OK nerds I need some computer help

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dsiomtw

New member
Mar 12, 2007
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End of the rainbow
Switched from a slow ass T1 to verizon home fusion 4G LTE broadband today. Sweet. Only problem is that for some strange reason all of a sudden I'm having trouble connecting to certain sites...

Like Facebook for example.

All of a sudden it just won't connect and Chrome sits here and says "waiting for www.facebook.com" or "Establishing secure connection" in the lower left left until it times out. Same with Firefox and IE.

Of course, when it can't connect I can jump on any other device connected to the same network and it works just fine.

If I reboot my pc, I can connect to FB again. For awhile. Then it stops connecting again. But most sites work just fine all the time. It's the weirdest thing??

(I'm using Windows 8.1 with a Belkin N300 USB wifi adaptor)
 


Sounds like a possible issue with DNS if you haven't looked there already. Could always try setting DNS server (primary) to 8.8.8.8 and see if that fixes anything. Could also make sure time/date on the machine is correct.
 
Wireless can be a gigantic piece of shit sometimes. You can have a multitude of problems including DNS issues. Like Smoke said, start there. Next on the list is actually checking your connectivity to the internet. You can do a Ping test for a few hours straight. If you struggle to connect to a site during that time, the Ping test will show you if you have latency. Does your lte device allow you to use Ethernet cable? If so, try plugging in and run with it for awhile. You can also try connecting with your USB adapter to a different wifi source and see how it works there.


Wireless can be a bitch because of so many variables.
 
Didn't read the reboot part... I'd focus on the USB adapter. Go buy a different one or at least plug into different USB ports
 
Thanks guys. Yeah the only thing I keep thinking is it's gotta be the USB adaptor. It's an old one I've had around for awhile but it always worked fine. When I noticed the problem I even updated the drivers on it, but still the same crap.

The verizon LTE router does have ethernet plugs but it's in the next room over and it would be a pain to get to it.

I'll start with DNS. Is Google DNS better than OpenDNS? If that doesn't work I'm going to try powering up this Dlink access point and plugging in to that. If that doesn't work I'll go buy another USB wifi adaptor. Thanks guys!
 
Actually it can't be DNS-related if my other devices on the same network don't have this problem, right?? Which means it's gotta be this wifi adaptor I'm using ...?

Firing up the dlink...
 
symptoms sounds like your wireless adapter is losing connection periodically. They can be sensitive to many things, such as microwaves, wireless console controllers, remotes etc, even electricity. Maybe that will give you some clues.

If you have an android device, check out the wifi analyzer app, when connection drops see what kind of state the wireless signal is around the area. Also see if it's on an optimal channel.
 
Change your DNS to Google's. Go to CMD and type "ipconfig /flushdns" and Download CCleaner and run a clean up. Those three steps cover most internet issues.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 
Here's something to try to maybe narrow it down. Open up a cmd window and in that window type "ping -t 8.8.8.8" which will keep pinging Google's DNS server until you do a CTRL+C or close the cmd window. Surf the net as normal. If you run into an instance where HTTPS isn't connecting, check the cmd window to see if pings are still going through. If not, it means that something is causing the network interface (i.e. your adapter) to not work properly at all. You could also try plugging the computer straight into the router and see if the same symptoms persist for that machine.

Also, make sure you're up to date on firmware for the network interface as well as the router. I've seen bad firmware cause a lot of wasted hours/days trying to track these kinds of issues down.
 
Thanks guys. This is getting ridiculous...

I decided to bail the wifi altogether and moved the router next to my PC so I'm plugged right into the router via Ethernet. At first I thought the problem was solved and maybe this 4G router's wifi is just flaky, but it just started happening again. Was just on Facebook doing my thing, then all of a sudden I can't connect any more. W-T-F.

I also can't connect to OpenDNS: Cloud-Delivered Security Enforcement and Intelligence either. Every other site I try - both http and https - work fine. And like usual if I jump on my ipad or laptop I can connect to both FB and opendns.com just fine. I'm usually pretty good at figuring this shit out, but this doesn't make any sense to me.

And if I reboot I can connect to both FB and opendns again, for awhile, until they stop working again.

Anyone have any other ideas for me? You can't update the firmware on this 4G router - it says it does it all automatically. I tried using Google's DNS and it makes no difference. I'm dreading having to call Verizon and talking to some retard for an hour who has less of a clue then I do ...
 
Still brainstorming here ... think FB is getting "confused" when I connect because on one hand it seems me connecting on 4G LTE so it thinks I'm a phone or other mobile device, but then it sees the headers, my browser's user agent string etc. telling it I'm on a desktop, etc. ??
 
That wouldn't be my first thought as you are passing a valid user agent/headers. At this point I'd be temped to run wireshark and watch the traffic on the Ethernet interface or even see if HttpFox would shed some light during the moments when you can connect.

Also, of course there's always the possibility that there's something running internally that's acting as sort of a firewall/proxy. It just seems odd that you are only having issues with very few websites. If you go to a site like twitter and log in, does it seem to hold the session across pages (e.g. account, viewing other profiles, etc)? I know, grasping at straws here, but it's all worth a look.
 
Yeah I've tried turning off all my firewall/antivirus stuff. And when I CAN connect to FB everything works fine. I can surf around and do anything. Then it just stops out of the blue and won't connect again until I reboot. I think you're right - I need to look into some kind of network monitoring tool to get a better idea of what's going on...

At this point I'd be temped to run wireshark and watch the traffic on the Ethernet interface or even see if HttpFox would shed some light during the moments when you can connect.
Click to expand...

I assume you meant CAN'T connect?
 
It would probably be the best idea to start it up when you CAN connect so you can pinpoint the moment it stops and review the captured packets (mostly thinking wireshark here) to see what's happening.
 
Well add a new one to the list... I can't connect to wireshark.org now either. Jump on the ipad and it loads up just fine. Shit. Just when I was starting to think "this upgrade to windows 8.1 was no big deal at all." At this point I'm thinking it's gotta be a windows issue somehow ...

Seriously I mean I have 2 PCs and 1 laptop, all running on the same network, and all running the same firewall/antivirus setup. 1 PC can't connect to certain sites, while the others can just fine. WTF do I do besides re-install windows?? FML!
 
Tried that just now, 5 minutes later having the problem again. This is probably the weirdest problem I've ever had in 20 years. Driving me insane. Thanks for all the tips. Not sure what to do here ...

Another interesting tidbit ... when I can connect to FB, I can connect to wireshark.org. When I can't connect to FB, I can't connect to wireshark.org, or any of the other few sites that I have probs with. That's gotta be a clue!
 
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