I have not been able to access the Guardian's website for a while now. I can access other uk news sites just fine (I'm in the US), so that's not the problem. Mozilla tells me that "Firefox can't find the server at www.guardian.co.uk.", and IE says "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" and gives me an opportunity to "diagnose connection problems"

When I choose to diagnose the problem it says that "The Domain Name Server may be down", it also says "Windows found a problem that cannot be repaired automatically".

I do not get the same results with any other website. It is also not limited to my computer, as my daughter's laptop gets the same results, so it must be something with the internet connection.

I get my internet via a netgear router with a built in firewall, and am connected to it by ethernet cable. I called my ISP tech support and they could not help me since I am able to access the internet just fine.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

OK, are you running any parental control or similar software...net nanny for example...that may even have been installed years ago..........
Have you checked your browser's Content Adviser settings?
in IE for example:
Tools>Internet Options>Content Adviser>Enable>Approved site>type in the approved site>allow this site>OK>etc

Have you checked that you have no restrictions that would cover this site in your software firewall?
Have you checked that you have no restrictions that would cover this site in your hardware firewall? ( within your router)
Regards
paws

My computer is only a few weeks old, so no old parental control programs are a concern. Content adviser is not even enabled (I checked). I have been searching in vain for a blocked site list in my Norton Firewall product, except for phishing sites, and it wouldn't be there.

I assume it isn't the router's firewall, as I still wasn't able to access it when I bypassed it and hooked up directly to the modem.

Would the proxy do the same thing as openDNS, bypassing my ISP"s DNS server?

Yes, it might be wise to double check them.

also check any other security related products ie Adaware, Spybot etc anything that has the capability of blocking...check
You could also disable your software fire wall for a quick test as the hardware firewall within most routers provides incoming protection.
As your machine is only a few weeks old a system restore back to just before the problem began is worth considering...
Regards
paws

I just turned off the firewall, and I still was unable to access it. I don't have anything else installed, except Hijack this.

I just did a system restore because of an MS Works update problem, to a couple of days after I bought it.

Thanks for the many replies! I know your time is valuable.

Hi you are welcome,
did the system restore do the trick?
Regards
paws

No, it didn't fix it.

:-(

Have you tried OpenDNS ?

You are not the only one computerwannabe. I have the exact same problem, on both my desktop and laptop. The guardian is the ONLY site I cannot access on both computers. And, like you, I can access it via localbypass.com.

I am in the UK, and BT is my ISP. My best guess is that the guardian have boosted security since being recently hacked into. Either that or the ISP is the problem.

If you sort the problem out computerwannabe, please let me know how you did it. And if anyone else has further advice, I'd be very grateful.

Same here, I don't think it's a local problem, I think the Guardians DNS entry is misconfigured.

$dig +nocmd guardian.co.uk any +multiline +noall +answer

guardian.co.uk. 600 IN SOA dns01.guardian.co.uk. network.guardian.co.uk. (
2006116133 ; serial
10800 ; refresh (3 hours)
3600 ; retry (1 hour)
1209600 ; expire (2 weeks)
900 ; minimum (15 minutes)
--

$dig +nocmd bbc.co.uk any +multiline +noall +answer

bbc.co.uk. 900 IN SOA ns.bbc.co.uk. hostmaster.bbc.co.uk. (
2010021001 ; serial
1800 ; refresh (30 minutes)
600 ; retry (10 minutes)
864000 ; expire (1 week 3 days)
900 ; minimum (15 minutes)

When I ping www.guardian.co.uk, I get this IP address: 77.91.248.30

Try http://77.91.248.30 in your browser URL, see if it works. If yes then it is definitely a DNS problem and switching to OpenDNS should fix it.

maybe trying the mobile phone version will let you look at the site?

http://m.guardian.co.uk/ (this has been copied from my address bar so no probs with spelling (lol) )

try it and see if it works

Regards

Duey