Wierd internet connectivity problem- Random sites have become inaccessible

Question

basedude 0 Newbie Poster

21 Years Ago

Hi there,
I have been connected to an open wireless network via my linksys adapter for the last few months and have had consistant internet access with no major problems. Then a couple of days ago I lost connection to random sites like hotmail {I reach the sign in page but cant access my account}, google amongst a whole bunch of other random sites.The operation "times out". I am also unable to ping these sites.I had that pesky Marketsore/osmim.dll problem on my machine which I successfully removed yesterday and ran the LSP fix but the problem remains. I have anti virus installed as well as a host of anti spy and registry cleaner software installled which I run regualarly.
Why would some websites suddenly become unaccessible?? It it possible that the user whos access point Im connected to, has somehow blocked these sites??? Is there any options I can try to rectify this problem??
Thanks in advance!!!!

ps - Im running XP Pro with a firefox browser and have windows firewall running.

microsoft:windows-nt-2000-xp wifi

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Latest Post 21 Years Ago Latest Post by pcschrottie

Dani AI

Generated 9 Months Ago

Brief summary and approach — reported intermittent timeouts to a handful of sites while on an open Wi‑Fi AP; basic malware checks and a TCP/IP reset gave only temporary relief. The behaviour points to one of three areas: name resolution (DNS), path-level failure (routing/MTU/firewall), or local software (browser, proxy, security drivers). The checklist below isolates each area so the root cause can be found without reinstalling the OS.

Run these basic network checks from the machine showing the problem (replace example.com with a failing hostname):

ipconfig /all
nslookup example.com
tracert example.com
telnet example.com 80

ipconfig /all shows which DNS and gateway the machine is using.
nslookup proves whether the name resolves and which server answered.
tracert reveals where packets stop on the path.
telnet host 80 (or a browser to an IP) checks raw TCP to port 80/443 and bypasses DNS.

Browser and host-level checks — test with a different browser or a fresh profile (Firefox vs IE), and temporarily disable extensions. Check browser proxy settings (LAN/Connections) to ensure no proxy is configured. Inspect the hosts file at C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts for injected entries. Real-time security tools and multiple overlapping scanners can also intercept or block traffic; temporarily disable them for a short test.

Network-level checks and mitigations — test the same AP from a phone or another laptop to see if the issue is per-device or network-wide. If other devices fail, the AP/router or the upstream provider may be filtering or misrouting traffic; contact the AP admin if possible. As suggested, MTU/fragmentation issues can produce selective failures — if traces show packets dropped, try a smaller MTU on the client or update the wireless driver. If all else fails, test from a wired connection or boot a clean OS image (Live CD) to determine whether Windows or the network is at fault.

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pcschrottie 1 Posting Whiz in Training

21 Years Ago

open wireless network

Did you talk to other people in the network if they experience the same problems?

I think your system is probably still infected. Try eScan, a free anti-malware tool, which uses the kaspersky-virusdatabase:

If there is still something running on your system, eScan should find it. Also, use HijackThis!. If they both say your system is clean and the problem still exists, we can continue.

Michael

bentkey 10 Posting Whiz

21 Years Ago

And this folks, is why you need to learn to setup security and encryption on your wireless routers.

pcschrottie 1 Posting Whiz in Training

21 Years Ago

Look clean to me.

Maybe your problem has something to do with the MTU:

You can set the MTU with the tool DRTCP:

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/578

If other people in the network experience the same sort of problems, then maybe the MTU in the router is not set correctly. (Did you ever talk to the admin about your problem?)

you need to learn to setup security and encryption on your wireless routers.

What does this have to do with his actual problem?

Michael

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basedude 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 1 · 2004-12-08T10:07:22+00:00

Did you talk to other people in the network if they experience the same problems?
I think your system is probably still infected. Try eScan, a free anti-malware tool, which uses the kaspersky-virusdatabase:

If there is still something running on your system, eScan should find it. Also, use HijackThis!. If they both say your system is clean and the problem still exists, we can continue.

Michael

I ran escan and deleted a few iminor issues. I also ran HijackThis and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary.........or is there?. Here is the log

Logfile of HijackThis v1.98.2
Scan saved at 11:03:45 PM, on 12/7/2004
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\csrss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
c:\PROGRA~1\mcafee.com\vso\mcvsrte.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wdfmgr.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\MsPMSPSv.exe
c:\PROGRA~1\mcafee.com\vso\mcshield.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\alg.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SOUNDMAN.EXE
C:\PROGRA~1\mcafee.com\agent\mcagent.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft IntelliType Pro\type32.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft IntelliPoint\point32.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\mcafee.com\vso\mcvsshld.exe
c:\progra~1\mcafee.com\vso\mcvsescn.exe
C:\Program Files\HistoryKill\histkill.exe
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Distillr\acrotray.exe
C:\Program Files\HistoryKill\hkPopupKiller.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\MOZILL~1\FIREFOX.EXE
C:\Program Files\HJT\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.hotmail.com/
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = about:blank
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL,(Default) = about:blank
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page =
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\PROGRA~1\SPYBOT~1\SDHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: AcroIEToolbarHelper Class - {AE7CD045-E861-484f-8273-0445EE161910} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Adobe PDF - {47833539-D0C5-4125-9FA8-0819E2EAAC93} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O3 - Toolbar: McAfee VirusScan - {BA52B914-B692-46c4-B683-905236F6F655} - c:\progra~1\mcafee.com\vso\mcvsshl.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [VSOCheckTask] "c:\PROGRA~1\mcafee.com\vso\mcmnhdlr.exe" /checktask
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SoundMan] SOUNDMAN.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MCUpdateExe] C:\PROGRA~1\mcafee.com\agent\mcupdate.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MCAgentExe] c:\PROGRA~1\mcafee.com\agent\mcagent.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ATIPTA] C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [type32] "C:\Program Files\Microsoft IntelliType Pro\type32.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IntelliPoint] "C:\Program Files\Microsoft IntelliPoint\point32.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PCDRealtime] C:\WINDOWS\realtime.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [VirusScan Online] "c:\PROGRA~1\mcafee.com\vso\mcvsshld.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Ad-watch] C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-aware 6\Ad-watch.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [SpyKiller] C:\Program Files\SpyKiller\spykiller.exe /startup
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [HistoryKill] C:\Program Files\HistoryKill\histkill.exe /startup
O4 - Global Startup: Acrobat Assistant.lnk = C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Distillr\acrotray.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Adobe Gamma Loader.exe.lnk = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Calibration\Adobe Gamma Loader.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Quicken Scheduled Updates.lnk = C:\Program Files\Quicken\bagent.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\Office10\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O16 - DPF: {1D0D9077-3798-49BB-9058-393499174D5D} -
O16 - DPF: {4ED9DDF0-7479-4BBE-9335-5A1EDB1D8A21} (McAfee.com Operating System Class) -
O16 - DPF: {6414512B-B978-451D-A0D8-FCFDF33E833C} (WUWebControl Class) -
O16 - DPF: {BCC0FF27-31D9-4614-A68E-C18E1ADA4389} (DwnldGroupMgr Class) -

basedude 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 2 · 2004-12-08T22:06:59+00:00

Look clean to me.
Maybe your problem has something to do with the MTU:

You can set the MTU with the tool DRTCP:
http://www.dslreports.com/faq/578

If other people in the network experience the same sort of problems, then maybe the MTU in the router is not set correctly. (Did you ever talk to the admin about your problem?)

Michael

I cant talk to anyone else on the network as I dont know who they are. This is just a random wireless internet access point that my linksys can pick up.

I tried tweaking MTU as you suggested but still know change.

Yesterday I reset my tcp/ip settings with the "netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt" command and I was able to access google for a little while b4 it started to time out again. Still couldnt access other random sites even when I had google for a while.
This is really starting to bug me :(
Could uninstalling/reinstalling XP Networking services do the trick? Id like to do this as a last resort though.

pcschrottie 1 Posting Whiz in Training · Answer 3 · 2004-12-08T22:15:57+00:00

I tried tweaking MTU as you suggested

Did you restart your computer?

Btw:

Notice what 'BillPStudios' says: "This is one of those stubborn programs which can really cause a problem when you try and remove it." and "When you run LSPFix tell is to move osmim.dll and nothing else. "

Michael

basedude 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 4 · 2004-12-08T22:21:43+00:00

Did you restart your computer?

Michael

Of course :cheesy:

bentkey 10 Posting Whiz · Answer 5 · 2004-12-09T09:53:54+00:00

What does this have to do with his actual problem?
Michael

He can't ask them because he is stealing their bandwidth. Kind of like asking the cops to help you find your pot, so he's trying to get you to do it. My comment was not about his problem, because he IS the problem. Do you get it now?

pcschrottie 1 Posting Whiz in Training · Answer 6 · 2004-12-09T17:13:04+00:00

he is stealing their bandwidth

Well I first assumed that it's an university network or something similar.

Michael

Wierd internet connectivity problem- Random sites have become inaccessible

Dani AI

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