Anyone else having problems pulling Google, Gmail (etc.) and LiveJournal pages?

This is driving me crazy. I'll be ready to make a post on my blog, everything looks fine and then psyche! LiveJournal is down. Can no longer preview. Same with Google and Google services. They've been glitchy for me for about two weeks but I don't see anything on the news. Maybe it's just my connection but I've been having the same problems on OSU's wireless access.

Edit: Oh look, LJ's up now.

Edit II: And it's down again...

Have you tried rebooting your computer?

Turning the power off for a few seconds and then restarting?

Scanning for viruses?

Reinstalling Windows?

[This message brought to you by the Microsoft support helpline.]

It's you.

There's a bunch of things you could try:
Clear you DNS Cache (assuming Windows: Start-->Run-->ipconfig /flushdns)
Try to pickup a new connection (if you OSU made changes but you haven't reconnected (ie you're on an old connection made before OSU made the changes) (assuming Windows: Start-->Run-->ipconfig /renew (or ipconfig/release then ipconfig /renew)
Buy a Mac (assuming Windows: Start-->Run-->iexplore.exe then go to http://apple.com/store)

This message brought to you by the Microsoft support helpline.

I hate you Microsoft support.

Actually at home I've rebooted my computer and laptop a few times along with the modem/router (turning it off, waiting a few minutes to turn modem/router on, and finally turning my computer on). It seems to clear up things immediately after restarting Firefox, but maybe that's just lucky timing. I can experience the same problems in a few minutes.

We called TimeWarner last night and of course the problem isn't on their end.

And I really like the Mac Air laptop, but it's more than my budget can handle at the moment and choosing to increase my debt is out of the question.

Why do you hate America Lesly? Do you want the terrorists to win? If you don't by a Mac AirBook and increase your debt then "they've won"!

OK. Perhaps... maybe... the issue is with your browser cache.

Try dumping the browser cache, the cookies... pretty much everything but your username/passwords (if you use that feature).

Well duh. I'm a liberal, oui? ::points to her politics label and snorts derisively::

I'll try your cache idea when I get outta here.

Could this have something to do with it?

Cable Cut

Sleeper, how did you guess I was embedded with the enemy?

I'm faaaar from any sort of tech expert, but I do have an idea to that may help you determine exactly where your internet connection is getting hung up.

Windows Key + R. A 'Run' window will open. In the Run box, type: cmd

That will open a DOS window (hello 1988). At the DOS prompt type: tracert google.com (or any other site you should normally be able to access).

You will then see a list of places (or 'hops') your connection goes through in order to get to the google server. If you get a 'connection time out' on any of the hops, that will tell you where your connection is getting hung up. That will be able to help you go back to Time Warner and let them know exactly where the connection is getting stuck. I'd like to think they'd be able to help you more with that info. Also, when you call Time Warner next, ask to speak to a supervisor or a tier 2 trouble support help. The dudes that answer the phones for CS are usually just going off a script and know very little about what they are actually doing.

Good luck!

Yeah, I was gonna suggest a tracert. If you can access some of teh internets AND you've determine you haven't misconfigured your home router (or it hasn't spontaneously reverted to a default config), then more than likely it's a DNS problem on your ISP's side.

Another quick but helpful way to see connection is to ping the IP address. As in:

ping www.dipsite.com

That'll tell you right away if DNS is up, assuming you're not using the hosts file, and why would you? It's not like the messy nets in corporate US.

Or

ping 166.0.1.14

or whatever.

BTW, it's not always on the user's side. Used to go round and round with Qwest about their crappy lines, and they were always in denial. Sucks when you're sys admining a hospital. You think those doctors might want their imaging system back?

Then there are the evil backhoe operators. That's why metropolises have double rings, at least when MCI was calling the fiber shots. Don't know about now that Verizon has it, and it seems the Big V has the head right where the old sun don't shine.

PING and TRACERT folks... it's not that she's not "getting there" it's that she's not getting everything she should be getting WHEN she gets there!

This SCREAMS DNS

If it is a DNS problem (and I agree that it sounds like one), it's possible to force your computer to use a different public DNS server, rather than your ISP's flaky one. Level3 (Verizon) has a DNS server with a memorable address, so I'll often try using it if something seems wrong with the automatically configured DNS server.

4.2.2.1

(Also 4.2.2.2, 4.2.2.3)

Yes! Yes! Yes! well played Jobius.

Those are (for our purposes) root DNS servers who's "answers" are law! (ie what ever they say the DNS is is correct)

For what it's worth, ever since I've been using this erratic satellite service, I will occasionally have pages that won't load or sometimes just won't load images. Like Lesly, the most frequent culprits are LiveJournal and Gmail - and Mapquest. I'm not sure if it's related to my satellite connection or not, but DSL service is finally supposed to be arriving in central Pennsylvania by the end the week. Once rural electrification is complete, I'll see if I still have similar - DNS? - problems. But why those domains specifically? At such times, just about everything else seems to be fine - media sites, forums, blogs, wiki, porn...