I seem to have lost contact with the server that hosts my website and
one of my e-mail addresses.

The first sign that something had changed was in the middle of last week
when I noticed that my e-mailer wasn't waiting to see if there were any
e-mails on that server, but was disconnecting immediately. I was
puzzled but thought nothing more of it until a couple of days ago when I
went to change something by FTP on one of the websites on that server
and found Fetch was unable to connect to it ["Connection refused"]. I
then checked and found that none of the websites I run on that server*
were contactable by browser.

I have tried several different browsers on two different machines and
none of them will connect to any of the websites or directly to the
server at 213.171.208.12 Other people tell me the websites are
visible and working normally.

I have contacted my friend who runs the sever and he assures me
everything is working properly at that end. I have contacted my ISP,
Plusnet; they have checked everything that they can and have drawn a
blank. I have checked the router (TP_LINK TD-W 9970) and that shows the
firewall is switched off. Restting the router and rebooting computers
makes no difference.

What should I check next?

* e.g.
http://www.poppyrecords.co.uk
http://www.mateisbutchers.co.uk
http://www.dorandsomcanal.org
[Note: these are 'http' not 'https']

--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

On 25.02.24 14:52, Liz Tuddenham wrote:
> I seem to have lost contact with the server that hosts my website and
> one of my e-mail addresses.
>
> The first sign that something had changed was in the middle of last week
> when I noticed that my e-mailer wasn't waiting to see if there were any
> e-mails on that server, but was disconnecting immediately. I was
> puzzled but thought nothing more of it until a couple of days ago when I
> went to change something by FTP on one of the websites on that server
> and found Fetch was unable to connect to it ["Connection refused"]. I
> then checked and found that none of the websites I run on that server*
> were contactable by browser.
>
> I have tried several different browsers on two different machines and
> none of them will connect to any of the websites or directly to the
> server at 213.171.208.12 Other people tell me the websites are
> visible and working normally.
>
> I have contacted my friend who runs the sever and he assures me
> everything is working properly at that end. I have contacted my ISP,
> Plusnet; they have checked everything that they can and have drawn a
> blank. I have checked the router (TP_LINK TD-W 9970) and that shows the
> firewall is switched off. Restting the router and rebooting computers
> makes no difference.
>
> What should I check next?

The phone number of your hoster?

--
"Ave Caesar! Morituri te salutant!"

On 25/02/2024 13:52, Liz Tuddenham wrote:
> I seem to have lost contact with the server that hosts my website and
> one of my e-mail addresses.
>
> The first sign that something had changed was in the middle of last week
> when I noticed that my e-mailer wasn't waiting to see if there were any
> e-mails on that server, but was disconnecting immediately. I was
> puzzled but thought nothing more of it until a couple of days ago when I
> went to change something by FTP on one of the websites on that server
> and found Fetch was unable to connect to it ["Connection refused"]. I
> then checked and found that none of the websites I run on that server*
> were contactable by browser.
>
> I have tried several different browsers on two different machines and
> none of them will connect to any of the websites or directly to the
> server at 213.171.208.12 Other people tell me the websites are
> visible and working normally.
>
> I have contacted my friend who runs the sever and he assures me
> everything is working properly at that end. I have contacted my ISP,
> Plusnet; they have checked everything that they can and have drawn a
> blank. I have checked the router (TP_LINK TD-W 9970) and that shows the
> firewall is switched off. Restting the router and rebooting computers
> makes no difference.
>
> What should I check next?
>
> * e.g.
> http://www.poppyrecords.co.uk
> http://www.mateisbutchers.co.uk
> http://www.dorandsomcanal.org
> [Note: these are 'http' not 'https']

I can see all of those here OK. Also on Plusnet as my ISP, and I'm
currently using their own DNS servers at the moment.
I can only think of two times I've had similar trouble.

First was when I tried taking the advice to install a 'hosts' file. That
just ended up causing more trouble than it saved - very much similar to
what you're seeing, where I couldn't access a lot of legitimate
websites, including some I was managing on Wordpress.

I also had a similar problem when I was messing about with settings in
OpenDNS, and ended up not being able to access my managed websites.

So, I can only suggest checking if you have a 'hosts' file installed,
and is it up to date, or even a known good one.

Are you using a third party DNS server, such as OpenDNS or Cloudflare
etc. Are there any settings there that could have recently been changed?
Do they perhaps have a technical issue? Have they perhaps changed
something in their security protocols?

I also wouldn't trust an ISP to admit they're got problems. So often
I've been told that they've not heard of a fault, when on their forums,
perhaps, it's clear there is a problem.

No idea if that's any good for you, but I'm only going on things that
I've experienced myself in the past.

--
Andy H

On 25.02.24 16:43, Andy H wrote:
> I also had a similar problem when I was messing about with settings in
> OpenDNS, and ended up not being able to access my managed websites.

OpenDNS is operated by a very questionalble organisation and known to
censor what is legitimate. And it is one of the slowest resolvers.

> Are you using a third party DNS server, such as OpenDNS or Cloudflare
> etc. Are there any settings there that could have recently been changed?
> Do they perhaps have a technical issue? Have they perhaps changed
> something in their security protocols?

If it does not work with Cloudflare it will not work with anything else.
The resolver address is 1.1.1.1 or 1.0.0.1. It is the fastest DNS-server
in the world. At least it was recently.

--
"Ave Caesar! Morituri te salutant!"

On 25.02.24 16:43, Andy H wrote:
> I also had a similar problem when I was messing about with settings in
> OpenDNS, and ended up not being able to access my managed websites.

OpenDNS is operated by a very questionalble organisation and known to
censor what is legitimate. And it is one of the slowest resolvers.

> Are you using a third party DNS server, such as OpenDNS or Cloudflare
> etc. Are there any settings there that could have recently been changed?
> Do they perhaps have a technical issue? Have they perhaps changed
> something in their security protocols?

If it does not work with Cloudflare it will not work with anything else.
The resolver address is 1.1.1.1 or 1.0.0.1. It is the fastest DNS-server
in the world. At least it was recently.

--
"Ave Caesar! Morituri te salutant!"

Andy H <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:

> On 25/02/2024 13:52, Liz Tuddenham wrote:
> > I seem to have lost contact with the server that hosts my website and
> > one of my e-mail addresses.
> >
> > The first sign that something had changed was in the middle of last week
> > when I noticed that my e-mailer wasn't waiting to see if there were any
> > e-mails on that server, but was disconnecting immediately. I was
> > puzzled but thought nothing more of it until a couple of days ago when I
> > went to change something by FTP on one of the websites on that server
> > and found Fetch was unable to connect to it ["Connection refused"]. I
> > then checked and found that none of the websites I run on that server*
> > were contactable by browser.
> >
> > I have tried several different browsers on two different machines and
> > none of them will connect to any of the websites or directly to the
> > server at 213.171.208.12 Other people tell me the websites are
> > visible and working normally.
> >
> > I have contacted my friend who runs the sever and he assures me
> > everything is working properly at that end. I have contacted my ISP,
> > Plusnet; they have checked everything that they can and have drawn a
> > blank. I have checked the router (TP_LINK TD-W 9970) and that shows the
> > firewall is switched off. Restting the router and rebooting computers
> > makes no difference.
> >
> > What should I check next?
> >
> > * e.g.
> > http://www.poppyrecords.co.uk
> > http://www.mateisbutchers.co.uk
> > http://www.dorandsomcanal.org
> > [Note: these are 'http' not 'https']
>
> I can see all of those here OK. Also on Plusnet as my ISP, and I'm
> currently using their own DNS servers at the moment.
[...]

I tried two old routers to see if either of them made a difference, but
neither of them appeared to work (possibly they contained old
passwords). When I put the original router back, I found FTP was now
working - but all Web browsing had gone.

I went through the setup procedure for the router and that didn't make
any difference. Then I checked if my Plusnet e-mail connection was
working, which it was -- but the e-mailer was now checking for e-mail on
the server from which it had previously disconnected....

....So I tried browsing again and websites downloaded, falteringly at
first, then fairly promptly. Now they have gone again.

It looks as though there is a problem between Plusnet and the wider Web,
even though they denied it when I 'phoned them.

--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

On 25 Feb 2024 at 4:10:19 pm GMT, "Liz Tuddenham" <Liz Tuddenham> wrote:

> It looks as though there is a problem between Plusnet and the wider Web,
> even though they denied it when I 'phoned them.

Another Plusnet user here with no problem seeing those sites, for what it's
worth.

Can you try a different DNS server on your router, to eliminate that as the
problem?
--
TimH
pull tooth to reply by email

TimH <thnews@poboxmolar.com.invalid> wrote:

> On 25 Feb 2024 at 4:10:19 pm GMT, "Liz Tuddenham" <Liz Tuddenham> wrote:
>
> > It looks as though there is a problem between Plusnet and the wider Web,
> > even though they denied it when I 'phoned them.
>
> Another Plusnet user here with no problem seeing those sites, for what it's
> worth.
>
> Can you try a different DNS server on your router, to eliminate that as the
> problem?

I wouldn't know how to do that - but everything has started working OK
now.

--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

Am 25.02.24 um 18:03 schrieb Liz Tuddenham:
> TimH <thnews@poboxmolar.com.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On 25 Feb 2024 at 4:10:19 pm GMT, "Liz Tuddenham" <Liz Tuddenham> wrote:
>>
>>> It looks as though there is a problem between Plusnet and the wider Web,
>>> even though they denied it when I 'phoned them.
>>
>> Another Plusnet user here with no problem seeing those sites, for what it's
>> worth.
>>
>> Can you try a different DNS server on your router, to eliminate that as the
>> problem?
>
> I wouldn't know how to do that - but everything has started working OK
> now.

Excellent!

To change the DNS-server on your router you have to login on the router
to change the settings. It may be the case if the router is already
older that the DNS-setting of your provider can't be changed. Especially
if the router was delivered by your provider. (Would be illegal today).

--
"Gutta cavat lapidem." (Ovid)