DSL Cannot Access Hotmail or Yahoo!

[Diluted Thought]

Hi I'm new here so I don't know how things work here but I had a question that maybe you can answer.

My friend had a laptop connected to the internet through DSL (I'm guessing through a router). Everything worked fine and she could access hotmail and yahoo with ease. She got a new computer and her sister installed the DSL on that computer which was connected through a router. Now that both the laptop and the computer are connected to the internet, neither of them can access hotmail or yahoo. They can access all other sites well. I've told her to try different browsers (IE and Mozilla Firefox) but neither of them can access hotmail or yahoo. We've also tried deleting cookies and temp files for IE but it doesn't work.

I'm not too technical when it comes to internet connections so if you can help me please try to tell me in the simplest terms so I can understand. I hope you can help me, thank you.

[TKSS]

A suggestion for you: It's a good idea to include detailed specifications of your systems to give people ammunition to answer questions. An example would be like...

Windows XP Home
Using Earthlink Dialup 56.6k (or whatever)
P4 2.6Ghz
Asus XX.X motherboard
512MB DDR RAM
40GB Wester Digital Hard disk

Etc.. and so on. Specifically in a question such as this...router brand and part number...operating system on both laptop and computer. Just remember that you can usually never have too much information. :cheesy:

The only thing I've ever heard of is AOL users not being able to access hotmail and yahoo mail. Are you using AOL? If so, you need to use only supported routers located here.

Also if using AOL...change your settings for your connection:

set the MTU to 1400. Here's the relevant info
- check your current MTU value using the test here.
- use DrTCP to change the value to 1400 and RWIN to 13600 should they be any different

Other than that, I haven't heard of any other problems with DSL and certain sites. Hope this helps. :)

[Diluted Thought]

Yeah sorry I didn't provide any information. One of the reasons I didn't is because I don't know that much about my friend's computer. I know its over 1GHz but I'll ask her to list me details tonight and post them here. And she's using SBC DSL so the AOL thing isn't the problem. I'll post more info ASAP

[Diluted Thought]

Win98SE
AuthenticAMD
AMD Athlon(tm) XP 1900+
512.0MB RAM
SBC DSL
80GB Hard drive

The DSL thing says Netgear and 2wire... not too sure about the connection things sorry.

According to the System thing in the control panel :)

[TheComputerGeek]

Do you have a firewall program running?

I would say that either your firewall or your router are blocking certain requests, or the MTU settings are not correct.

Are you able to get to hotmail.com at all, or just unable to get into the actual mail, basically the same question about yahoo, is it the entire site or just the mail or other parts of yahoo.

[Diluted Thought]

How can I check if she has a firewall program running?

She can get to the hotmail.com page and the yahoo.com page but when she tries to log in to the MAIL part of both of them, it slows down and ends up saying "Page Cannot Be Displayed"

[woody6t1]

I've arrived at this thread through a search on netgear router and not being able to access hotmail.
My setup - AMD athlon 900
Win XP
20Gb HDD
256MB RAM
and
Apple Powerbook G4 1.33
80Gb HDD
512 Mb RAM
with Netgear 614 v3 Wireless capability installed - only using wireless with MAC

Since the installation of wireless, I cannot access Hotmail Inbox. Passport sign-in is OK for ebay and other services just the front door for Hotmail. yahoo mail is OK, HTTPS access is OK too. Just damn Hotmail !!
Have been down the MTU altering route to no avail.
Any clues ladies and gents

[TheComputerGeek]

Diluted Thought, check out this thread http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=1547 I think this will solve your problems. If you are able to get to hotmail.com and yahoo.com but not log in it is most likely the MTU settings need to be adjusted.

Woody, you say you tried the MTU solution, ok something else must be happening then, I will have to think on that one. Do you have a firewall running, if so what program?

[Diluted Thought]

Diluted Thought, check out this thread http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?t=1547 I think this will solve your problems. If you are able to get to hotmail.com and yahoo.com but not log in it is most likely the MTU settings need to be adjusted.

Woody, you say you tried the MTU solution, ok something else must be happening then, I will have to think on that one. Do you have a firewall running, if so what program?

I've checked that thread several times before posting this one up. I'm a newbie at this, sorry. I don't really understand HOW to change MTU settings. If anyone can give me basic instructions on how to change the MTU settings I would be VERY grateful.

[woody6t1]

Woody, you say you tried the MTU solution, ok something else must be happening then, I will have to think on that one. Do you have a firewall running, if so what program?

Thanks for the prompt reply Geek. There is a firewall running on the NetGear router (614 model) - nothing out of the ordinairy from default set up.
Also the PC is running Norton Internet security 2002, but no changes made since directly connected to DSL modem (which all worked OK).

I'd almost go with the problem as described by traemill in your link except that I CAN access e-bay with a passport sign-in. I can sign into passport from main passport site, but cannot then access other services or display anything. As others have said - page tries to load bu IE6 rports error on page - URL 'appears' correct for move from sign-in to Inbox, but never gets there. Sigh.... Just waiting for GMail :)

[TheComputerGeek]

Diluted Thoughts, check your manual for your router, if you don't have a manual go to the manufacturers website and see if they have a downloadable one.

woody, ok that is a little tough, I would suggest you try disabling the firewall and attempting to connect. This will tell you for sure if it is the firewall or something else.

[oalee]

I'm having that sort of problem in my home network too, maybe somebody here can help...

Specs:
P4 1.7G
SMC ADSL Barricade Router - SMC7401BRA
Win2k SP4

The problem:
I have the computer connected to DSL Router via USB, then I have Internet Connection Sharing enabled. All 4 PCs in the network are connected via a switch. The computer that's connected to the Router has no problems, but the computers in the network that are sharing the internet connection are unable to open sites such as yahoo mail, friendster, and some other sites. I was wondering if it was the ICS, I have no idea on what to do. Any help would be very much appreciated...

[Marty-uk]

THIS POST IS DIRECTED MOSTLY AT LAN USERS BUT SHOULD ALSO BE OK WITH NORMAL DIAL-UP/DSL

We have recently had the same sort of problem at work,

aproximately 90% of the computers suddenly could not access the Hotmail website through internet explorer or were able to log onto the MSN Messenger service, error codes in MSN Messenger pointed to there not even being a connection to the internet, which was untrue, all remote, terminal services connections and website access to any other site that we could think of were still present..(the other 10% worked perfectly - the reason for this is the 10% of computers were used by employees who left at an earlier time than the other 90%)

now im not sayin that this will help everybody, but even if it justs helps the minority then this post has served its purpose.

i found the problem lay actually with our DNS server...
these were my steps of sorting the problem
i simply changed the dns server to a public dns server (4.2.2.1 - a new public dns server in america)

then;

Start | Run | type: CMD
when the command prompt is open type: ipconfig /flushdns

this will flush whatever dns information your computer has recorded so that the next time you try to access hotmail it will use the new dns server (4.2.2.1)to find hotmail .. it worked for me and hopefully will work for you. ;)

[condorcanqui]

http://www.dslreports.com/front/DRTCP021.exe

Click on that link and a window would come up to ask you to SAVE or OPEN, click on OPEN and you would see another window and at the bottom right hand side you would see a space that says MTU..you have to put 1492, then on the left side of that where it says adapter settings make you have the correct adapter selected, then clink on save and then exit and reboot your PC and tried one more time to access your hotmail and yahoo account and let us know..

[Diluted Thought]

Oh wow! The Dr. TCP program worked! Thank you so much, I've been struggling with that problem for a really long time but I didn't know how to solve it. I guess it was the MTU settings but I don't know how to manually change them but the program did it for me. Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

[woody6t1]

Marty-UK - Its worked !! - flushdns is they key to the problem for me. Like I've said I've messed around with MTU size on the router to no avail. I added a brand new laptop from work to my howm netwrok yesterday and I could get to hotmail - as this had never used any previous dns entries cached through this netwrok it makes perfect sense (with hindsight !!).
I haven't tried the MAC OS X machine yet.
Thanks again
Woody

THIS POST IS DIRECTED MOSTLY AT LAN USERS BUT SHOULD ALSO BE OK WITH NORMAL DIAL-UP/DSL

We have recently had the same sort of problem at work,

aproximately 90% of the computers suddenly could not access the Hotmail website through internet explorer or were able to log onto the MSN Messenger service, error codes in MSN Messenger pointed to there not even being a connection to the internet, which was untrue, all remote, terminal services connections and website access to any other site that we could think of were still present..(the other 10% worked perfectly - the reason for this is the 10% of computers were used by employees who left at an earlier time than the other 90%)

now im not sayin that this will help everybody, but even if it justs helps the minority then this post has served its purpose.

i found the problem lay actually with our DNS server...
these were my steps of sorting the problem
i simply changed the dns server to a public dns server (4.2.2.1 - a new public dns server in america)

then;

Start | Run | type: CMD
when the command prompt is open type: ipconfig /flushdns

this will flush whatever dns information your computer has recorded so that the next time you try to access hotmail it will use the new dns server (4.2.2.1)to find hotmail .. it worked for me and hopefully will work for you. ;)

[Marty-uk]

glad to hear i helped one person atleast, your welcome m8 ;)

[flatpak]

Hi Dr. TCP worked for me also on my daughters laptop connected to our network,
saved me a lot of hassle thanks flatpak

[scast]

Hi, I cannot access my e-mail accounts of Yahoo and Hotmail with DSL Service. My computer is connected directly to the modem.

I am using Windows XP Home. I have tried to open them using Internet Explorer, MSN Explorer, and Netscape, and they do not open them.

I have tried changing the DNS Server doing the Start>Run>cmd>ipconfig /flushdns ..... and it does not work.

Ihave also erased cookies, files, and history, and it does not work.

Please, I would appreciate a quick solution, thank you very much.

[ingamx]

I had the same problem, I could not access yahoo mail, could not search yahoo, also had problems with other websites. After running DR. TCP and changing dns to 4.2.2.1 everything worked , but only on windows pc. I have linux box as well,and changing dns didnt helped.

Does anyone know how to fix this problem on linux?
Also, why this problem affects only some websites, while other webs work just fine?

Thanks

[supert]

Oh wow! The Dr. TCP program worked! Thank you so much, I've been struggling with that problem for a really long time but I didn't know how to solve it. I guess it was the MTU settings but I don't know how to manually change them but the program did it for me. Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

My neighbor had the exact same problem - couldn't access his yahoo inbox using a wireless connection (netgear router). Setting the netgear router's mtu to 1492 in conjunction with using Dr. TCP (setting the MTU for the wireless card) worked.

I only saw one other post (another site) that said you have to set the MTU at both the router and the card. The other site, however, didn't tell you how to set it at the card.

Thanks for your help!

[gattaca]

Firstly, thank you for this thread I am now able to access Hotmail & Yahoo. That is, after changing my PCs MTU # to 1358.

The bigger problem is for the rest of our users and clients. The story is, we just recently installed our building with wireless LAN to provide Internet to our clients and users. For the accesss point (AP) we're using the brand MERU AP100 and the other devices are: PoE switch is MNO M24PWR and Hitachi GS3000 and the AP Controller is Meru 1100 (japan brands I guess).

Now my questions are:

1. What is the default MTU# for Windows XPs, Win2K or Win 98?

2. Which of the devices given above can be setup in such a way that on the users' side, we no longer have to change the MTU#? Instead, change this device's MTU# (is there such?) to match the default MTU# of most PCs.

3. If its either the Controller or the switch, may I have the step-by-step procedure please.

Our vendor/engineers who installed this WLAN doesnt seem to know how to tweak this(I was even the one who told them about this MTU changing). Apparently this is their first venture for a wireless LAN so would really appreciate the BIG help from all of you!
Thanks.

[Dassy2005]

I thank you so much for posting the link --> http://www.dslreports.com/front/DRTCP021.exe. It worked perfect for me. I have had yahoo email problem for days and tried to change numerous things including firewal, PPPoE, Virus, cookies, and you name it. It all happend after changing Adelphia cable connection to SBC DSL. The Yahoo email just wasn't working.

Thanks a million.

[Dassy2005]

This works for me too --> http://www.dslreports.com/front/DRTCP021.exe.

Thanks a million. It resolved my yahoo email problem which was started after changing Adelphia cabel connection to SBC DSL.

[desiguy2447]

Thanks for this information!!

I just switched from Earthlink DSL, where everything was working to Bellsouth DSL extreme. I got my Bellsouth DSL, and only one computer would access the Yahoo mail inbox. I couldn't figure out why.. As it turns out thanks to the tool from dslreports. My desktop's MTU on the wireless card was set to 1300, where as the other two computers were set to default along with the router.

I set up the router to 1358, and the other two computers. Now everything is working :cool:

[zafeiris]

http://www.dslreports.com/front/DRTCP021.exe

Click on that link and a window would come up to ask you to SAVE or OPEN, click on OPEN and you would see another window and at the bottom right hand side you would see a space that says MTU..you have to put 1492, then on the left side of that where it says adapter settings make you have the correct adapter selected, then clink on save and then exit and reboot your PC and tried one more time to access your hotmail and yahoo account and let us know..

Thank you very much for your answer. It did help me with the same problem (accessing all of microsoft.com and msn.com pages). I have a 1024 dsl connection in GREECE with a wireless modem-router (linksys) and an XP SP2 laptop with a 3COM wireless PCMCIA card.
As all people say... before asking just google around and you will find the answer, as I did here.
Once again thank you very much!

[JOHNNYHUMBLE]

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