topic Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites! in Electronics

Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

LAllyR — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 19:59:53 GMT

Starting about 2 weeks ago, out of the blue, I can't access 3 websites that I design through Webs.com but everything else on the internet is working fine. I can access webs, sign in, make my design changes or updates and publish but when I try to access the site directly to check on my updates, I get the message that the site cannot be found. Long story short, after chatting with Webs support & my ISP support (both can access my sites) I have concluded that my router is the problem. I tested this by connecting directly to the modem (bypassing the router) and I was able to access the sites.

I have Googled this problem but am overwhelmed with all of the different solutions. I can access the router's setup page but I don't know where to start looking to see where the problem is or what to adjust in the settings. My router is older but if it's working fine otherwise, I'd like to try and fix it (unblock the 3 sites) rather than buy a new one, that is, if it's a quick fix! It is a Linksys WRT54G if that helps.

Any suggestions to try? Thank you in advance!

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

glb613 — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 20:35:42 GMT

The easiest thing to do is to reset the router. There is a button on the back when pressed for about 5 seconds, it puts the router back to the factory defaults. Before you do, write down the name or your network and security numbe. Then during setup, call the network/router the same name and use the same security number. All of your devices will connect to it automatically. That's what I did when I bought a new router and it works like a charm.

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

LAllyR — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 20:55:58 GMT

glb613 ... I'm sitting here with the Linksys Administration settings screen in front of me. Can I just click yes to ""Restore Factory Defaults"" from here and save the changes or is actually pressing the button on the back of the router different? Thanks

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

glb613 — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 21:16:20 GMT

On 6/10/2014 Ally24 said:
glb613 ... I'm sitting here with the Linksys Administration settings screen in front of me. Can I just click yes to "Restore Factory Defaults" from here and save the changes or is actually pressing the button on the back of the router different? Thanks

That should work. If you don't use the same name and security number, you'll have to reconnect each wireless device in your home network.

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

Still Raining — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 21:34:56 GMT

Once I had good luck calling the techs at the router manufacturer, if you can get the right phone number. But I have also found that when a router starts acting up it is toast. They seem to not have a really long life unlike old-fashioned modems that went on for years.

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

LAllyR — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:51:17 GMT

No luck!! Restored Factory Defaults and set up a new wireless network. Still can't access my sites. My next thought is to try something I found on a thread ... change or clone the MAC Address. Trouble is, I have no idea what I'm doing. Here are the directions on the site:

1. Go to the online linksys setup page: http://192.168.1.1/ Leave user blank and add admin for password.
2. Click on the MAC address clone tab.
3. Click the drop down menu to enable "MAC Clone Service". Click "Clone". Click "Save Settings".
4. Unplug your cable modem and router.
5. Plug cable modem back in wait till it runs through the start up tests.
6. Plug in the router.
I had a problem where a web page that I administered was locked out. This worked.

Seems like it's worth a try??

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

glb613 — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 23:00:53 GMT

If the router settings was causing the problem, resetting to the defaults would have solved the problem. Try pressing the reset button in the back.

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

LAllyR — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 23:32:40 GMT

On 6/10/2014 glb613 said:
If the router settings was causing the problem, resetting to the defaults would have solved the problem. Try pressing the reset button in the back.

No luck again (I also unplugged the router for a bit after the reset)! I think I want to try the idea above with the MAC Address clone since people on the thread had some success with that. Any thoughts?

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

glb613 — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 23:45:53 GMT

Buy a new router. It's old and slow plus it's easier and faster to replace it than all of the fixing that isn't working.

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

Lynnj — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 23:46:09 GMT

It's worth a try to try the steps listed above. Reading through them, it seems pretty simple to do. Just follow each step. It's not going to hurt anything to clone this by following the steps, so that's why I say you might as well try it since the reset stuff didn't work. Let us know if this worked.

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

LAllyR — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 01:52:32 GMT

On 6/10/2014 Lynnj said: It's worth a try to try the steps listed above. Reading through them, it seems pretty simple to do. Just follow each step. It's not going to hurt anything to clone this by following the steps, so that's why I say you might as well try it since the reset stuff didn't work. Let us know if this worked.

It Worked!!! Just followed the simple steps above and what I learned on a few YouTube videos. I just changed the very last number of the MAC Address by one digit, saved, and reset the router & modem. I checked the IP address before and after to verify that it worked and I can access the 3 sites that it was blocking. Now I can buy some time before purchasing a new router.

And speaking of routers, I'm curious about which ones you all recommend. Like I stated previously, I have a Linksys. When the time comes should I stay with that or get a different one? My cousin recommended the Apple AirPort Extreme. Is more expensive better in this case? Any thoughts?

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

Lynnj — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 02:33:52 GMT

On 6/10/2014 Ally24 said:
On 6/10/2014 Lynnj said: It's worth a try to try the steps listed above. Reading through them, it seems pretty simple to do. Just follow each step. It's not going to hurt anything to clone this by following the steps, so that's why I say you might as well try it since the reset stuff didn't work. Let us know if this worked.

It Worked!!! Just followed the simple steps above and what I learned on a few YouTube videos. I just changed the very last number of the MAC Address by one digit, saved, and reset the router & modem. I checked the IP address before and after to verify that it worked and I can access the 3 sites that it was blocking. Now I can buy some time before purchasing a new router.

And speaking of routers, I'm curious about which ones you all recommend. Like I stated previously, I have a Linksys. When the time comes should I stay with that or get a different one? My cousin recommended the Apple AirPort Extreme. Is more expensive better in this case? Any thoughts?

Great news! I had a feeling it would work after reading the instructions. Plus you had nothing to lose trying. Congrats! I have an AirPort Extreme now. Have had it for a few years, after using several different brands netgear, linksys, and another one I can't remember name of at the moment. I slowly replaced everything to apple at my house, my personal preference. When it came time to replace the router I went with the AirPort Extreme. Been using a few years with no problem and very strong signal. Very, very easy to set up. I have since additionally purchased an airport express, linked it to my extreme, and placed it at another end of the house. One part of my house always got weak signal because of a brick chimney wall in the middle of the house that the signal couldn't break through, often dropping signal altogether no matter which router brand I used, and this extender process solved that. I have a great signal, even outside all around the house now.

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

Nuttmeg — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 08:47:25 GMT

On 6/10/2014 Ally24 said:
On 6/10/2014 Lynnj said: It's worth a try to try the steps listed above. Reading through them, it seems pretty simple to do. Just follow each step. It's not going to hurt anything to clone this by following the steps, so that's why I say you might as well try it since the reset stuff didn't work. Let us know if this worked.

It Worked!!! Just followed the simple steps above and what I learned on a few YouTube videos. I just changed the very last number of the MAC Address by one digit, saved, and reset the router & modem. I checked the IP address before and after to verify that it worked and I can access the 3 sites that it was blocking. Now I can buy some time before purchasing a new router.

And speaking of routers, I'm curious about which ones you all recommend. Like I stated previously, I have a Linksys. When the time comes should I stay with that or get a different one? My cousin recommended the Apple AirPort Extreme. Is more expensive better in this case? Any thoughts?

I have a Netgear 4300 wireless router, and it runs my laptop, and tablets great. You have a very basic WR, and a updated product may work just fine. You can look at the Netgear Range Max WNR 1000. Amazon has 500+ reviews.

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

glb613 — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 10:45:45 GMT

On 6/10/2014 Ally24 said:
On 6/10/2014 Lynnj said: It's worth a try to try the steps listed above. Reading through them, it seems pretty simple to do. Just follow each step. It's not going to hurt anything to clone this by following the steps, so that's why I say you might as well try it since the reset stuff didn't work. Let us know if this worked.

It Worked!!! Just followed the simple steps above and what I learned on a few YouTube videos. I just changed the very last number of the MAC Address by one digit, saved, and reset the router & modem. I checked the IP address before and after to verify that it worked and I can access the 3 sites that it was blocking. Now I can buy some time before purchasing a new router.

And speaking of routers, I'm curious about which ones you all recommend. Like I stated previously, I have a Linksys. When the time comes should I stay with that or get a different one? My cousin recommended the Apple AirPort Extreme. Is more expensive better in this case? Any thoughts?

Good news. You may still want to replace your router if your computers and other devices have the "N" version of wireless cards. Your router's G signal is much slower which can affect streaming videos and downloads. I went from the same Linksys router you have to the Linksys E1000 and noticed a big difference.

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

jackthebear — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 10:53:47 GMT

On 6/10/2014 Ally24 said:
No luck!! Restored Factory Defaults and set up a new wireless network. Still can't access my sites. My next thought is to try something I found on a thread ... change or clone the MAC Address. Trouble is, I have no idea what I'm doing. Here are the directions on the site:

1. Go to the online linksys setup page: http://192.168.1.1/ Leave user blank and add admin for password.
2. Click on the MAC address clone tab.
3. Click the drop down menu to enable "MAC Clone Service". Click "Clone". Click "Save Settings".
4. Unplug your cable modem and router.
5. Plug cable modem back in wait till it runs through the start up tests.
6. Plug in the router.
I had a problem where a web page that I administered was locked out. This worked.

Seems like it's worth a try??

I went through this type of thing when my HP printer was being un cooperative, as long as you can access the set up page you should be fine.

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

jackthebear — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 10:55:17 GMT

On 6/11/2014 glb613 said:
On 6/10/2014 Ally24 said:
On 6/10/2014 Lynnj said: It's worth a try to try the steps listed above. Reading through them, it seems pretty simple to do. Just follow each step. It's not going to hurt anything to clone this by following the steps, so that's why I say you might as well try it since the reset stuff didn't work. Let us know if this worked.

It Worked!!! Just followed the simple steps above and what I learned on a few YouTube videos. I just changed the very last number of the MAC Address by one digit, saved, and reset the router & modem. I checked the IP address before and after to verify that it worked and I can access the 3 sites that it was blocking. Now I can buy some time before purchasing a new router.

And speaking of routers, I'm curious about which ones you all recommend. Like I stated previously, I have a Linksys. When the time comes should I stay with that or get a different one? My cousin recommended the Apple AirPort Extreme. Is more expensive better in this case? Any thoughts?

Good news. You may still want to replace your router if your computers and other devices have the "N" version of wireless cards. Your router's G signal is much slower which can affect streaming videos and downloads. I went from the same Linksys router you have to the Linksys E1000 and noticed a big difference.

ITA routers seem to have a life span

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

LAllyR — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 06:18:33 GMT

Thanks everyone for the router advice. I think I'd better get a new one soon before anything else happens. Will check on the recommendations here.

OK ... so now I have another situation to figure out and it's too coincidental to not be related to what I did with the MAC Address & router yesterday. Here is the situation:

My fairly new Lenovo desktop that runs Win 8 is turning itself on every hour on the hour!! I can't figure it out. When I shut it down, I go to the menu on the right, choose settings, then shut down (not sleep or hibernate). But sure as can be, on the hour it turns on ... all through the night last night and again this evening! I just leave it to go back to sleep because turning it off doesn't keep it off. I even pressed the power button on the CPU to turn off and it still came on again by itself!

The only thing I found online to do was to go to the Device Manager, Network Adaptors, properties, power management, and click off the "allow this device to wake computer". I did that but it still came on a few minutes again!

I hope this is an easy fix ... any ideas to try? Thanks again

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

glb613 — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 11:14:41 GMT

People don't know there is a power setting for the network adapter (the hardware that gets online) that allows a signal to wake up a computer. It's usually if the computer is hibernating or on standby. I did a Google search and found some possible answers. Check your settings for Windows updates and the task scheduler. With Windows 8, go to the tiles and start typing task scheduler and it should find it.

Turns on by itself

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

LAllyR — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 22:57:39 GMT

On 6/12/2014 glb613 said:
People don't know there is a power setting for the network adapter (the hardware that gets online) that allows a signal to wake up a computer. It's usually if the computer is hibernating or on standby. I did a Google search and found some possible answers. Check your settings for Windows updates and the task scheduler. With Windows 8, go to the tiles and start typing task scheduler and it should find it.

Turns on by itself

Thanks glb613 ... I checked on the link above & checked my computer Windows Updates screen. Mine doesn't give the choice of the time of day to install updates as in the example. It's set to "Automatically" but even if I choose to let me decide when to install it still doesn't give the time choice. I didn't find anything in the Task Scheduler either but I don't understand all of this very well to begin with so that isn't saying much. However ... the situation seems to have corrected itself as last night it didn't come on every hour. Perhaps the adjustments I made in the device manager with the network adaptors worked after the last episode of itself turning on last evening. Guess I'll just wait and see how it acts now for a few days and go from there.

I'll probably be checking on new routers next week so thank you everyone for the input on those!

Re: Help ... Router is blocking 3 websites!

jaxs mom — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:05:50 GMT

On 6/10/2014 Ally24 said:
On 6/10/2014 Lynnj said: It's worth a try to try the steps listed above. Reading through them, it seems pretty simple to do. Just follow each step. It's not going to hurt anything to clone this by following the steps, so that's why I say you might as well try it since the reset stuff didn't work. Let us know if this worked.

It Worked!!! Just followed the simple steps above and what I learned on a few YouTube videos. I just changed the very last number of the MAC Address by one digit, saved, and reset the router & modem. I checked the IP address before and after to verify that it worked and I can access the 3 sites that it was blocking. Now I can buy some time before purchasing a new router.

And speaking of routers, I'm curious about which ones you all recommend. Like I stated previously, I have a Linksys. When the time comes should I stay with that or get a different one? My cousin recommended the Apple AirPort Extreme. Is more expensive better in this case? Any thoughts?

I love my airport extreme and haven't had any problems with it in the years I've had it.