This site cannot be reached - Issue after a few hours

Hi folks

I have a very modern PC, which I had cause to do a W11 clean install on a few days ago as i changed my motherboard from an MSI X870 to a Gigabyte X870E.

Everything (and I mean everything) is working fantastically on it, aside from this one issue Ive never had before: I will have been browsing the internet (using Chrome) for what feels like several hours with no issue and then with no warning I wont be able to visit any sites aside from Youtube or Google. For example last night I was watching a YT video whilst going to the Gigabyte website and then to the Endgame Gear website and both said they couldnt be reached. I had been to both sites earlier in the same browsing session and I was still watching the YT vid (and indeed could watch and swap to other YT vids no issue)

A reboot of the PC fixes this and I can go where I wish once more for a few more hours.

Anyone got the faintest idea what this is?

With respect to drivers, as mentioned this is a 2 day old clean install of W11 Pro, fully updated with the latest Ethernet, Wifi and Bluetooth and motherboard chipset drivers from Gigabytes website, and the latest bios. I am using Wifi and ive re-booted both the router and the fiber pack. On tests, I get about 450mb/s download and 70 up (which is in-line with the package I have from the provider).

Thanks for any insight
Methy

Something to try:

glasskuter said:

1. Try disabling all browser add-ons and test..
2. Also disable vpn and test.
3. What anti-virus is he using? If it is anything other than Windows Defender disable(or uninstall) AV and test
4. Possibly his dns server is blocking him OR the server has an issue. You can test whether of not it is a problem with his dns server by changing to one of the public dns servers. For example these are open dns servers. If it's not a dns server issue, you can leave it changed or change it back to whatever his default it. It should work either way.

• OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 & 208.67.220.220
• Cloudflare: 1.1.1.1 & 1.0.0.1
• Google: 8.8.8.8 & 8.8.4.4

How to change DNS server settings in Windows 10 and 11 | PDQ

Don’t let those DNS issues get you down. Follow along as we examine several different methods to change your DNS server settings in Microsoft Windows.

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Click to expand...

antspants said:

Something to try:

Click to expand...

Browser addons: I presume these are extensions? In Chrome I have 3 - LastPass, MalwareBytes and Google Mail Checker. I really need and use all 3 of those. Ive been using these 3 addons in chrome for years and never encountered this issue. It has only been happening since this last clean install of W11Pro on this new motherboard.
VPN: I dont use one
Antivirus: I dont use one aside from Windows Defender (and Malwarebytes Premium)

I can take a look at the DNS stuff (though that is speaking a new language for me)!

So, everything works absolutely perfectly except it doesn't, you don't use anti-virus except you use 2, we're getting close??

Next time this occurs my first test would be to ping the router IP, ping youtube, ping your favourite gaming site

Rollback_Jockey said:

So, everything works absolutely perfectly except it doesn't, you don't use anti-virus except you use 2, we're getting close??

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Perhaps poor wording, but what I meant to say was that Ive never had a PC build and software install feel so good - aside from this one issue with the browsing hitting a brick wall after a few hours.

I was asked if I use an AV - perhaps wrongly I dont count Windows Defender as it comes with W11. I wouldnt know how to delete that if I wanted to. It has however just dawned on me that Malwarebytes is an AV (i guess) and thats a 3rd party one Ive installed. Still, it has never caused this issue in many years of using it.

Rollback_Jockey said:

Next time this occurs my first test would be to ping the router IP, ping youtube, ping your favourite gaming site

Click to expand...

Please be kind - networking and IPs and Internet stuff is about as close to black magic as it gets for me. I can probably google how to ping the sites - am i looking for that ping to be not working as a smoking gun?

Method said:

I really need and use all 3 of those

Click to expand...

You do not have to uninstall add-ons. Just disable them while you are testing. Let me add, when you encounter the issue,don't forget to clear your browser cache in its settings. Then close and re-open your browser and try the web site again.

Thanks folks - will do and report back

Method said:

I can take a look at the DNS stuff (though that is speaking a new language for me)!

Click to expand...

There are a few DNS Tutorials in here but to be honest I don’t know which one to point you to

Method said:

Please be kind - networking and IPs and Internet stuff is about as close to black magic as it gets for me. I can probably google how to ping the sites - am i looking for that ping to be not working as a smoking gun?

Click to expand...

The results of the ping test under fault conditions will help isolate the issue. It could tell us whether if it's your installation at fault or the network infrastructure.

Hey Method!
Here is a tutorial on how to ping a website with a CMD (command) prompt:


You can do it while you still have the browser opened.

You should have a backup browser just in case:




or others of your preference.

While Chrome is still opened and you cannot reach a site you want, open your backup browser and try to reach the same site.
If still unable, use the command prompt to ping the site.

You also could verify that the site is still up by providing the address to this search box


Since you have MBAM as a paid app, you should know that Windows defender will defer to MBAM and not run at the same time.
You can turn it on manually and update the definitions then do a quick scan to make sure that MBAM didn't slip up. Up to you.

DNS (browser)



result

Sorry its been a day or two, but it just happened again. Browsing happily away and then cannot reach any site but Google and Youtube.

I chose Gigabyte.com, Microsoft.com and Youtube.com as my 3 test sites. I confirmed they werent 'down' (what are the chances honestly of these 3 all being down at once) by going to them on my mobile phone which is connected to the internet on the same Wifi as my PC.

I did as asked and launched Edge as a backup browser and it too cannot get to any test sites. I think opened cmd and pinged the sites.



As you can see both browsers couldnt see gigabyte or microsoft and pings returned nothing.

For YT edge couldnt see Youtube but Chrome could (and Im not surprised due to ownership) and ping OK.

Interestingly I then looked in chrome at the DNS settings. It was set to 'OS Default (when available)' and I changed it in the dropdown to 'Google Public DNS'. I rebooted the browser (but not the OS) and I was immediately able to browse to all the above sites in the test just fine.

So Im not sure if this is a temporary or permanent fix - but anyone want to explain what on earth is happening here? This is basically mumbo jumbo to me and I am flailing around in the dark lol.

Methy

norton did this to me, and i uninstalled it after 20 years of using it

retiredat44 said:

norton did this to me, and i uninstalled it after 20 years of using it

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Im only running Malware Bytes Pro and Defender, which Ive been running for years without encountering this issue.

On the bright side, since making the above changes i havent had the issue re-occur but equally I havent done a good long browsing session either.