Website work at the shop but not at the client

[Rosco]

Ok had a client hire me to do a virus removal/tune up. Had a fake antivirus plus a ton of other trojan, malware, and spyware. They were having problems view this site which the like to visit everyday. http://obits.masslive.com/obituaries/masslive/

Removed all the viruses and tuned it up and everything was working fine. checked the website worked fine.

Today i brought the computer back to them and booted it up. The website didnt work. Updated flash tried different browsers, restarted, nothing. So i brought it back to the shop booted it up and tryied the site worked fine even tried other browsers all worked.

its a Toshiba running vista 32 bit
every time it was connected it was by wireless network

 

[Technotch]

it could be the router. reset or bring in your own router to their site and see what happens

 

[Boston Pro Comp Serv LLC]

One of the virus' may have changed the DNS setting on the router, esp if its got the default username and password

 

[Rosco]

One of the virus' may have changed the DNS setting on the router, esp if its got the default username and password

so would a router reboot fix this?

 

[mkeathley]

Not a reboot but a complete reset would, if its the router.
If not call the ISP...

 

[Encrypted Existence]

It would also be a good idea to change the router username and password if they are indeed set to defaults.

 

[Rosco]

Not a reboot but a complete reset would, if its the router.
If not call the ISP...

so pressing the reset button on the back?

if it was DNS settings wouldn't all websites not work? on this computer most all do work its just the one i mentioned above.

 

[StableSolutions]

DNS can cause some to work and others not to. Can also affect the ping times and connections to any specific websites.

Router hard reset yes, hold the button in the back (Usually 5-10 sec hold so that it doesn't get "accidentally" pressed)

Are you able to ping the website or the website's IP?
(generally this will help identify a DNS issue)

 

[Knightsman]

I have seen routers do this, and a FULL reset does not work. Didnt make any sense at all. But hooked up a new router, all was well.

 

[techpitt]

so pressing the reset button on the back?

if it was DNS settings wouldn't all websites not work? on this computer most all do work its just the one i mentioned above.

Not necessarily, but more than likely. A few other things come to mind, though.

It would definitely be worth asking the customer if they're using the default router login; if they are, I agree that needs to be fixed regardless of whatever else may be at play. If you can login to the router, see if the DNS server address has been altered and correct it if so (often setting back to DHCP will work). If you can't login, using the reset button should restore everything to factory settings.

Perhaps before taking this step while on site, you may want to bring a laptop with you and try connecting to the http://obits.masslive.com just to be sure the problem is specific to their computer. If your laptop doens't load the site, then you may want to try pinging obits.masslive.com to see if it resolves an IP address and whether or not there is a response to your ping.

- If the name doesn't resolve or resolves to an incorrect IP (i get 64.29.209.53), this implicates DNS and justifies working on the router that controls the WiFi for their whole residence/business.

- If resolves correctly but doesn't respond to pings, I'd wonder if perhaps your shop and the customer's site are on different ISPs? Could be a temporary outage somewhere in the route between site and ISP.

On the other hand, if it works on your laptop while at the customer's site, then the router is probably OK and you should focus on the customer's computer. May want to check tracerout or routing tables for anomalies if a couple of quick shots from the hip (netsh winsock reset, delete connection profile for customer's wifi network, stuff like that) doesn't clear up the problem.

I'm curious to hear the resolution of this one. Good luck!

 

[altrenda]

I ran into this as well. make sure any other computers connected to the router are scanned and cleaned, as they can reinfect the router.

I had to reflash the firmware of a Linksys router to fix it.

The one I saw was a Zlob infection. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zlob_trojan

 

[Martyn]

I go with what others are saying about the router. In fact in most calls to clients I check their router logins where possible. Google for the model and check they are not default.

 

[Rosco]

My next question is how to i handle the client. She is a real ball buster and i was really embarrassed that it didn't work. Lucky this doesn't happen often thank God! I don't like confrontation. I feel like they think its because i don't know what i am doing. any ideas i how to explain what happening?

 

[Martyn]

My next question is how to i handle the client. She is a real ball buster and i was really embarrassed that it didn't work. Lucky this doesn't happen often thank God! I don't like confrontation. I feel like they think its because i don't know what i am doing. any ideas i how to explain what happening?

It's at times like this you could do with a 3G dongle or tethering so you could show their computer working on another network.

 

[Rosco]

It's at times like this you could do with a 3G dongle or tethering so you could show their computer working on another network.

you know what i tethered it to my phone and it works so i guess i could show her that.
martyn thanks for the tip!

Thanks everyone your support means a lot. this is the part of business i hate. lucky i dont run into this often. so i guess i am doing something right lol

what would be the easiest way to explain the network issue without a lot of tech speech?

 

[Martyn]

you know what i tethered it to my phone and it works so i guess i could show her that.
martyn thanks for the tip!

Thanks everyone your support means a lot. this is the part of business i hate. lucky i dont run into this often. so i guess i am doing something right lol

what would be the easiest way to explain the network issue without a lot of tech speech?

Well to keep it simple and visual on their premises turn off their router and do the tethering thing and connect to the site.

 

[Rosco]

Well to keep it simple and visual on their premises turn off their router and do the tethering thing and connect to the site.

i really appreciate your advice martyn. i see the moderator stuff hasnt gotten in the way of your very helpful postings. Bryce def made the right decision.

 

[4ycr]

Also try manually setting the DNS on the router to google's or some other trusted one on the net

 

[andcorptech]

If its not DNS , it could be a routing issue at the ISP. I have had a few instances of this where the ISP changes something and it breaks the routing. Do your traceroutes, and see where its going wrong. Then call the ISP and see what they can do.

 

[Rob_NNCC]

Don't rule out the MTU. I had an issue with a PC working at our shop and not at the customer site. It was the MTU being to big for their internet connection.