[Bill Posters]

Ever since switching to Wanadoo broadband, my NPA site and its domain-based email has become intermittently available.

I know one other who suffers from similar problems with their Wanadoo bb connection, but I'm wondering if this is a Wanadoo-specific problem or one typical of the switch to broadband.
Has anyone here with the Wanadoo bb connection also suffered similar problems?
Were they fixed? If so, how?

I'm not 100% sure whether it's a problem with Wanadoo's DNS server (or whatever it is that routes connection requests between browser and site server) or a problem with the servers on which my site is hosted.
My site has been around for over a year now, so it shouldn't be a question of propagation.

My other domains, hosted elsewhere, are perfectly reachable.

Anyone able to make sense of what the problem might be amnd what, if anything, can be done about it by either myself, my host or my ISP?

TIA

[adras]

Could be Wandadoo's DNS server settings (missing entries) but this also could be firewall related issue....

[Bill Posters]

Thanks for the input, adras.

Things seem to be fine this morning and hopefully they'll stay that way.

When I called a few days back, the guy at Wanadoo tech support stated that urls given by Wanadoo customers are flagged to make sure that they are added during the next dns refresh.
Maybe that's true, maybe it bs. I wouldn't know.
Either way, the problem seems to have gone and I no longer have to revert to my previous Freeserve dial-up connection to view or administer my own site and check my own email.

Fingers crossed.

-

In the event that I get a repeat of the problem, are there other, open-house (and non-Wanadoo) DNS server settings that I can use without breaching any 3rd party rules/guidelines?

[Brown]

i've had issues from time to time which i've put down to my firewall. a quick re-boot of the firewall and the sites are available again. maybe i should re-read the instructions.

/unhelpful

[Bill Posters]

I've experienced the problem on the fresh 10.3.4 volume that I'm gradually going over to.
I've not yet installed any firewall on that volume, so unless OS X 10.3.4 has a built in firewall which is set to active by default, I thinking that firewall won't be the issue.

But thanks for the idea though, Brown.
I'll double-check the fw settings on this volume for sure.
Mind you, if it is a fw problem, wouldn't it also be evident when connecting via dial-up?
(I haven't changed any fw settings)

[Brown]

what modem/router are you using? there might be one built into that - for sure you'll be connecting through a different device? ya! zeker veten! i sound almost dutch.

[beebolbod]

I get the same troubles but oddly enough i had it with my dial up just before switching to wanadoo bb.

Now i seem to be able to get it back by resetting my pram all the time which i find odd.

i've tried speaking to everyone and nobody is owning up.

Some days it's fine, others it's knackered.

Have you used http://www.dnsstuff.com/ before? Might be useful.

I live in hope.

[Bill Posters]

Speedtouch 330 modem.
It seems about as simple as it can get and seems to be the standard one used for bb isp accounts.

It's the same one that came with the Wanadoo bb pack that I have hooked up to the XP machine.

It's fully mac OS X compatible, at least, it claims to be.
There are (unusally) OS X installers on the accompanying CD.

I was gonna grab a Netgear 11mbps wireless combo jobby, but wanted to see how much use I'd get out of the bb first.
May still get the NetGear thing just to get rid of the wires running between the phone socket and the XP machine.

-

Cheers for the link, beebol. I'll take a look.

[beebolbod]

Originally Posted by Bill Posters

Cheers or the link, beebol. I'll take a look.

s'ok.

forgot to mention that many of the reports produced in that site are useful in determining the performance of the DNS server from another point in the network (i'm sure you know this anyway).

I'm using it to show ISP and Server provider what's going on.

Apparently there's a command line thing from osX (my host told me this but alas i'm on 9.1 so i discarded it) where you can check what's going on from your machine.

My unix is scetchy but 'tracert xxx.com' should show you where you are going to and from and this may help you trace the path using the DNSstuff site.

You/we need to pin down where this is happening and i doubt any large orgs (wanadoo et al) will pin it down for us. IP is a big ugly beast. I work in telecomms so i 'know' these things.

Out of interest - mine doesn't work for me right now - could any of you test if? If it's okay, then its a routing issue through the TCP/IP ntw or something local to my machine.

[Bill Posters]

I'm getting 'not found' from beebol.com too.

[beebolbod]

can i ask where you are geographically?

Im about to prepare some sort of semi-watertight outburst at my host.

Fecker cant wriggle out of it now.

[stickmus]

Originally Posted by Bill Posters

so unless OS X 10.3.4 has a built in firewall which is set to active by default, I thinking that firewall won't be the issue.

It does indeed have such a thing.

I can't remember where it hides of the top of my head, but I think it's in the sharing preferences.

[Bill Posters]

Just did a check on Wanadoo.co.uk at dnsreport.com and one of the several warnings and failures was:

SOA record.

Fail: NS agreement on SOA Serial #

ERROR: Your nameservers disagree as to which version of your DNS is the latest! 933050864 versus 933066407! This is OK if you have just made a change recently, and your secondary DNS servers haven't yet received the new information from the master. I will continue the report, assuming that 933066407 is the correct serial #.

To my untrained eyes, the bit about 'Your nameservers disagree as to which version of your DNS is the latest!' sounds as though it could be the source of the original problem.

Does that look/sound feasible to you, beebolbod?

-

Thanks for the heads up stickmus.
I have otehr fw software running on this volume, but will check t'other one next time I boot into it.


It's a little hit 'n' miss testing for the problem now as it seems to be behaving fine at the moment.
Hopefully it's all corrected itself.
:touchwood:

[beebolbod]

I'd do it against your domain. I think that report pertains to the resolution of Wanadoos website address and all their 'stuff'.

I'm going to ask my host about that comand line thing for you. He seemed to imply that it was possible to track down how your browsers requests are routed to your website, then you could do IP checks from the DNSstuff site and see whether any errors are generated along the way.

Typically i cannot now access my mail server either so whether there has been any reply or not i cannot say right now.

Have start again from hotmail.

Arse.

[Bill Posters]

Originally Posted by beebolbod

can i ask where you are geographically?

Essex. Braintree district/exchange.

-

Ran a dnsreport on my own domain earlier and it had a handful of warnings, but no fails.
Though, tbh, it's largely g(r)eek to me and goes straight over my head.
…as does running ping and trace route tests.

[Bill Posters]

Surprise, surprise.
Problem's back again.
No access to my web, email or ftp.

:big-f**king-sigh:

[beebolbod]

Try some of those DNS reports DURING and AFTER the problems.

I know it's a pain but collection of as many reports as possible may help to show what happens and when (if you catch my drift).

It would be interesting to see if you can get your IP address (where you are now) and run a report from that IP to your host IP and then we can look at the path to get there.

If this is all too much geek stuff then just say - i'll shut up.

It works for me btw. I'm in work and we have some very powerful shit in here (T-Mobile) so maybe we never suffer the same problems.
Certainly my site has always worked from here and yet at home it's knackered.

:sigh:

Sometimes the window looks the best solution - for the machinery that is.

[Bill Posters]

bugger! too slow off the mark.

I ran a dnsreport when I first noticed the problem this morning and nothing seemed awry.
I didn't look in detail, but there were no fails and the handful of warnings that were there were also present in a dnsreport I ran on another of my domains hosted elsewhere which was perfectly reachable.
Perhaps significantly, the site of the host where I keep the errant domain was also unreachable.


Both my own site/mail/ftp and my host's site have become reachable once again in just the past few minutes.
I can run a DNS report now, that I'll keep for comparison in the event that (read: when) the problem returns.

Up 'n' down like a whore's drawers.

Re: geek stuff.
It's kinda going in, so I'll keep listening for as long as you have something to say (at least on this subject :cue-winkie: )

[beebolbod]

Didn't you mention that oli has some dealings in your hosting?

I'm looking at a needle/haystack situation here.

We needs logs, and a spanner, and some glue.

After a little dig i've realised that this has gone above the level of my knowledge AND i reckon that even if i were the supergeek it'd be very hard to pin this down without the visibility of both/either ends.

There are only a few possibilities really (imho)...

• Your ISP
• Your host
• Some interim gateway (possible international router/switch/server??)
• Gremlins

Make complaints!! Somebody will have to pick up the pieces.
ooh. Just remembered - there are services that check your uptime. I haven't looked for them yet but they monitor your uptime and generate reports for you.
Surely they'll want money but perhaps they'll offer freebies initially - to lure you, which may be enough to track this down.

[Bill Posters]

Originally Posted by beebolbod

Didn't you mention that oli has some dealings in your hosting?

Indeed, but he seems to have gone awol.
I PMed him y'day a.m. to come take a nose at this thread, but presumably he hasn't yet.

It's normally ok for me to pester him directly with hosting issues, but I'll throw a ticket in while he seems to be unresponsive.


(I see he hasn't posted for a couple of days. Hope all's well.)