Does Verison block certain websites?

[TinaKao]

Does Verizon block certain websites?

I am unable to connect to the website of Apple Daily, a main daily newspaper of Taiwan. The website is www.appledaily.com.tw

I thought the issue might be due to the DNS ASsistance, so I tried to opt out of the DNS Assistance, following the instruction found in

http://www.verizon.com/support/residential/internet/fiosinternet/troubleshooting/network/questionson...

but I still cannot access www.appledaily.com.tw

Normally, if I trace a domain in Taiwan, something similar to the following is what I should get:

C:\>tracert www.ntu.edu.tw

在上限 30 個躍點上
追蹤 www.ntu.edu.tw [140.112.8.116] 的路由:

  1     5 ms     5 ms     3 ms  Wireless_Broadband_Router.home [192.168.1.1]
  2   188 ms    10 ms    16 ms  173.79.253.1
  3    13 ms    13 ms    12 ms  G0-10-4-4.WASHDC-LCR-21.verizon-gni.net [130.81.
146.130]
  4    13 ms    23 ms    17 ms  so-12-1-0-0.RES-BB-RTR1.verizon-gni.net [130.81.
151.230]
  5    79 ms    74 ms    75 ms  0.ae2.XT1.SCL2.ALTER.NET [140.222.225.167]
  6    91 ms    75 ms    76 ms  0.so-7-0-0.XL1.PAO1.ALTER.NET [152.63.54.133]
  7    77 ms    79 ms    77 ms  POS6-0.GW6.PAO1.ALTER.NET [152.63.55.9]
  8    80 ms    93 ms    76 ms  twgate-gw.customer.alter.net [63.65.131.174]
  9   310 ms   223 ms   223 ms  5-60-41-175.TWGATE-IP.twgate.net [175.41.60.5]
 10   241 ms   227 ms   227 ms  182-61-41-175.TWGATE-IP.twgate.net [175.41.61.18
2]
 11   231 ms   228 ms   229 ms  134-226-160-203.TWGATE-IP.twgate.net [203.160.22
6.134]
 12     *      217 ms   217 ms  140.112.0.201
 13   231 ms     *      230 ms  140.112.0.185
 14   231 ms   229 ms   229 ms  140.112.0.209
 15   215 ms   217 ms   217 ms  www.ntu.edu.tw [140.112.8.116]

追蹤完成。

In this case, we can see that it traces all the way to Taiwan and eventually reaches the domain.


However, when I use tracert to trace www.appledaily.com.tw, the following is what I get:

C:\>tracert www.appledaily.com.tw

在上限 30 個躍點上
追蹤 www.appledaily.com.tw [199.101.28.20] 的路由:

  1     5 ms     3 ms     3 ms  Wireless_Broadband_Router.home [192.168.1.1]
  2    13 ms    13 ms    11 ms  173.79.253.1
  3    14 ms    13 ms    13 ms  G0-10-4-4.WASHDC-LCR-21.verizon-gni.net [130.81.
146.130]
  4    21 ms    91 ms    14 ms  so-12-1-0-0.RES-BB-RTR1.verizon-gni.net [130.81.
151.230]
  5    33 ms    18 ms    15 ms  0.xe-3-1-0.BR1.IAD8.ALTER.NET [152.63.37.61]
  6    17 ms    16 ms    63 ms  te2-3.ar6.DCA3.gblx.net [64.215.195.113]
  7    31 ms    19 ms    22 ms  po2-20G.ar3.DCA3.gblx.net [67.16.133.89]
  8    15 ms    15 ms    13 ms  NOMINUM.Gi9-7.ar3.DCA3.gblx.net [64.212.109.90]

  9    46 ms    45 ms    44 ms  search.dnsassist.verizon.net [199.101.28.20]

追蹤完成。

Apparently, Verizon didn't trace to Taiwan and couldn't find the ip address of www.appledaily.com.tw. No wonder I can't access that website.

I am pretty sure that the website is on because all my friends, no matter whether they are in Taiwan, in the US or other countries can access it, so I think the problem comes from my internet. How should I fix this issue?

Thank you very much for your help!

[Hubrisnxs · Accepted solution]

maybe it's a bad route. Try this. Log into your verizon router. Actiontec MI424-WR - RELEASE DHCP Click on MY NETWORK icon at the top. Select NETWORK CONNECTIONS from the menu on the left. Select BROADBAND CONNECTION (coax or ethernet) depending on your connection to the ONT. Click SETTINGS Click RELEASE Click APPLY Disconnect the router immediately to prevent it from re-requesting a DHCP lease. leave it disconnected for at least 5-10 minutes, and then turn it back on. If it's a bad route, then that would help.

[smith6612]

You should try changing your DNS servers. The traceroute you ran to the domain didn't hit Taiwan but wound up at the DNS Assist servers as you've mentioned. Clearly, regardless of the proper DNS result being returned your computer indicates the trace completed. It's possible Verizon's DNS Servers are yet again having trouble resolving domains.

For DNS servers I recommend using 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. These are Google Public DNS Servers. You can otherwise use OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 .

Otherwise, Verizon does not block any content from being accessed but occasionally there are issues with transit, DNS, and filtering on other providers that can break access for Verizon customers.

[TinaKao]

I finally had time to fix this issue. It works after I change the DNS server. Thanks a lot for your help!

[tris1]

Thank you for the post.  I've been having the same problem for months and always had to skip the news from Appledaily showed on my Facebook.  After changing my DNS settings, it works now.  Thank you so much!

[ultraman96]

Thanks for the previous user for the solution. However I'm pretty much on the same boat (My zip is 91745).

Have problems getting onto www.appledaily.com.hk. After adjusting the Google dns I'm able to log in to the main site. However some areas I still couldn't get in.  It gives me a 
http://searchassist.verizon.com/main?InterceptSource=0&ClientLocation=us&ParticipantID=euekiz39ksg8n...

I could, however use my smartphone via LTE (T-Mobile) to get on without problem. Been having problem for the past months with this particular site. I'd even tried different proxy server/VPN to hide my IP, still without success.

Any help will be appreciated. 

[Debaclerx1]

Why does verizon seem to be the only company to have problems accessing random websites. I own a business and sometimes I can't access my own website or any of my clients websites. Very random. But it's 3rd time this year. Past it was DNS. No thanks to verizon they just say it's all ok and it's my computer. But once you ping or trace it clearly shows Verizon's mistake. Please help explain why I should stay with verizon. Can't take it any more.