proxy only for non-thai websites.

But of course not everybody can do that...

That's too bad that we cannot choose to disable their proxy, but i think the government force them for filtering some websites and content.

If thaivisa.com webmaster wants to give a solution (for this website only), i think he can open a second port on apache, for example 591... then people are able to come by this address http://www.thaivisa.com:591/

[John 1]

My experience with TOT this week, could send and recive e-mail but could't access websites. the TOT man came and said to reset the modem which he did and problem solved. I use a wirless linksys.

[sniffdog]

I had two instances this week in where sites could not be resolved. Simple reset of the modem worked instantly.

Stop bashing these Internet Providers, they are the reason why we have high speed internet. Maybe not perfect all the time, but certainly an improvement over dialup.

[Topprofile]

Stop bashing these Internet Providers, they are the reason why we have high speed internet. Maybe not perfect all the time, but certainly an improvement over dialup.

HIGH SPEED... HAHA what a joke!

Today I called True about a problem I've had for 1 month..

Everytime (not everytime but every second time) I enter a webaddress and hit enter I only get a blank white page or I am redirected to beta.trulife.com or similar. It can take me 3-4-5 times refreshing before I get to the correct webpage.

Called the support and said I had an irritating problem and the lady replied, ok what is your modem and phonenumber and later asked me to wait. After a minute she comes back and says she has verified that my internet indeed is up and running. I replied that I never said the internet was not working, but that I had an irritating problem for the last month.. She said "no, you said your internet was not working..." (great start.. she's not even listening to what I am saying)

I went on to explain that I constantly had to enter the webaddress 3-4 times before reaching the desired webpage and it is pretty irritating. She answered this could be a problem if I just started the modem, but I said the modem has been turned on for hours and the problem is constantly there no matter if it's the first or tenth page I visit, not just when the modem is turned on. She got upset and started abrupting me when I tried to again explain that the problem had existed for 1 month. She asked me to try again while she was on the phone and I questioned the motive as surely the problem wouldn't just have vanished just because I was talking to her on the phone and so I didn't and asked to talk to someone else who understood the problem. She refused with an angry voice and said she was the only one working... (1 person working on the support???) I asked to speak to a manager but ofcourse no manager was on duty. I asked that a manager called me back on Monday, but the response was that ALL managers would be in meeting all Monday...

You've got to love it...

[Prasert]

The white page showing up after typing a url also randomly happens with TOT and CAT. My guess is that it's one of the transparent proxies that censor the internet, they're probably overloaded sending you back an empty page.

As for the support:

The ONLY company sofar giving great support is CAT. When I call, the helpdesk just writes down my contract number and telephone number and listen to the issue. Usually within an hour a technician calls back (and that's very unique!) for details and then starts working on the issue. After it's solved CAT calls me and asks to try again. And finally the helpdesk calls back again roughly two hours after the issue has been solved to ask me if they can close the ticket.

CAT certainly does a perfect job on the support this way.

[rijb]

Don't forget to check your hosts file. http://www.internetinspiration.co.uk/hosts.htm

Also, here's a place to check if a site is down for everyone: http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/#

[GmB]

Don't forget to check your hosts file. http://www.internetinspiration.co.uk/hosts.htm

This topic has a lot to do with what i experienced yesterday and made me loose a lot of time.

I recently opened a new office and asked to CAT to install a new line for the ADSL

I have to admit that the job was done in 2 days and that the speed is good and stable.

Yesterday I had to move a website that a customer sold to the server of the new owner.

I thought the best way was to put in the host file the address of the new server so that it was possible to check that everything was working fine before to change the DNS records.

I then discovered that i was able to ping, login by ssh and even telnet on the port 80 into the new server using the domain name but i was not able to reach the website on that server

I checked the apache log files on the old server and i seen that it was logging me with an IP different to the one assigned to my router.

This means that CAT is using a proxy for the http protocol and that whatever we write in the host file is completely useless because the proxy will resolve the address using his own dns server and will forward the true website to the browser.

This is a pain for a developer and the only walkaround i found is to setup an additional proxy on my own server

I hope this can help others to save their time