Why Win XP selects web pages?

[Sergiusz]

I have a problem with XP and network connectivity. I am traveling now.
At a hotel I connected my laptop to the net (local network, connected
by to the world by ADSL). At first everything looks fine, but when I
started ma browser nothing can be seen. Almost. Because I can connect
to a few selected sites, e.g. Google (that's how I am posting this
message). Everything else is blocked. The same has already happened to
several clients at the hotel.

Of course such a connection is rather useless, I cannot check the mail
etc.

Any clue?

Serg

 

[Malke]

I have a problem with XP and network connectivity. I am traveling now.
At a hotel I connected my laptop to the net (local network, connected
by to the world by ADSL). At first everything looks fine, but when I
started ma browser nothing can be seen. Almost. Because I can connect
to a few selected sites, e.g. Google (that's how I am posting this
message). Everything else is blocked. The same has already happened to
several clients at the hotel.

Of course such a connection is rather useless, I cannot check the mail
etc.

Any clue?

Serg

Since you can get to Google, you know you can get to the Internet. Since
this is happening to other people besides you, the problem has to be
with the way the hotel has configured their servers. They probably have
some sort of proxy filtering software and it isn't set up right. You
have no control over this except to complain to management so they get
it fixed. Look for a Starbucks or the equivalent in the meantime.

Malke

 

[spatela]

Well, actually they already sent somebody in charge. She re-run network
setup on my computer because "it has helped in some cases". They
are rather scary of the modem thing (their ADSL modem). I am spending
here the whole two weeks, so I will pester them with requests.
But, you know... reception girl, hotel manager, and they mainly speak
French
..
And for some clients the net works. XP users are the unlucky ones :-(

 

[Chuck]

I have a problem with XP and network connectivity. I am traveling now.
At a hotel I connected my laptop to the net (local network, connected
by to the world by ADSL). At first everything looks fine, but when I
started ma browser nothing can be seen. Almost. Because I can connect
to a few selected sites, e.g. Google (that's how I am posting this
message). Everything else is blocked. The same has already happened to
several clients at the hotel.

Of course such a connection is rather useless, I cannot check the mail
etc.

Any clue?

Serg

Serg,

I believe that skynet.be uses PPPoE.
http://www.dslreports.com/reviews/1545?nav=10
http://www.skyia.com/raspppoe-98.html

If that's the problem, then you're in luck - change your MTU size.
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/794/router_mtu.html
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article04-107
http://www.netheaven.com/pmtulist.html
http://adsl.cutw.net/mtu.html

 

[spatela]

No luck - it is not MTU, but I have discovered that I can open Cisco
pages also, so www.google.com, www.cisco.com. And not much else.
Why?
Serg

 

[Chuck]

No luck - it is not MTU, but I have discovered that I can open Cisco
pages also, so www.google.com, www.cisco.com. And not much else.
Why?
Serg

Serg,

Give me a problem site name, and exactly what error do you get when pinging it
by name AND by ip address.

 

[spatela]

Victory!
Finally the problem is solved. You were right, it was the MTU size. But
I needed DRTCP019.exe (not the last, numbered 20). I set MTU 1492 -
nothing, 1452 - nothing, and finally with MTU size 1400, and it
passed through.

Still I wonder, why Google and Cisco (and a few other sites) could pass
through and all the rest cannot? But now it is, luckily, only
scientific curiosity.

Regards and many thanks for your help,
Serg

Details: I am sitting behind ADSL modem, my address assigned by DHTP.
Oh, and it is Brussels, Belgium man, Belgium. The hotel manager told
me, that even if clients have problem, they can connect to Google.
Later I discovered that I can connect to Cisco site also.

 

[Chuck]

Victory!
Finally the problem is solved. You were right, it was the MTU size. But
I needed DRTCP019.exe (not the last, numbered 20). I set MTU 1492 -
nothing, 1452 - nothing, and finally with MTU size 1400, and it
passed through.

Still I wonder, why Google and Cisco (and a few other sites) could pass
through and all the rest cannot? But now it is, luckily, only
scientific curiosity.

Regards and many thanks for your help,
Serg

Details: I am sitting behind ADSL modem, my address assigned by DHTP.
Oh, and it is Brussels, Belgium man, Belgium. The hotel manager told
me, that even if clients have problem, they can connect to Google.
Later I discovered that I can connect to Cisco site also.

Serg,

Thanks for the update. The MTU problem hits different websites depending upon
the broken or working MTU Path Discovery to its clients, ie you and others.
Since you're behind a PPPoE connection, your MTU becomes lower (the 8 byte PPPoE
overhead becomes critical).

Cisco, Yahoo, and others have working Path MTU Discovery.
http://www.netheaven.com/pmtulist.html

Interesting note about the DrTCP version. Glad you kept at it.