Help! I can't access my website.

[Deozaan]

For about a month now, being able to connect to my website has been iffy. But supposedly it's just me.

deozaan.com is working
It took 318 ms for a 302 response with an ip of 174.120.97.61.

It's just you. http://deozaan.com is up.

I can ping the IP address so it sounds to me like a DNS issue. I know it's not the PC because every computer on my network cannot access my website. I think I plugged the modem directly into my netbook and I still couldn't access the site, so I'm pretty sure it's not my router, either.

Every other website works fine. Just my own is broken. And I can tell pretty easily when it's not working because the pictures in my signature are loaded from my site, and they've appeared broken to me for most of the past month.

I called my ISP about it about 3 weeks ago and they said it was a problem on their end and that they would escalate the issue to engineers and fix it. After a couple days it started working again. Then a few days later it broke again. Then it started working again. Then broke again. Last night it was working again, and now it's broken once again.

My question is, would my ISP really have trouble with just my website? What could be causing these DNS issues where everything works except just my website. Is it just a coincidence? Or is it more likely that I'm the only one to notice because I'm the only one who visits my website?

I'm just getting sick of it because even though I don't use/need my (http) website much, I do need access to things like my cPanel to manage e-mail addresses and things. Any suggestions?

[4wd]

This is from Network Tools:

IP address: 174.120.97.61
Host name: deozaan.com

Alias:
deozaan.com
174.120.97.61 is from United States(US) in region North America


TraceRoute to 174.120.97.61 [deozaan.com]
Hop (ms) (ms) (ms) IP Address Host name
1 9 5 5 72.249.0.65 -
2 16 29 8 64.129.174.181 64-129-174-181.static.twtelecom.net
3 11 6 6 66.192.253.230 dal2-pr1-ge-7-0-0-0.us.twtelecom.net
4 14 28 17 75.149.228.2 theplanet-cr01.dallas.tx.ibone.comcast.net
5 11 8 8 70.87.253.2 te7-1.dsr01.dllstx3.networklayer.com
6 Timed out Timed out Timed out -
7 11 12 15 70.87.254.226 te5-1.car12.dllstx6.networklayer.com
8 16 15 8 174.120.97.61 3d.61.78ae.static.theplanet.com

Trace complete


Retrieving DNS records for deozaan.com...

DNS servers
ns1.nickthewebsiteguy.com
ns2.nickthewebsiteguy.com
Query for DNS records for deozaan.com failed: Address not available

Here, using my own DNS, it resolves correctly and I can ping it:

C:\>ping deozaan.com

Pinging deozaan.com [174.120.97.61] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 174.120.97.61: bytes=32 time=358ms TTL=48
Reply from 174.120.97.61: bytes=32 time=359ms TTL=48
Reply from 174.120.97.61: bytes=32 time=299ms TTL=48
Reply from 174.120.97.61: bytes=32 time=382ms TTL=48

Ping statistics for 174.120.97.61:
   Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
   Minimum = 299ms, Maximum = 382ms, Average = 349ms

C:\>

So it does look like you have a DNS problem at your host.

For comparison, here's a Network Tools output for a site I put up for the wife:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

IP address: 69.175.104.34
Host name: gillham.co.cc

Alias:
gillham.co.cc
69.175.104.34 is from United States(US) in region North America


TraceRoute to 69.175.104.34 [gillham.co.cc]
Hop (ms) (ms) (ms) IP Address Host name
1 10 13 12 72.249.128.5 -
2 37 12 9 206.123.64.22 -
3 76 7 6 64.124.196.225 xe-4-2-0.er2.dfw2.us.above.net
4 7 7 8 64.125.27.81 xe-0-1-0.cr2.dfw2.us.above.net
5 16 17 12 64.125.26.134 xe-1-2-0.cr2.iah1.us.above.net
6 30 25 30 64.125.31.49 xe-1-1-0.mpr3.atl6.us.above.net
7 26 30 27 64.125.31.46 xe-1-0-0.mpr4.atl6.us.above.net
8 29 27 25 198.32.132.68 99.xe-0-1-0.cr1.atl1.us.nlayer.net
9 33 27 27 69.31.135.129 ae0-50g.cr1.atl1.us.nlayer.net
10 49 49 47 69.22.142.45 xe-1-2-0.cr2.ord1.us.nlayer.net
11 53 38 41 69.31.110.254 ae2-20g.ar1.ord6.us.nlayer.net
12 40 38 42 69.31.111.30 as32475.xe-1-0-1.ar1.ord6.us.nlayer.net
13 47 39 37 69.175.104.34 chopin.x10hosting.com

Trace complete


Retrieving DNS records for gillham.co.cc...

DNS servers
ns2.x10hosting.com
ns1.x10hosting.com

Answer records
gillham.co.cc MX
preference: 0
exchange: gillham.co.cc
14400s
gillham.co.cc SOA
server: ns1.x10hosting.com
email: support@x10hosting.com
serial: 2010071801
refresh: 86400
retry: 7200
expire: 3600000
minimum ttl: 86400
86400s
gillham.co.cc NS ns1.x10hosting.com 86400s
gillham.co.cc NS ns2.x10hosting.com 86400s
gillham.co.cc A 69.175.104.34 14400s

Authority records

Additional records
gillham.co.cc A 69.175.104.34 14400s
ns1.x10hosting.com A 99.198.122.2 14400s
ns2.x10hosting.com A 173.236.27.195 14400s

I realise my setup is slightly different but still, I would have expected a bit more information from your DNS server.

Oh yeah, I can access your site BTW - want me to do something while I'm there

[Deozaan]

Now that you mention it, I can't access my host's website(s) either. But they're up, supposedly.

http://isitup.org/nickthewebsiteguy.com
http://isitup.org/nickhost.net

[4wd]

Have you tried specifying different DNS servers on your net connection?

eg. Google DNS - 8.8.8.8 & 8.8.4.4

Does it resolve if you ping deozaan.com from the CLI?

[Deozaan]

Have you tried specifying different DNS servers on your net connection?

eg. Google DNS - 8.8.8.8 & 8.8.4.4

Does it resolve if you ping deozaan.com from the CLI?

It does not resolve deozaan.com from cmd.

I just changed my network adapter settings to use OpenDNS and now I can access my site and my host's sites (and resolve in the CLI). This is a good workaround, so thanks for that. However I'd still like to resolve the underlying issue if possible. Though I'm not sure if that's something I have the power to do. It might be a routing issue or DNS issue with my ISP.

[4wd]

Do you have to periodically re-enter your DNS redirection anywhere?

eg. Domain Registrar, hosting site, etc

It might be a routing issue or DNS issue with my ISP.

It does sound like your ISP DNS' are flakey.

[Deozaan]

No, not that I'm aware of. I did change hosts back in... September? But everything was working fine for a couple of months and then suddenly I started having these problems.

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.

[4wd]

No problem, I might need your help with another Steam purchase in the future


Actually, I'll go out on a limb and say it is your ISP DNS' since it won't even resolve from the CLI and they are the first port of call.  This is why I run my own now.