Forum Discussion

DBell's avatar
DBell
New Contributor
4 years ago

Blocking two sites, via time out, all other sites work.

Ok, so I own two websites, www.ddbellenterprises.com and www.brothersreconciliation.org. I am on them often doing updates to software, posts, etc.

When on the COX network, I am unable to reach ANY page on these two sites.  I get this:

The connection has timed out

The server at www.ddbellenterprises.com is taking too long to respond.

    The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments.
    If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer’s network connection.
    If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.

If I take it off of direct connect or wifi, and use another wifi system all works well, but on COX it won't.  I have factory reset the router, still happening.

I contact CS via phone and was giving another number and that guy blew me off.

This is an issue with COX and not my computer or my browser, as if I get COX out of the loop it works fine.  Any ideas?

6 Replies

  • CFMonroe's avatar
    CFMonroe
    New Contributor II

    @DBell,

    I have the same problem, which started this past week.

    I own one website, apcsteacher.com, and manage another for a private company both of which are hosted by powweb.com, which is one of many hosting businesses owned by Endurance International Group.

    I noticed that not only were my sites blocked, but all sites owned by powweb (not sure about other sites owned by EIG).  Your sites, www.ddbellenterprises.com and www.brothersreconciliation.org, are also blocked.

    By "blocked" I mean that if I try to view the site using any device or any browser connected to my home wifi (service provided by Cox), all I get is "Connection has timed out" or similar message depending on the browser.

    Btw, thankfully e-mail and FTP services to my sites still work normally.  It's just the webservers that won't serve to my IP address.

    The blocking seems to be based on my IP address.  But I don't know yet whether it is being done by Powweb or by Cox.  Checking with other known Cox customers, my sites are not blocked for them and they are able to view the sites normally.  However, if I use my phone (with Verizon service) as a mobile hot spot I can view any of these sites--on my phone, my laptop, and my desktop pc using any browser.  I carried my laptop to a friend's house who uses a satellite internet service and, using both my laptop and my phone, all these sites came up just fine there too.

    More about IP addresses.

    IP #1:  After years of connecting easily to my sites I noticed on Monday (August 17, 2020) that my site apcsteacher.com seemed to be down (with a "connection has timed out" error).  So I logged in to powweb.com (which was still accessible via my browser) and used their chat support to report the problem.  They said my site was not down and that I should contact Cox.  That's when I called my cousin across town who also has Cox service and he said he sould see the sites just fine.  So I knew Cox wasn't blocking those sites for all its customers.  Upon googling to find other sites hosted by Powweb I found that all those sites were also "down", but not really down, just not serving my IP address.

    For the next few days I used google to research the problem and found that several others had the same experience with plenty of guesswork as to the cause and with no solutions other than possible IP blocking.

    IP #2: So on Friday August 21, 2020, I cloned by router's Mac address to my laptop and restarted by cable modem and router after which Cox's DHCP service issued me a new IP address.  Instantly my website came right up!  And so did all the other Powweb-hosted sites I had been testing.  I was delighted.  But my delight was short-lived.  24 hours later, the blocking returned.

    IP #3: So on Saturday August 22, 2020, I removed the cloned Mac address and restarted by cable modem and router after which Cox's DHCP serviced issued me a THIRD IP address.  Instantly my website and all other Powweb-hosted sites came right up.  With cautious optimism, I hoped it would last.  But 30 hours later on Sunday, August 23, 2020, the blocking return.  When trying to view my site, or any other Powweb-hosted site, all I got was "Connection has timed out".

    This reply on Cox's Internet forum is my first attempt to contact Cox before I also make a second, more informed attempt to contact Powweb, but hurricane Laura is in the Gulf of Mexico and although I live inland and far enough north I don't want to be caught in the middle of a power outage, so I'll wait until after the storm to contact Powweb.

    If any Cox moderator is reading this, please do your best to figure out if this is in any way related to settings or changes on Cox's side.  Perhaps something like a misplaced parental protection?   And changes lately that would have caused a "fix this--break that" error?

    DBell, could you verify if your hosting service is Powweb or any hosting service owned by Endurance International Group?  You can find a list of EIP's subsidiaries on wikipedia.

    If no solution is found soon, we both might find that the only remedy is to look for another hosting provider.

    Sincerely,
    CFMonroe

    • DBell's avatar
      DBell
      New Contributor

      Yes, I'm on Powweb for both.

      • BrianM's avatar
        BrianM
        Moderator
        Is this still happening? I just tested all of these sites including powweb on a home Cox connection and they seem to be loading fine.

        Brian
        Cox Support Forum Moderator
    • JP_Sports's avatar
      JP_Sports
      Contributor

      I have had a similar problem with a music file sharing website (and yes, it is totally legal, as the bands on there encourage the trading of their live recordings) shnflac.net.  I keep getting the same connection time out error.  I tried changing browsers, even tried connecting from another device: same result.  I tried connecting via LTE on my phone, and it worked fine, so I figure it has to be something on Cox’s end.  I tried resetting my modem, and was able to access one screen on the site before it went back to the same connection time out error.  I tried other steps in a YouTube video such as releasing the IP address, flushing DNS, and renewing the DNS; and trying to create an alternate tcpip, but no luck.  Is Cox blocking sites, because I know someone who has XFinity and never had this problem.

    • DBell's avatar
      DBell
      New Contributor

      So, I just finished with POWWEB Support (online Chat), my IP number was in a block list.  Getting her to unblock ALL COX Comms IPs now, if I can...  Mine is unblocked now though.