OK, Computer geeks...

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Tod,

I care, but regrettably not being an actual IT guy/programmer, and that I don't have that level of access to the site's operational software, I can't do anything anyways. See the recent UPDATE STICKY I posted a few days ago as part of my frustrations with how the site is "managed". The OWNER/WEBMASTER created the site in 2002. He then shortly thereafter took a laissez faire approach to running the site, setting up Admin and Mods to handle the "housekeeping" aspects.

As you mentioned a few years ago "we" performed an update/upgrade to the base vBulletin software...with help from JW Saunders with the bulk of the IT stuff, as well as Wildkat and a few others with graphics and things. But after he did that, the access passwords to the deeper base software to the site was changed.

Then this past year, JP with the Hosting company put our site onto a separate SERVER because of the extreme bandwidth use in an effort to keep the site more accessible....because the Hosting company was actually shutting off access to our site when we were on the shared server to allow the other sites bandwidth...and that was why folks were getting the page not available error message back then.

Now....almost nobody has had much trouble getting to the site. You Tod, as well as another strong member....he had the "710" cap/photo avatar.....and he lived in California.....and he QUIT coming to or contributing to the site because of the difficulty and intermittence of his accessibility to the site. Yet, he could access it from his work location.

A few times due to misinterpreted user actions by the hosting software....like forgetting ones log in password and attempting to log in past the 5 allowed attempts, or other otherwise benign things....but the site's security software would perceive it as a possible hacking attempt, and would sequester their ID/IP address into their firewall and prevent them from even being able to see the site even without trying to log in. I have contacted the hosting site a few times when folks would contact me via the email link that they could not access the site at all. They would check their firewall and IF the reported IP address was found, they would release it and then the person was able to get to the site.

SO....since MOST....~99 % of the members are able to access the site without problems, then the site is essentially setup properly, and that the ~1% of folks have LOCAL ISP/DNS or computer issues/settings that are causing them problems.

There are several good TESTS that have been posted in this thread that you can try WHEN you can't access the site by just clicking on your browser's favorite XS11 link. Like the numerical IP address for our site....that you could save into a text/notepad file or even create a favorite link with it as the URL instead of the www version to click on.

The other part....the PING test is also relatively simple. You just need to open a DOS prompt window.....in Windows 7, click on Start/Run, and then type cmd and hit enter to have the little window with the dos black screen pop up. Then type the "ping" command, a space and then first www.xs11.com as well as other sites, and hit enter.

A longer report that can show you how many servers you are having to go thru to get to xs11.com is the Tracert command.

And to save you a bunch of typing, you can have the Tracert program create a TEXT file of the results with this command:
Be sure to put a space after the Tracert word, the www.xs11.com
and make sure you have a C:\temp folder . And just change the name of the text file if you want to perform the same test with other websites for you to compare.

tracert www.xs11.com >c:\temp\tracert.txt

You can do the same thing with the PING command....I just did it with our site: What's interesting is the IP address is automatically resolves. I did the Tracert test last year when I was using Verizon, and before our site was put on it's separate server, and so the IP address is shows is different, I'll post that and a NEW Tracert report below this PING report.

BTW, it takes about 30 seconds to perform the Tracert process...you can do it first WITHOUT the file creation portion to see how long it takes, and then repeat it with the file creation....when you get the same Dos prompt that you started with ...ie. C:\users\youraccount\_ with the blinking cursor, then you'll know it's done and you can then close the dos window.

Pinging xs11.com [209.151.89.187] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 209.151.89.187: bytes=32 time=87ms TTL=53

Reply from 209.151.89.187: bytes=32 time=118ms TTL=53

Reply from 209.151.89.187: bytes=32 time=143ms TTL=53

Reply from 209.151.89.187: bytes=32 time=66ms TTL=53

Ping statistics for 209.151.89.187:

Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 66ms, Maximum = 143ms, Average = 103ms

**OLD TRACERT and OLD IP Address for XS11.com
Tracing route to www.xs11.com [64.119.182.118][

over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 8 ms <1 ms <1 ms Wireless_Broadband_Router.home [192.168.1.1]

2 9 ms 10 ms 15 ms L100.NRFLVA-VFTTP-23.verizon-gni.net [96.249.246.1]

3 17 ms 29 ms 20 ms G0-2-3-7.NRFLVA-LCR-22.verizon-gni.net [130.81.139.250]

4 22 ms 17 ms 19 ms xe-0-1-4-0.PHIL-BB-RTR2.verizon-gni.net [130.81.209.52]

5 30 ms 29 ms 31 ms 0.xe-4-1-0.BR3.IAD8.ALTER.NET [152.63.33.21]

6 42 ms 24 ms 27 ms 204.255.168.226

7 83 ms 101 ms 102 ms 207.88.14.162.ptr.us.xo.net [207.88.14.162]

8 128 ms 203 ms 204 ms vb6.rar3.chicago-il.us.xo.net [207.88.12.33]

9 117 ms 100 ms 101 ms te-4-1-0.rar3.denver-co.us.xo.net [207.88.12.22]

10 128 ms 105 ms 106 ms ae0d0.mcr1.englewood-co.us.xo.net [216.156.0.10]

11 143 ms 188 ms 100 ms 216.55.56.34

12 198 ms 102 ms 100 ms 38.ae1.eng01-mls-dc-core-a.eng01.latisys.net [205.214.65.2]

13 * 194 ms 102 ms vl14.mls-dc-dist-a.eng01.latisys.net [208.42.224.34]

14 119 ms 103 ms 100 ms www.xs11.com [64.119.182.118]

Trace complete.
*******************************************
New 2014 Tracert report....note the same # of HOPS...14!!!!
Tracing route to xs11.com [209.151.89.187]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 2 ms 1 ms 19 ms godzilla [192.168.2.1]

2 29 ms 26 ms 17 ms 10.5.12.1

3 * 18 ms 20 ms 172.22.60.169

4 23 ms * 24 ms 172.22.60.169

5 11 ms 19 ms 22 ms 68.10.8.157

6 28 ms 15 ms 13 ms ashbbprj01-ae2.rd.as.cox.net [68.1.0.242]

7 62 ms 17 ms 16 ms eqix.asbn.twtelecom.net [206.126.236.36]

8 332 ms 103 ms 100 ms den1-ar4-xe-2-1-0-0.us.twtelecom.net [206.222.119.66]

9 120 ms 101 ms 101 ms 50.58.53.182

10 104 ms 190 ms 114 ms 40.ae1.cen01-mls-dc-core-b.cen01.latisys.net [205.214.65.134]

11 106 ms 138 ms 104 ms 78.ae18.eng01-mls-dc-core-b.eng01.latisys.net [205.214.65.126]

12 133 ms 101 ms 101 ms vl22.mls-dc-dist-b.eng01.latisys.net [208.42.224.46]

13 84 ms 102 ms 101 ms 64.119.182.106

14 97 ms 102 ms 101 ms xs11.com [209.151.89.187]

Trace complete.

When you're done with the dos window, just type EXIT and hit enter or you can just click the Red X on the window button.

You can SPLIT an XS11 engine case, I know you can do these tests and then report back what you find.

T.C.

[trbig]

The text thing didn't work, but here's the tests.. for whatever it means. The 2nd half of your post seems to be some foreign language to me. And yes, Larrym and I still talk occasionally.

[Jerry]

Keep the tests handy when you call your ISP. It looks to me like the one time-out (Line #5 of the tracert) is when the connection is handed off from your provider (Cable0ne.net) into the wider web. There should not be a delay, or time out, in this handoff.

Another piece of information your ISP may want is the IP of your PC. You can find this by opening a command prompt again (Start, type CMD, and press enter) and running this command: ipconfig /all and make sure there is a space between the ipconfig and the /all

One of the numbers will probably begin with 192.168 but if you have more than 1 network type, including wireless, there may be more than 1 set of numbers. Look for the word "Primary" in the stuff that pops up. Your ISP may want to remotely log in and take a look at your settings. To do this they may need the IP number or they may want to start a remote session such as Webex. If so they will give you a site address to go to and won't need the IP. Keep us posted.

[ekim]

Techno Babble

Some observations/details...

The site is on a shared server (there is another web site on the machine).
Because it is shared, just using the IP address (209.151.89.187) in a browser will not necessarily work.

The domain registrar is with GoDaddy. JP 'owns' the domain and is the appropriate/authoritative individual to make the needed NS record addition.

Failures in a trace route may occur as some devices in the path may not respond. This can be by design/configuration.

A ping to an IP address is to the machine - not the web server (which is software running on the shared machine). It tells you the machine is responding.


-> Just some weekend musings

[ViperRon]

This problem you are having now can be with your internet service provider and their software especially if they use certain software packages. I mainly had issue with XS11.com but found a few other sites it also had issues with however most all main sites on the WEB worked perfectly. I had this problem of not being able to access XS11. com and the issue was recent patches made to their Apache software. It took weeks for them to even admit they had a problem. I test from time to time and they still have problems. Seems what happens is when it fails once it cashes the result until cash is flushed on their server.

Your ISP can troubleshoot the problem and should Identify why you can not get threw. However if they can not and other people are accessing the site they may still have issues. Do not just accept a quick answer. I can tell you if your PC knows where to go, the IP address of XS11.com and can not get there, then somewhere in your ISP or their routing you are being blocked.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey ekiM,

I'm trying and wanting to learn. I/we were told that our site would be put on it's own server...with the upgraded service contract so that we would be allowed to have the bandwidth that we use. I can see how it would not be cost effective for the hosting site to have just 1 website on 1 server, so I can accept and agree that our site is on a shared server, but our site is not to be temporarily turned off anymore due to high bandwidth issues like it was being done before.

You said that the PING test just talks to the server/MACHINE hosting the site, not the actual website persae. However, doesn't the PING test us the DNS server to find/resolve the written url into the needed IP# for the site?

I just performed the PING test to (www.xs11.com) again, and it resolved the site to the IP address: 209.151.89.187 . I opened up a new FireFox browser window and put it(IP#) into the address window and hit enter and sure enough it gave an error message!? Our site is supposed to have a static IP address. And if a DNS server resolves the www.xs11.com URL into that particular IP address, then why can't/won't the browser find the page when it's typed in directly instead of going thru the DNS process???

SORRY!
If you are the owner of this website, please contact your hosting provider: webmaster(at)209.151.89.187

It is possible you have reached this page because:

1.)The IP address has changed.
The IP address for this domain may have changed recently. Check your DNS settings to verify that the domain is set up correctly. It may take 8-24 hours for DNS changes to propagate.

2.)There has been a server misconfiguration.
Please verify that your hosting provider has the correct IP address configured for your Apache settings and DNS records. A restart of Apache may be required for new settings to take affect.

3.)The site may have been moved to a different server.
The URL for this domain may have changed or the hosting provider may have moved the account to a different server.

Thanks for your time and tutelage.
T.C.

[ekim]

TC,

I am happy to help - you guys go above and beyond with your XSSive help.
It is hard to type a generic reply without understanding how much you know. So questions help me tailor a meaningful reply/education.

Hey ekiM,

I'm trying and wanting to learn. I/we were told that our site would be put on it's own server...with the upgraded service contract so that we would be allowed to have the bandwidth that we use. I can see how it would not be cost effective for the hosting site to have just 1 website on 1 server, so I can accept and agree that our site is on a shared server, but our site is not to be temporarily turned off anymore due to high bandwidth issues like it was being done before.

It is on a shared server. Do an nslookup on:
honeywellfamily.com

Does it's IP look familiar?

You said that the PING test just talks to the server/MACHINE hosting the site, not the actual website persae. However, doesn't the PING test us the DNS server to find/resolve the written url into the needed IP# for the site?

Yes it resolves the IP to the 'site' - which is the MACHINE.
The machine/host responds to the ping. There is no 'web server for my domain' ping. At least in this context.

I just performed the PING test to (www.xs11.com) again, and it resolved the site to the IP address: 209.151.89.187 . I opened up a new FireFox browser window and put it(IP#) into the address window and hit enter and sure enough it gave an error message!? Our site is supposed to have a static IP address. And if a DNS server resolves the www.xs11.com URL into that particular IP address, then why can't/won't the browser find the page when it's typed in directly instead of going thru the DNS process???

That is the expected behavior per this issue :>)
You have a static IP (it never changes). You do NOT have a DEDICATED IP.
The IP is shared between the 2 sites.
This is a very strange mis-configuration and it has been puzzling to untangle.
I can replicate it since it happens on my Verizon smart phone.
The name (www.xs11.com) is resolved to an IP address. The browse passes the url to machine which if configured correctly would route to the xs11 part on the web server. (This is done via the web server software - apache).
The subtle problem with the missing NS record allows to to 'kinda' work.

Fire away with questions for clarification.

Oh and BTW I may be able to fix the database issue for new accounts if you have access to some error logs. I am a database administrator by profession. The stuff above I have learned along the way.