Connection time out errors on several websites.Run out of ideas how to regain access.

[LouiseO]

Hi all and thanks for taking the time to read... Bear with me, while I try to give full information (and hope I'm putting the q in the right forum)...

Since yesterday afternoon, I've been unable to access 3 sites which I generally access on a daily basis. I know that all 3 sites are functioning perfectly normally for other users.

2 are forums and 1 is Etsy. So no major Flash or Java script stuff.

I've tried both Firefox (my regular browser) and Safari. I seem to recall recently updating to the latest Firefox, but don't recall when/what the last Safari update was.

I'm on an iMac and have to confess I'm clueless as to what OS I'm on

I connect to the internet via the airport and a Belkin ADSL wireless router.

So far, I've tried rebooting everything, clearing the cache & cookies, disabling the router's firewall, and switching it all off for a couple of hours while I went off for some shuteye.

On the router's Utility page, I've noticed there's a change to the DNS servers. I'm with Nildram, which was taken over by Tiscali and the primary & secondary servers have been changed to Tiscali servers... When this happened is anybody's guess... I've only opened the utility site this week because of my problems! lol

I don't seem to have any problems with accessing other sites e.g. mr site, my own website (thankfully!) yahoo, hotmail, facebook, ebay, wikipedia and the BBC. Some of which I access daily, others of which I just tested out today to make sure the system was working OK.

Other than the router's default firewall (now disabled) I don't have any other security systems installed that might be denying me access to these sites for whatever reason.

I confess that I'm a bit of a technoklutz when it comes to computers in general and Macs in particular, as I panic cos I assume I'll get it all wrong if I try to tackle anything too tricky, which I might have been brave enough to do with a Windows pc!

So nice, simple answers aimed at the technically-challenged would be really appreciated *flutters eyelashes and flicks blonde hair out of eyes*

Is there anything else I could try to regain access to these sites?

I'm too late to call my ISP tech support tonight, but I'll try them tomorrow if I can't sort it myself (with a little help from anyone willing to give it!)

[LouiseO]

Oh P.S. Just in case it makes a difference, the sites are:

www.bikermatch.co.uk
www.beadbuddies.co.uk
www.etsy.com

Thanks again

[LouiseO]

P.P.S. I've discovered I'm on Mac OS X v 10.4.11

[Satcomer]

Well, since openDNS went to Europe (London in your case) you can start using this service. Just follow setup instructions (also follow there instructional video) to use their DNS for faster surfing (because they use DNS caching, automatically).

Don't worry because this old network engineer uses them and absolutely love have control of my DNS and it even made my surfing a little faster because of the DNS caching. The DNS thing should help your problem.

[LouiseO]

Morning Satcomer & thanks

It's still a couple of hours before I can call anyone technical here, so that's great - I'll go take a look at openDNS and see if I can make head or tail out of it.

While googling around, looking for anyone else who's had this issue, I've seen mention of openDNS, so it sounds promising.

Fingers crossed!

[LouiseO]

Well... it's had a degree of success... in that I can now access Etsy, which is the most important one as I'm trying to set up a shop on there... the forums don't matter quite so much, as I'm networking with most folk from them via Facebook anyway and can always get others to relay messages back to the forums while I sort my life out!

I shall continue playing and seeing what I can come up with.

Thanks again Satcomer!

[LouiseO]

lol! A shortlived success then... Etsy's died on me again *sulks*

Ah well... I'll try the ISP tech support in an hour or so and see what they come up with...