Bypass the router (straight connection from laptop to modem) and see if you can hit the site.

 

Pre-N or Draft ?  I heard the standards for N were submitted for finalization a short time ago.

If it is a secure website  https,

 

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?docid=211DB71FE1854A20935641FEF587ACC8&c=us&l=en&s=gen

When it doesn't work:

 

Start, Run. cmd, OK to bring up a new black cmd window.  Type:

 

nslookup website.com

 

(where you need to substitute the URL you type in minus anything that comes after the .com or .edu in place of the website.com)

 

Does it timeout or does it return an IP address?

 

 

Odds are it will timeout because your DNS server is the router and for some reason it doesn't know how to get there.  You can cycle power on the router and see if that will help or we can set up a static DNS entry in XP in order to use your ISP's DNS addresses.

 

If you do get a valid IP address then put that IP address in your browser and see if it goes to a site.  If that works then add the stuff you removed that came after website.com (say the original site was website.com/default and the IP address was A.B.C.D then put in A.B.C.D/default).  Does that work?

 

If it does you probably have a bad entry in your hosts file.

 

Download the Hoster from funkytoad:

 

http://www.funkytoad.com/content/view/13/31/

 

Run it and if under Editing Tools it says Make Hosts Writeable then press it first then press Restore Microsoft's Hosts file.

 

Ron

 

 

RKinner, thanks. I tried the nslookup and as you thought I got a timeout and no IP address. I have cycled power on the router, the cable modem, the laptop... numerous times. I don't think I know how to set up a static IP address... if that would help...

http://www.hotcomm.com/FAQ/FAQ_staticIPXP.asp    set the static IP  address in the 200-250 range.

 

example. yours may be different as far as the first 3 number groups  192.168.1.220   the last number group is what I am talking about.

Thanks for the try. I have tried to take the router out of the loop, but when connecting directly to the cable modem I get Low/No Connectivity. I tried a "Repair" on the connection and get the message that a New IP Address cannot be acquired.....

OK.  When you take the router out of the loop you need to reset or power cycle (unplug and then plug back up) the cable modem.  Cable modems only want to talk to one device so you need to make them forget about the router they were just talking to.

 

So reset the modem, then connect up the PC.  If it still won't talk to you then try:

 

Start, Run, cmd, OK to bring up a black cmd screen.  Type (with an enter after each bold line)

 

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

ipconfig /all

 

 

The second line will fail if the cable modem is not going to cooperate.  The last line will just tell you what IP address you are getting from your cable.  If you see 0.0.0.0 or 169.x.y.z then it didn't work.  If you see something else then look at the bottom of the output where it says DNS and write down those IP addresses.

 

Then hook it back up as it was originally.  Reset the cable modem, then power cycle the router then connect the PC up and do this again:

 

 

This time the first two will definitely work if your router is alive and connected to the PC.  The last one will tell you that your IP address is 192.168.something and  the DNS will be the address of your router.

 

Click Start, open the Control Panel. If it says "Pick a category" up the top, click the "Switch to Classic view" link in the top-left of the window. Click Network Connections. Ignore anything in the Dialup or Broadband sections - the connection to your modem or router will be in LAN or high-speed Internet.

There will generally only be a Local Area Connection remaining; this will be the connection to your modem/router.  (If you are using Wireless then we may need to do something different but I think it works the same way.  In that case you will need to use the Wireless Connection icon.)

Right-click on the icon and select Properties. On the General tab, click the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) component (you'll find it in the list in the top half of the window) and click the Properties button.

On the new window that opens,  in the bottom half of this window, select the Use the following DNS server addresses: option, then enter the Primus DNS resolver servers in to the boxes below:

Preferred DNS Server: 143.166.83.13

Alternate DNS Server: 143.166.224.3

Replace the bold addresses with the addresses you got from your connection to the cable modem.  These will probably work for you if you weren't able to get it to work talking directly to the cable modem.  They are from Dell so they are US based.  If you are in Europe let me know and I'll find you a better one but you can use these.  They will be just a tad bit slower.)

 

Click OK, then close all other windows and exit out of any programs you have running.

 

Then Start, Run, cmd, OK to open a black cmd window and type:

 

ipconfig /flushdns

 

ipconfig /all

 

 

You should now see your new addresses in the DNS section.  Check them with

 

 

nslookup dell.com

 

Hopefully it won't time out any more.

 

then close the cmd window.

 

Ron

 

Mombodog, I went to the site you specified and did everything on the page and still I cannot access the website.... thanks, though

Try this site, can you connect, and do you show a reverse DNS on that page?

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

This may be a silly question but do you use VoIP? If so, power cycling your network may not be enough to reset the cable modem. Some cable modems that do VoIP will have to be turned off and then a reset button too.

Thanks DELL-Gina, but, no, I do not use VoIP.

Mombodog, yes I could connect to the site and it did show a reverse DNS.

Did you try the Hosts file tool posted earlier?

 

 

I would also make a post over here, after reading the RED link at the top first.

 

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board?board.id=si_hijack

 

Make sure you have no nasties on that PC.

JMWills, RKinner, Mombodog, Gina:

 

Thank you all for your great ideas. I was able to take the router out of the loop (thanks RKinner for reminding me to reset the cable modem... duh!) and WOW I could go to any site I tried. The jobsite came up fine! Put the system back on wireless and the site would not come up again!  Now, in addition to the jobsite, my banking site won't come up in wireless, but comes up in direct connect.

 

This is very weird. Any thoughts? Could the router just randomly exclude websites? I notice that both of these sites are https:  Do you think it is a router setting problem or hardware or software? I posted the issue on the NetGear forums and have gotten no responses....

 

Again, thanks to all!

You might check to see if there is a Firmware update for that router.

 

If you do find one, never update the firmware using a wireless connection to the router, use the wired connection to do this.