Failed Website Connections

[paulbasel]

I have been experiencing failed connections to web pages for the past week. This is unusual because it almost never happened in the past. Clicking a web page link results in "cannot find server" error on perhaps one page out of 15 that I might try. These are not 404 errors. Refreshing the page that has the error connects to the page properly, almost always on the first try.

In addition, a web page is occasionally not rendered properly with CSS, in other words the page is just text with no formatting. Refreshing the page then shows a properly CSS rendered page.

This happens with all three of my browsers - Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.
I switched routers and it happens with both of my routers - Linksys and TP-LInk.
This also occurs with my XP Pro desktop and with my Win 7 laptop as well.
I connected the ethernet cable directly to the modem (without the router) and the browsers still drop an occasional connection that needs to be refreshed.
I changed the ethernet cable and it still happens.
I reset the modem, waited 10 minutes and turned it back on. The problem still occurs.
Scans with malwarebytes and superantispyware software come back clean as a whistle even in windows safe mode.

The modem is an Arris TM902 telephony modem. Any help greatly appreciated.

Paul

 

[thiggins]

Do you have the same problem if you access a website via its IP address?

 

[paulbasel]

I haven't tried accessing the website with its IP address but I can do that the next time it occurs. However, having said that if I lookup the IP of the page with the error and then access it in a new tab or window with the IP address wouldn't that be the same as refreshing the page. Because, as I said, refreshing the page once (usually) loads the page properly. But, I'll give it a try.

 

[paulbasel]

I forgot to add that when the error occurs I am always accessing these web pages at random. For example, if I am reading Google News and I go from article to another all is well for a while and then suddenly a single page will not render properly or the cannot find server error occurs. It is not as if I am trying to access a specific web page by typing in a specific url.

 

[paulbasel]

Sorry for the 3 posts in a row. But, a failed connection just occurred and I thought you might want to see it. I was reading an article in Google News and simply clicked on a link to an article. The following is the url that failed (error message below). Refreshing the page caused it to appear instantly and properly rendered.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/23/ukraine-crisis-yanukovych-tymoshenko-live-updates


Server not found

Firefox can't find the server at www.theguardian.com.

Check the address for typing errors such as ww.example.com instead of www.example.com
If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network connection.
If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.

 

[thiggins]

The "try the IP" suggestion is to bypass your DNS server.

Or you could just try setting a different DNS server in your TCP/IP settings.

Google "public DNS servers" for ones to try.

 

[paulbasel]

Okay, now I get it. I have changed to Google's public DNS. I'll see if it still happens with this setup.

Thanks for your help. I'll report back in a few days.

Paul

 

[paulbasel]

I wanted to report that my problem with dropped or failed web page connections appears to have been solved. I am now using Google DNS servers and haven't had a failed page connection in about 4 days. Whether that was the solution or something that my ISP did I can't say. I should point out that I didn't contact them so they didn't specifically make any changes on my behalf.

Now, I plan to add back one element at a time. Replace my old Linksys WRT54g router with my new TP-Link AC 1750 (which was running at the time the problem first occurred) and if that doesn't mess something up, I'll go back to my original ethernet cable and see if that works.

A comment on web page loading - I can't really see much difference between the two routers in terms of the speed of loading any given web page. My service is 50 down and 5 up and of course my old Linksys can't access that speed but it makes little or no difference in loading a web page. I'm not even sure that it makes much difference when I download a file. I know it should but it doesn't appear to. That is a purely subjective analysis; I haven't really objectively tested it.

Thanks again for the suggestion about changing DNS servers.

Paul