AOL problems connecting to SOG sites

Cynthia Daniel · 03-26-2004, 11:41 AM

I have suggested before and I'll say it again, please call AOL and insist that there is a problem and that you know it is AOL because it's been verified with the hosting ISP in conjuction with AOL. Tell them the problem has been somewhat resolved by actions taken by AOL, but not totally.

Mike McCarty · 03-26-2004, 03:00 PM

I post these updates here just for information purposes and to verify that I am not alone in my suffering. I don't mean them to be a complaint against SOG.

I'm convinced that if this problem is resolved it will come from no action taken by me. I have for the past month tried to communicate with AOL on line, by phone and through e-mail. I have become so frustrated that I have threatened them never to contact me again.

I don't have the biggest dog in this hunt. I do, however, try and figure things out based on the very limited amount of information that I am able to muster. I still cannot manuver around the fact that only one site produces these results. It would suggest to me that AOL would have unique code to deal with each site which it tries to access. This part makes no sense to me.

Cynthia Daniel · 03-26-2004, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike McCarty

I still cannot manuver around the fact that only one site produces these results. It would suggest to me that AOL would have unique code to deal with each site which it tries to access. This part makes no sense to me.

Every web site has a unique IP address and if that IP address is coded wrong in one or more of their name servers, it would affect just that one site.

I had a situation once when I was in St. Louis where I couldn't access my web site, but I could access everything else. Everyone else could outside St. Louis. It was a problem with a name server somewhere along the hops taken to get to the site and it had absolutely nothing to do with St. Louis Internet.

Steven Sweeney · 03-27-2004, 11:40 PM

The toughest part of the puzzle is that the trouble is intermittent. I can have two or three hours of access with no trouble at all, followed by two or three of being blocked ("Can't find web site" is a common message").

But I also have a variable that throws a wrench in the gears -- a dodgy cable modem service provider. So I never know what part of the works is gummed up.

I also have a 12-gauge shotgun that could probably fix this computer overnight.

Mike McCarty · 11-18-2004, 02:30 PM

I've just upgraded(?) to the "AOL 9.0 Security" version. Before, the problem of accessing the SOG sites was intermittent. I could log off and back on again (it might take 2-4 times) and I could finally gain access.

Since my upgrade this morning I have not been able to gain access to any SOG sites through AOL, no matter how many times I log off and on.

Steven Sweeney · 11-24-2004, 10:01 PM

Don't know where you're at on this by now, but I can report that I've had access problems to the Forum for about 2 weeks when trying to come in through AOL. (I have an alternate cable/ethernet connection through Explorer, which is what I had to use on this visit.)

The history strongly suggests that this is an AOL bug, despite predicted denials and diversions from the provider.

Mike McCarty · 11-24-2004, 10:39 PM

I now have a cable connection, nothing out of the ordinary. As I said above, my success used to be intermittent, but I am now completely shut out. I'm using the Internet Explorer for this access.

It all went black when I upgraded to their new "AOL 9.0 Security" software. This included the McAfee virus scan software that I did not have. I was recently able to speak by phone (the on-line help is a joke) to a tech support person. He concluded that he could not find the site either and he would fill out a report.

I'm no wizard on the technical side, I don't want to be. I'm sure there is a switch thrown somewhere that has caused this blackout. If I could find the switch then I could go back to being intermittent. I think this is a separate issue from the intermittent problem that has been there for at least a year.

For me this is just an inconvenience, but for any other AOL user reading my business card and trying to access my site ... well, I can almost hear my card as it hits the bottom of the can.