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Server not found

FIXED
br1anstorm
Rising Star
Posts: 126
Thanks: 15
Registered: ‎24-06-2007

Server not found

In the last couple of weeks I have been plagued by "Server Not Found" responses whenever I browse the internet.

The problem is not confined to selected sites, but seems to crop up irrespective of the site I am trying to reach.  Nor is it only apparent at certain times of day:  it is becoming a perpetual headache.  To get an idea of the scale of the problem, I'd say the "Server Not Found" error message appears on probably 90% of the clicks I make.  It seems to make little difference whether I'm trying to connect to a regular bookmarked site, an onward link from a webpage I have managed to get onscreen, or simply a (Google or DuckDuckGo) search page.

I'm using a laptop with Linux Mint, with Firefox browser.  I usually have it hard-wired (ethernet) to my Netgear router, so the issue isn't the quality of wifi or the location of my laptop.  The connection itself shows as 100% solid even when I do use only the wifi link to the router.  My broadband connection is via ADSL not fibre (so I don't expect to stream movies or have high download speeds). But I am not in a remote country area.

I don't really understand pinging, latency and all that.  The problem simply seems to be that my Plusnet ISP isn't able to connect swiftly and reliably to the servers, or sites, I want to visit.

Is there a capacity problem?  Or some other explanation?

 

3 REPLIES 3
Protech
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 166
Thanks: 76
Fixes: 5
Registered: ‎26-09-2017

Re: Server not found

First thing i would try is to access the same sites you are having issues with by using another device , eg smartphone connected via your router using wi-fi.

If that works them the issue is with your Laptop installation - have there been any Linux Mint / Firefox updates applied recently ?

If you Google "server not found firefox"  there have been a number of issues relating to proxy servers reported.

Alternatively you could see if the same problem occurs when using another brower eg Chromium

HTH

You can check out but you can never leave ( easily)
Jonpe
Hero
Posts: 3,991
Thanks: 1,831
Fixes: 9
Registered: ‎05-09-2016

Re: Server not found

Fix

I use a different ISP, different router, different OS (Win10), but also connect via an ethernet cable and use Firefox, and a couple of Firefox updates ago this started happening.  It doesn't happen very often, not even once a day, but when it does, it's always when I'm doing something important or am in a hurry (isn't that always the way?) so it can be annoying.

I changed ISP recently so I thought maybe it was one of their idiosyncracies, but it didn't happen for the first month or so with them; the Firefox update is therefore the main suspect on my list.  As (bad) luck would have it, a few seconds ago when I tried to access Google via a tile on my FF homepage it happened (first time today and it's nearly 5 pm.)

br1anstorm
Rising Star
Posts: 126
Thanks: 15
Registered: ‎24-06-2007

Re: Server not found

Thanks for both those replies - very helpful.

It does look as if the culprit may be Firefox.  As Jonpe found, the problem does seem to be intermittent, which makes it more difficult to pin down the cause.

I have experimented with alternative browsers and - so far - not encountered the same problem.  On my Android smartphone, using wifi and the same PlusNet home router and the Chrome browser, all websites are readily accessed.  I have tried a different open source browser (Qupzilla) on my Linux Mint laptop, still via my PlusNet router, and it's all good. 

So - sadly - it does seem to be Firefox to blame.  A pity, as I have become so accustomed to using it.  Unless a further update removes the problem, I shall simply change to another browser:  I can't face the task of fiddling around with Firefox's settings (as many online troubleshooting answers seem to suggest) to try to make it work properly.  I'll just have to decide what other browser to install instead.  As I'm not a fan of Google Chrome, and have abandoned Microsoft completely, I may have to look at Opera, or Vivaldi, or some other option.  But that is for another forum thread!