Strange issue connecting to certain sites (esp Dropbox)

[linarms]

I first noticed something was amiss when I couldn't download apps from Apple's App Store over my Exetel link this morning (but could over 3G/LTE).

Then I noticed that Dropbox hadn't been connecting all day, on any of my computers (Mac, PC, Linux). I can't even browse to www.dropbox.com. Nor can I ping dropbox.com (actually a different IP, but www.dropbox.com doesn't work either).

I figured it was a transient issue, probably at Dropbox's end, or an AWS glitch, but it's been 12 hours and still no dice with Dropbox.

So I remoted in to a machine at work (connected via Telstra Business ADSL) and tried pinging Dropbox. The same IPs I'd tried here responded instantly. So this appears to be related to a router between Exetel and Dropbox that isn't between Telstra and Dropbox.

I've eliminated my own firewall/configuration as a likely cause. DNS is behaving itself, too. The rest of the internet is working perfectly.

Traceroute results were inconclusive, but I wasn't able to spot any common hops between here and my work machine.

Can anyone replicate or investigate this issue please?

[Dazzled]

Dropbox is the same at my home. No ping, no connection, correct DNS.

Ditto for Giganews usenet, both for US and Euro servers.

[linarms]

Good to know I'm not going crazy

Hopefully this is resolved before too long!

[angelos]

I first noticed something was amiss when I couldn't download apps from Apple's App Store over my Exetel link this morning (but could over 3G/LTE).

Then I noticed that Dropbox hadn't been connecting all day, on any of my computers (Mac, PC, Linux). I can't even browse to http://www.dropbox.com. Nor can I ping dropbox.com (actually a different IP, but http://www.dropbox.com doesn't work either).

I figured it was a transient issue, probably at Dropbox's end, or an AWS glitch, but it's been 12 hours and still no dice with Dropbox.

So I remoted in to a machine at work (connected via Telstra Business ADSL) and tried pinging Dropbox. The same IPs I'd tried here responded instantly. So this appears to be related to a router between Exetel and Dropbox that isn't between Telstra and Dropbox.

I've eliminated my own firewall/configuration as a likely cause. DNS is behaving itself, too. The rest of the internet is working perfectly.

Traceroute results were inconclusive, but I wasn't able to spot any common hops between here and my work machine.

Can anyone replicate or investigate this issue please?

Hi Linarms,

An email has been sent to your nominated email account. Please try the steps provided and reply back if it does not work.

[Dazzled]

Here's a TCP trace to port 80 of giganews (a server port)

Code: Select all

$ sudo traceroute -T  news-europe.giganews.com
traceroute to news-europe.giganews.com (216.196.109.144), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets
 1  Gate.home (192.168.1.1)  1.307 ms  1.675 ms  2.045 ms
 2  * * *
 3  222.8.96.58.static.exetel.com.au (58.96.8.222)  38.652 ms  39.886 ms  41.117 ms
 4  129.6.96.58.static.exetel.com.au (58.96.6.129)  42.957 ms  44.042 ms  46.714 ms
 5  161.43.102.1 (161.43.102.1)  47.843 ms  49.008 ms  51.176 ms
 6  * * *
 7  * * *
 8  * * *
 9  59.154.57.10 (59.154.57.10)  34.206 ms 59.154.57.8 (59.154.57.8)  32.637 ms  33.623 ms
10  59.154.57.12 (59.154.57.12)  45.507 ms  33.558 ms  35.840 ms
11  203.208.192.41 (203.208.192.41)  191.609 ms  189.916 ms 61.88.241.109 (61.88.241.109)  33.501 ms
12  203.208.192.41 (203.208.192.41)  192.983 ms 203.208.153.46 (203.208.153.46)  175.677 ms 203.208.192.41 (203.208.192.41)  192.405 ms
13  * 203.208.153.46 (203.208.153.46)  177.107 ms  176.540 ms
14  be2066.ccr22.iah01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.7.53)  212.630 ms * *
15  te0-1-0-3.ccr22.atl01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.6.137)  230.548 ms * be2068.mpd22.iah01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.7.157)  212.853 ms
16  te0-1-0-3.ccr22.atl01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.6.137)  229.745 ms * *
17  te0-1-0-6.ccr22.dca01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.7.210)  245.520 ms te0-7-0-5.mpd22.jfk02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.41.30)  252.773 ms te0-3-0-4.ccr22.jfk02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.6.14)  253.576 ms
18  te0-1-0-4.ccr22.bos01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.6.9)  260.985 ms te0-0-0-14.ccr22.jfk02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.26.182)  258.396 ms *
19  * * *
20  * * *
21  * * *
22  * * *
23  * * *

curl --trace-ascii - news-europe.giganews.com gets no response from the server.

[linarms]

Thanks, angelos. Replied

Not sure what to make of that trace, Dazzled. I don't do this often enough to be able to interpret which hops are problems, which ones are just ignoring trace packets, and whether progressing to "cogentco"'s network on a trace means tcp traffic is reaching that network intact, or if the problem is further downstream.

[Dazzled]

That was a Linux traceroute, linarms. The asterisks mean "no reply", either because the machine won't talk (though these packets are TCP port 80, not Windows ICMP) or because it gets no further. The trace stops at hop 18.

[Dazzled]

Another user earlier had a problem with store.steampowered.com. Add it to the list of inaccessible sites.

[tin]

ebay.com.au, store.steampowered.com and ftp.debian.org have been unreachable most of the day for me. Comes and goes though. Steam worked for me at one point, and ebay was working for my mum about an hour ago.

But oddly, our work connection is fine, so this is clearly only effecting SOME Exetel users.

Edit: I was going to post about this issue about 4pm today, but lost the post I'd typed and decided to go do something non-electronic before I got real mad at something

[kidda]

Can't access playstation network on PS3 or PC all night.
Also ebgames.com.au and few others not working either.

[devindag]

Can't access playstation network on PS3 or PC all night.
Also ebgames.com.au and few others not working either.

Please note that I have sent you an email with regards to the issue with Ticket ID 7093857

Please respond to that email if required for further assistance.

[Kamigoroshi]

I too have been experiencing the same problem. I can't access Steam, Dropbox or EBgames. Every other sites that I have visited works pretty well. Although, if I try and browse a site through Steam's internal browser, that works pretty slow too. Is there anything wrong?

[Kamigoroshi]

I would also like to add any site on the Gawker network (i.e the US based sites of Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Kotaku, etc). Those sites timeout as well.

[devindag]

I would also like to add any site on the Gawker network (i.e the US based sites of Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Kotaku, etc). Those sites timeout as well.

Dear Kamigoroshi,

Please note that I have sent you an email with regards to the issue with Ticket ID 7093883

Please respond to that email if required for further assistance.

[linarms]

All appears to be resolved here now.