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"Err Connection Timed Out" errors

PP100
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎22-11-2015

"Err Connection Timed Out" errors

On Plus Net with Technicolor router , normal ADSL , I am costantly getting
"Err Connection Timed Out" "website cannot be found" errors, "connecting" but not loading,  but not on all websites.
Same in FireFox so it is not browser dependent.
this actually occurs on 2 different PCs at two different  locations in the country both on PlusNet.
Tried many things , checked settings, flushing/renew  DNS and Ip and more
the only thing that seems to clear it temporarily but not for very long,  is to reboot the router.
This is very frustrating. Via control Panel I have requested line diagnostics/
Any ideas?
16 REPLIES 16
MatthewWheeler
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 8,896
Thanks: 1,506
Fixes: 480
Registered: ‎01-01-2012

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

Your connection appears to have random bursts of drops.

How is the router setup at the moment?
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Matthew Wheeler
 Plusnet Help Team
PP100
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎22-11-2015

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

That's a very general question, what specifically do you need to know?
Also. how do you know that is my connection? if that is the connection associated with my email , I am only there Tuesday evening to Sunday afternoon so activity etc during other times is when the router is left on when I am away from home at another address with another PlusNet connection,
PP100
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎22-11-2015

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

Can I get some sort of response on this , either here or by my account where the fault Question was  #115026728
The Member account fault checker seems to be break and say try later, but then a "We have all we need from you etc " "Please investigate and contact customer once the KBD results are returned"
. is posted twice and its been well over the expected 24 hours for reply (actually two days at least now)
Im constantly having to reboot the router to access a lot of sites.
It's  very frustrating..
ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

Try entering the IP addresses of the DNS servers into your computer:
http://www.plus.net/support/software/dns/changing-dns-windows-8.shtml
This will bypass the DNS server in the Technicolor router, which sometimes has problems.
PP100
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎22-11-2015

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

Quote from: ejs
Try entering the IP addresses of the DNS servers into your computer:
http://www.plus.net/support/software/dns/changing-dns-windows-8.shtml
This will bypass the DNS server in the Technicolor router, which sometimes has problems.

Thanks for your reply. I actually did earlier  try adding the Google DNS as there which was a suggestion I found ti similar problems
but that didnt seem to help.
It's actually been Ok today so maybe something got tweaked (though they still haven't replied via my account where I reported the problem.)
Though it can be intermittent so I'm not counting my chickens just yet, if it starts playing up  again I will try your suggestion
PP100
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎22-11-2015

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

Help! Supposedly there was a fault on the line which had been fixed but I still have the problem and I accidentially  clicked on the "close ticket" button instead  of the reply to this ticket and I cant re open the ticket which was  115026728
Everytime I try the member centre  BB fault checker it says there was an error, try again later,
This is so frustrating!
Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,923
Thanks: 9,542
Fixes: 159
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

Quote from: PP100
Also. how do you know that is my connection? if that is the connection associated with my email , I am only there Tuesday evening to Sunday afternoon so activity etc during other times is when the router is left on when I am away from home at another address with another PlusNet connection,

Hi,
Some clarification - your forum ID is linked to your PlusNet account.  Through that PlusNet staff can locate information about your service.  The marks on the graph indicate a loss of PPP session between the router and PlusNet's systems.  They might imply a loss of xDSL synch as well.  You do not need to be there using the service for such events to occur.
They appear to be mainly through the hours of darkness - sight of your router stats would be useful.
What OS are you using and which router?  When (if) you see this problem again, try pinging the URL you are trying to reach and doing a nslookup - if you need guidance please ask.  It would be useful to see if when this happens the link is totally down or - as implied by SW's suggestion - this is an address resolution issue.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

PP100
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎22-11-2015

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

1.) As I said in the OP. I'm using the technicolor (Win 10)
2) The stats shown if from my plusnet account are not from the location of computer I am using now or part of the week,. which also still has the same problem.
3. When I ping as an example
www.vwlowen.co.uk
from your signature , I get :
Pinging www.vwlowen.co.uk [198.18.1.85] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 198.18.1.85:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
The site did load but after manually reloading the page in the browser.

4.Who is SW? Do you mean ejs?
Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,923
Thanks: 9,542
Fixes: 159
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

GOOD Diagnostics!
Your OP said "Technicolor" but did not specify the model - given the results you've posted I would guess that its the TG582n - an important piece of information.  Can you please confirm the firmware version number.
The problem that you have encountered is related to an odd interaction between Win8, Win8.1 and Win10 with the TG582n router amongst others.  198.18.1.X is what is known as a 'spoofed' IP address.  It is something which the TG routers do in a less than obvious situation.
The problem here is not a disconnected internet, but rather one of not obtaining the correct address for the service you are trying to connect to.  These OSs then cache the incorrect addresses and then take a while to recover.  This can be proved by doing the following...
When you get the problem again, do the ping again, note the address - it is 198.18.1.X then its the same problem
Then run a DNS query

C:\Users\Kevin>nslookup
Default Server:  cdns01.plus.net
Address:  212.159.6.9
> www.vwlowen.co.uk
Server:  cdns01.plus.net
Address:  212.159.6.9
Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    www.vwlowen.co.uk
Address:  82.165.51.68
> exit

You will see that it reports a different (correct) address.  If you ping it again, you'll get the same wrong address.
You can clear this issue by making WINx clear its DNS resolution cache

C:\Users\Kevin>ipconfig /flushdns
Windows IP Configuration
Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.

If you then ping the address again, it should be the same as that given by the DNS lookup.  This 'resolution' will last until you run into the same situation again.  The cause of this is (at the moment) unexplained.  I have asked PlusNet to investigate the matter with their product supplier.
There is a work-around for this - far from ideal, but pragmatic.  On devices impacted by this, manually set the DNS servers on the Network Interface to use something other than the router.  I've used PN's DNS servers and have not seen the problem again.
The odd thing about all of this is that other devices do not seem to be affected which suggests that this is not an entirely TG582n issue, rather something to do with its interaction with Winx or its recovery from DNS lookup issues.
See also - http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,134916.0.html

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

PP100
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎22-11-2015

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

Thanks for your reply. Yes its the TG582n
I've just now set the DNS to use Plus Net servers as suggested previously and so far, it hasn't recurred (touch wood) .
I will monitor it further. I'll have to refresh myself with accessing  the innards if router stats or firmware version checks are required later.
I did on both the PCs I use,  in the last couple of months, update to Win 10 from Win 7 so it could has coincided with that suggesting it is connected with the mismatch you mention.
On one connection, PlusNet did identify a line fault and supposedly corrected it , though as I mentioned it recurred.
On the other, (the one I am using to type this) they did adjust the connection to run at a slightly slower more stable speed but otherwise could find no fault.
But both Pcs at different addresses were updated to Win 10 and use the same router for Plus Net around the time the issue started to occur.

PP100
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎22-11-2015

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

just got it again on a site so tried pinging
Pinging purfectmedia.co.uk [87.117.204.60] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 87.117.204.60:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
From what you say this is a different  issue?
PP100
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎22-11-2015

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

just got it again on a site so tried pinging
Pinging purfectmedia.co.uk [87.117.204.60] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 87.117.204.60:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
From what you say this is a different  issue?
Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,923
Thanks: 9,542
Fixes: 159
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

Hi,
I've now had time in the right place to respond to this follow-up question.  It is indeed a different issue - one somewhere out in th einternet at the time you tired to access the site.
I have just tried to ping this URL and it is successful.  That means that at the time you tried...
1. The name was correctly resolved, so it is not the spoofed issue as above and there was no DNS failure
2. There was a problem along the path to this address - pathping is a useful command for looking at such issues as it shows the path and the ping responses from each routing point...
C:\Users\Kevin>pathping purfectmedia.co.uk
Tracing route to purfectmedia.co.uk [87.117.204.60]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  0  ADVENT.lan [192.168.1.71]
  1  192.168.1.254
  2  195.166.130.221
  3  link10-central10.pcl-gw02.plus.net [84.93.249.210]
  4  ae2.ptw-cr01.plus.net [195.166.129.4]
  5  be20.asr01.thn.as20860.net [195.66.224.207]
  6  593.net1.north.dc5.as20860.net [62.233.127.174]
  7  87.117.211.38
  8  titan.3os.net [87.117.204.60]
Computing statistics for 200 seconds...
            Source to Here  This Node/Link
Hop  RTT    Lost/Sent = Pct  Lost/Sent = Pct  Address
  0                                          ADVENT.lan [192.168.1.71]
                                0/ 100 =  0%  |
  1  12ms    0/ 100 =  0%    0/ 100 =  0%  192.168.1.254
                                0/ 100 =  0%  |
  2  50ms    0/ 100 =  0%    0/ 100 =  0%  195.166.130.221
                                0/ 100 =  0%  |
  3  ---    100/ 100 =100%  100/ 100 =100%  link10-central10.pcl-gw02.plus.net [84.93.249.210]
                                0/ 100 =  0%  |
  4  56ms    0/ 100 =  0%    0/ 100 =  0%  ae2.ptw-cr01.plus.net [195.166.129.4]
                                0/ 100 =  0%  |
  5  ---    100/ 100 =100%  100/ 100 =100%  be20.asr01.thn.as20860.net [195.66.224.207]
                                0/ 100 =  0%  |
  6  63ms    0/ 100 =  0%    0/ 100 =  0%  593.net1.north.dc5.as20860.net [62.233.127.174]
                                0/ 100 =  0%  |
  7  69ms    0/ 100 =  0%    0/ 100 =  0%  87.117.211.38
                                0/ 100 =  0%  |
  8  55ms    0/ 100 =  0%    0/ 100 =  0%  titan.3os.net [87.117.204.60]
Trace complete.

3. The problem was with the target service - it was off air or unable to respond due to work load
4. The target service (by design) does not respond to ping probes - this is not unusual, but does not apply here.
HTH.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

PP100
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎22-11-2015

Re: "Err Connection Timed Out" errors

ok thanks for your reply
That address is actually connected with my reseller host account so I asked the tech support  to take a look as all my sites on that account were inaccessible by browser (though i could FTP ) and they cleared their firewall cache which did seen to clear it for now.
Plusnet did also detect a battery fault on my line which they are working on to fix via Openreach.
If I get the error on my home PC where I am now, I also will try the PlusNet DNs settings.