TargetTalk

Hi FredB, What happens if you try the IP addresses instead of the name? This would take the DNS lookup out of the equation (I think). Just type the above IPs, one at a time, into the address bar of your machines and see what shows up.

For me, the .de version does not go to eguns. Maybe that is where your Win 7 machines are trying to go.

I agree with rmca that this sounds like a DNS problem, but all my similar DNS troubles cause all lookups to fail. Odd that it might cause a single one, unless that specific table is missing eguns.

I'm leaning toward thinking you need to use the .com version. For now, if the IP attempt works, you could use it. But, they may change that and you would again be broken.

Ed Hall wrote:Hi FredB,

Code: Select all

www.eguns.com and www.eguns.de resolve to different IP addresses:

$ ping www.eguns.com
PING www.eguns.com (199.102.78.141) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from www.eguns.com (199.102.78.141): icmp_seq=1 ttl=51 time=74.2 ms
64 bytes from www.eguns.com (199.102.78.141): icmp_seq=2 ttl=51 time=72.0 ms
64 bytes from www.eguns.com (199.102.78.141): icmp_seq=3 ttl=51 time=72.8 ms
64 bytes from www.eguns.com (199.102.78.141): icmp_seq=4 ttl=51 time=73.3 ms
64 bytes from www.eguns.com (199.102.78.141): icmp_seq=5 ttl=51 time=73.9 ms
64 bytes from www.eguns.com (199.102.78.141): icmp_seq=6 ttl=51 time=74.3 ms
64 bytes from www.eguns.com (199.102.78.141): icmp_seq=7 ttl=51 time=71.9 ms
64 bytes from www.eguns.com (199.102.78.141): icmp_seq=8 ttl=51 time=72.7 ms
64 bytes from www.eguns.com (199.102.78.141): icmp_seq=9 ttl=51 time=73.2 ms
64 bytes from www.eguns.com (199.102.78.141): icmp_seq=10 ttl=51 time=73.6 ms
^C
--- www.eguns.com ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 received, 0% packet loss, time 9008ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 71.931/73.252/74.396/0.884 ms
[duser@localhost ~]$ ping www.eguns.de
PING www.eguns.de (84.200.237.250) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 84.200.237.250: icmp_seq=1 ttl=51 time=128 ms
64 bytes from 84.200.237.250: icmp_seq=2 ttl=51 time=130 ms
64 bytes from 84.200.237.250: icmp_seq=3 ttl=51 time=127 ms
64 bytes from 84.200.237.250: icmp_seq=4 ttl=51 time=128 ms
64 bytes from 84.200.237.250: icmp_seq=5 ttl=51 time=128 ms
^C
--- www.eguns.de ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 received, 0% packet loss, time 4002ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 127.547/128.697/130.363/0.917 ms

What happens if you try the IP addresses instead of the name? This would take the DNS lookup out of the equation (I think). Just type the above IPs, one at a time, into the address bar of your machines and see what shows up.

For me, the .de version does not go to eguns. Maybe that is where your Win 7 machines are trying to go.

I agree with rmca that this sounds like a DNS problem, but all my similar DNS troubles cause all lookups to fail. Odd that it might cause a single one, unless that specific table is missing eguns.

I'm leaning toward thinking you need to use the .com version. For now, if the IP attempt works, you could use it. But, they may change that and you would again be broken.

Thanks Ed and rmca,

eGun.com redirects to intolaw.com, a legal firm.
eGuns.com goes to a U.S. Gunbroker dealer (who says he's selling the domain name).
eGuns.de goes to a German domain name for sale.
My Windows 7 computer connects immediately with all 3 of the above URLs.
eGun.de will not connect from my house on two Windows 7 computers, but will connect on one Windows XP computer. That is the website that I am concerned with.

Since this problem started suddenly a few weeks ago and affects both Windows 7 computers here, but not the Windows XP computer, I am leaning towards thinking that the eGun site has, accidentally or not, blocked the Windows 7 IP address here, but not the Windows XP address. That seems to me the simplest explanation, and also has the virtue of keeping me from blundering into a rats nest of computer settings that I don't understand. Wouldn't a blocked website refuse to ping?

Thanks,
FredB

Sorry FredB,

I've been very dense in my haste to create answers for you. I keep insisting on adding an "s" and the fact that I get a gun oriented page has tripped me up, as well.

Can you try the IP address 82.96.64.127, which is the current IP address that is for the "correct" egun.de site, on your Win 7 machines?

Apologies, again...

Ed Hall wrote:Sorry FredB,

I've been very dense in my haste to create answers for you. I keep insisting on adding an "s" and the fact that I get a gun oriented page has tripped me up, as well.

Can you try the IP address 82.96.64.127, which is the current IP address that is for the "correct" egun.de site, on your Win 7 machines?

Apologies, again...

Thanks Ed,
I just tried what you suggested, with good news and bad news. My Windows 7 computer immediately connects with 82.96.64.127, which appears to be the egun.de site. The non-secure functions (such as "search") work fine, but when I go to log in, I get the following message from Firefox:
"82.96.64.127 uses an invalid security certificate. The certificate is only valid for the following names: http://www.egun.de, egun.de (Error code: ssl_error_bad_cert_domain)".
The message seems to be saying that 82.96.64.127 may not be the real egun.de site. Is there a danger here, or is this message an artifact of using the IP address directly?
Thanks,
FredB

That seems about right.
If you try to change the www.egun.de to 82.96.64.127 the security certificate will not be valid.

Good news! You have a DNS problem! ;)

Next step is to change your dns server for one that should work:
You can try the one on your XP or google's free dns https://developers.google.com/speed/pub ... docs/using

It's not difficult. You just have to do as instructed in the google site, and swap it (or add manually if automatic) to 8.8.8.8

Let us know how it went.

rmca wrote:That seems about right.
If you try to change the http://www.egun.de to 82.96.64.127 the security certificate will not be valid.

Good news! You have a DNS problem! ;)

Next step is to change your dns server for one that should work:
You can try the one on your XP or google's free dns https://developers.google.com/speed/pub ... docs/using

It's not difficult. You just have to do as instructed in the google site, and swap it (or add manually if automatic) to 8.8.8.8

Let us know how it went.

Thanks, but I'm still not convinced that I should alter anything on my computer. Remember, this problem suddenly appeared on two separate Windows 7 computers here, but not on the Windows XP computer. It just seems rather unlikely that the OS on both would have gotten altered in regard to a single website that is normally never visited using the second Windows 7 computer.

Wouldn't these symptoms be consistent with eGun blocking my Windows 7 address? And couldn't being able to get through to eGun using Anonymouse and using the IP number be due to those methods disguising my IP address? Please let me know if my reasoning is incorrect. I am very uncomfortable making the kind of alteration you suggest when I don't have a clue how all this works, and I'm very dependent on my computer (which otherwise is working fine).

Thanks,
FredB

Be weary of using a public DNS. I would warn against it as a matter of Privacy.

Bring the DNS issue to your ISP and they should be able to rectify it reasonably quickly.

Could it be:-

The XP machine is using a fixed public Domain Name Server (e.g. Google 8.8.8.8)
The Win7 machines are set to use the default Domain Name Server from your ISP
Your ISP has blocked eGun

David's answer explains why your win7 and win xp act different. Have you check which DNS each one is using? Just look, then use "cancel" or "alt+F4" or simply "esc" so you don't alter anything.

First let me explain a bit what is the DNS and how it works. When you type www.something.com that information goes to your ISP (internet service provider), that then has the job to find the computer where the site you are looking for is stored. It does so by using a "table" that refers your www.something.com to an IP address.
With that IP your request can be send to the computer that stores the web page that them replys sending you the page you are looking for. For more info look this up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System

This is where your problem seems to be. That "table" doesn't seem to know where to send www.egun.de

When you use Anonymouse you are probably routing your page request through it's server and consequently trough it's DNS server, that is probably different from yours.

When you use the IP address directly you bypass the DNS server. It has no job too do.

Using an public IP address like google's, should only be for testing purposes. Once that is done you should contact your ISP and complain about your problem.
That "table" is dynamic, so it changes with time (not all computers have fixed IP addresses). It is probable that one of these changes messed up the "www.egun.de"

Anyway, check which current DNS IP's your computers are using and change as need be.

Hope this helps

Does the "host" command not exist on Windows? I would agree that this smells like a Windows DNS issue.

In the US, I wouldn't trust the DNS servers of most ISPs further than I could throw them. FredB is in my neck of the woods, so I wouldn't be surprised if he has Comcast - in which case that goes double.

I tend to use the DNS of my employer or OpenDNS (on mobile so I'm too lazy to link).