Cannot connect to senate.gov

[dlandiss]

When I use my RT-AC68U (John's Fork 16E1) as a router, wired or wireless, I cannot connect to http://senate.gov. I have tried on two desktops and two laptops using three different Web browsers. The error message has the pattern:

Access Denied
You don't have permission to access "http://serve-403-www.senate.gov/" on this server.
Reference #18.e44b9d0.1464119560.107a07e

I tried bypassing my ISP's DNS and using the two Google DNS server addresses. No go.

I can connect to house.gov and whitehouse.gov. I can connect if I ignore the router and cable directly to the Charter modem. I can connect if I turn off Wi-Fi on my mobile phone and thus connect via an AT&T cell tower.

What else can I look at in this router that might prohibit reaching senate.gov?

Thank you!

 

[L&LD]

Does this link work?

http://www.senate.gov/index.htm


Have you run a virus scan lately?

Is there a reason you haven't upgraded your firmware for the last 5 months?

 

[dlandiss]

Does this link work?

http://www.senate.gov/index.htm

No, same error on all 4 computers and all 3 Web browsers.

Have you run a virus scan lately?

Yes, all machines. And the same error is displayed when I use my Android mobile if it is connected through the home LAN. The error is not present if I surf with Wi-Fi off, forcing the phone to use an AT&T cell tower instead.

Is there a reason you haven't upgraded your firmware for the last 5 months?

This version has caused me no troubles until now, so I was waiting to see what issues might settle out before switching into unfamiliar territory.

Thank you.

 

[john9527]

No problems when I try. You may have gotten an IP address from your ISP that has been blacklisted. Check your WAN address. Then try rebooting your router or powering down both the modem and router for a while to see if you can get another address.

 

[dlandiss]

No problems when I try. You may have gotten an IP address from your ISP that has been blacklisted. Check your WAN address. Then try rebooting your router or powering down both the modem and router for a while to see if you can get another address.

Thank you, John. My WAN address looks normal, in the same range that Charter Cable assigns. The Charter phone rep reset the modem remotely. I did complete power-down reboots of the modem, router, and computer; power them on a few minutes apart in the order listed.

I can reach the site if I plug the computer directly into the modem--it fails on 4 computers (and my AT&T phone) if I use the router.

 

[john9527]

I can reach the site if I plug the computer directly into the modem--it fails on 4 computers (and my AT&T phone) if I use the router.

This goes along with getting a blacklisted address.....just because it's a 'normal' Charter IP, it doesn't mean that someone hasn't abused it such that it was blacklisted. One other thing....it you are running a VPN client, a lot of those addresses are being blacklisted these days. I have one site that I visit that regularly blacklists some the of the PIA addresses.

 

[dlandiss]

Check your WAN address. Then try rebooting your router or powering down both the modem and router for a while to see if you can get another address.

Ah, I see what you mean now. When my wife is finished with her current task I will unplug for 5 minutes and see if I can force a new WAN address.

Thanks!

 

[dlandiss]

This goes along with getting a blacklisted address.....just because it's a 'normal' Charter IP, it doesn't mean that someone hasn't abused it such that it was blacklisted. One other thing....it you are running a VPN client, a lot of those addresses are being blacklisted these days. I have one site that I visit that regularly blacklists some the of the PIA addresses.

No VPN. No IPv6. No defined routes or parental blocks.

I left the modem off for 6 minutes but Charter still assigned the same WAN address. I can't imagine that is the issue since I could connect when I wired my computer directly to the modem's LAN jack.

 

[MarkRH]

When connecting the PC directly to the modem, you are probably getting a different WAN address since the PC's MAC Address is different. Check at https://www.whatismyip.com/ or a myriad of other sites: https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+my+ip&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 Hmm.. Google shows it straight away now.

 

[john9527]

I can't imagine that is the issue since I could connect when I wired my computer directly to the modem's LAN jack.

Compare the WAN addresses....when you direct connect to the modem, you'll get a different IP.
It can take a while off line to get a new IP address assigned depending on the ISP (on the order of hours, not minutes being offline).

The other thing to try is set a new router mac or clone your laptop mac to the router on the WAN page.

 

[dlandiss]

Wow, what a trip. One thing I noticed was that the Senate site has several possible IP Addresses. Depending on when I tested, and from what computer, and whether I used ping or tracert; I could get answers 184.28.201.166, 23.66.229.166, 69.192.216.26, 156.33.195.12, and 156.33.195.11.

John's last suggestion did the trick. I assigned the router a MAC just 1 digit away from my desktop PC. I still had to power everything down and power up in the order: modem > router > PC. But <fingers crossed> the WAN side of the modem got a new address and it is working.

Many thanks to all who helped.

 

[L&LD]

If you had the possibility of leaving all network equipment unplugged (not just off) for an hour or more, you may have seen the same positive result.

Glad to see it fixed though, even if it did take just over three hours.

 

[RMerlin]

ISP tech support desks need to get better training regarding IP blacklisting. I see an increasing amount of issues caused by it, and each time the ISP was clueless about it.

 

[sfx2000]

Anybody try...

https://www.senate.gov

They should know better

 

[dlandiss]

ISP tech support desks need to get better training regarding IP blacklisting. I see an increasing amount of issues caused by it, and each time the ISP was clueless about it.

'Tis quite true. The agent kept blaming my computer even though I had told her many times that the symptoms were the same on all the computers in the house. So then she tried to blame it on my router.

So thanks again to John and everyone who helped solve it.

 

[dlandiss]

Anybody try...

https://www.senate.gov

They should know better

Yep! If I just type "senate.gov" into Chrome's address bar, that is the first address Chrome tries to reach.

Https works on both house.gov and whitehouse.gov, but the Senate is dysfunctional. But we already knew that<G>.

 

[sfx2000]

Yep! If I just type "senate.gov" into Chrome's address bar, that is the first address Chrome tries to reach.

Https works on both house.gov and whitehouse.gov, but the Senate is dysfunctional. But we already knew that<G>.

Apparently they didn't get the memo...

https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/06/08/https-everywhere-government