usenet.f9.net.uk connection problems "Code 800ccca0"

[#1]

Is anyone else having the same problem?
I've been using "usenet.f9.net.uk" literally for years without problem but in the past few days I've been getting connection problems. I've attached the response screen showing "connect error 10060" and the further details of "Error Number 502" and "Code 800ccca0".
As far as I can see this is the servers response to my IP address (which is server assigned as 80.229.252.133) ... but I cannot work out any more than that.
CSC have suggested it's my firewall ... but nothing has changed with that ... and in any case disabling it altogether makes no difference at all.
If it's significant I'm on the CN21 trial ... and very happy with a profile of 21000 :). Of course a fast connectipon is of limited value of you cannot actually "connect"!
Anyone got any ideas or had the same problem?
Regards, Colin

[#2]

I can't open your PDF for some reason, seems to say it's corrupt.
Your error would seem to be that of a timeout error.
can you do a traceroute to the server?
seems to fail for me, but could be because I'm not on force9
traceroute usenet.force9.co.uk
traceroute to usenet.force9.co.uk (67.215.65.132), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
1  192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1)  1.355 ms  1.332 ms  2.017 ms
2  lo0-plusnet.pcl-ag01.plus.net (195.166.128.27)  33.857 ms  33.889 ms  31.532 ms
3  gi1-2-803.pcl-gw1.plus.net (84.92.5.57)  33.040 ms  32.488 ms  32.469 ms
4  te2-1.pcl-gw02.plus.net (212.159.1.114)  32.572 ms  32.151 ms  37.396 ms
5  vl266.mpd01.lon01.atlas.cogentco.com (149.6.147.213)  49.036 ms  208.146 ms  222.900 ms
6  * * *
7  * * *
8  * * *
9  * * *

[#3]

Hi adiewoo,
I've attached the error  message as a jpg which should be OK ... the pdf works fine here ...
Tracert shown below ...
I can connect to the Microsoft Communities Newsgroups without problem
Regards, Colin
C:\Users\Colin>tracert usenet.f9.net.uk
Tracing route to europe.isp.giganews.com [216.196.109.145]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  1    1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  voyager.home [192.168.1.1]
  2    26 ms    25 ms    24 ms  lo0.homesurf.thn-ag2.plus.net [195.166.128.94]
  3    26 ms    25 ms    25 ms  vl606.thn-gw1.plus.net [84.92.4.185]
  4    75 ms    24 ms    25 ms  vl22.pte-gw1.plus.net [212.159.4.11]
  5    25 ms    24 ms    25 ms  te2-4.pte-gw2.plus.net [212.159.1.102]
  6    32 ms    31 ms    33 ms  195.66.224.67
  7    31 ms    31 ms    31 ms  usenet.f9.net.uk [216.196.109.145]
Trace complete.

[#4]

I wonder if it's the same thing mapletree's seeing here. What happens if you change the host name you're using to news.plus.net?

[#5]

Hi Bob,
I'm getting exactly the same error message for "news.force9.net" or "news.plus.net".
Puzzled ... I'm certain nothing has changed at my end ... alhough the CN21 trial is a sort of change I guess ...
Regards, Colin

[#6]

I can't see how the 21CN trial would be of relevance. My connection is routed over the 21CN backhaul (I'm trialling IPStream Connect) and I'm not having problems. It would help if we could rule out your news client as a potential contributor to the problem. What happens if you try an alternative news client?

[#7]

Hi Bob,
I've tried Thunderbird and created the apporpriate account but get the same error message.
I guess from what you say we can rule out the CN21 possibility ... as my laptop PC's, which connect via a router, get the same error we can also rule out my PC ... so that only leaves the PN end of things or the router. The router is a BT Voyager 2500v which remains stable and with no updates since I set it up in January, (I don't think the router has any way to block traffic in any event?) I'm using Avast as a virus checked on all PC's (they auto update but have no specific blocking set up on any of my PC's).
Any other ideas of things I can check out to eliminate the router?
Regards, Colin

[#8]

I'm a bit stumped too I'm afraid.
Have you tried making sure that both your router and computer have the same MTU settings?

[#9]

Colin, is your problem intermittent or does it happen all the time?

[#10]

Hi Jamesh/Bob,
The problem is not intermittent and does not affect the news server "msnews.microsoft.com" for instance.
MTU on both router and PC are the same ... (1500) ... but they have not been changed recently anyway.
My main PC and 2 laptops experience the same problem ... so it cannot be related to PC configuration ... only the PlusNet end or the router.
Regards, Colin

[#11]

Latest test ...
I've used a different router to eliminate my existing router and any settings which may be non standard. No change ... I still cannot get a response from usenet.f9.net.uk. I can however ping it and get a response and can tracert through to it.
With the latest test I think I've eliminated the router and the PC as sources of the problem. ...
Is therre a chance that it's the news server not recognising my IP address as a valid F9 address?
Colin