Today is the 4th day i have been unable to access the windows gaotd site.
The android,mac and games pages work fine i get a 503 service unavailable when i try to access GAOTD.I have been here for a decade at least without a problem.
I have come to he conclusion i may be being blocked.
I did make a brusque crit of a recent give away[didnt swear].Is it likely a could be banned,
Cant access GAOTD
(3 posts) (3 voices)-
captain.drewi
MemberPosted 5 years ago # -
mikiem2
ModeratorIs it likely a could be banned,
Nope.
The way it works, a bit simplified, is you type in a web site name in the address bar of a web browser, in this case https://www.giveawayoftheday.com, and press enter or hit the go button on whatever browser you're using. Windows either has a IP address for a DNS server, e.g. 1.1.1.1, or it uses whatever your router says to use. Your router in turn either has an address already set, again e.g. 1.1.1.1, or it uses whatever your ISP tells it to use. That DNS server is what sends you on your way to https://www.giveawayoftheday.com -- hopefully.
Stuff at the DNS server level gets complicated. It sends you to the correct language version of GOTD, and it doesn't necessarily just use the IP address on it's own -- a web site nowadays may or may not work if you just enter the IP address by itself. Software on the web server you're trying to reach doesn't have an easy way to say don't let this guy through -- DDoS attacks probably wouldn't work nearly as well if it did, but that's beside the point. Instead, problems can occur with the records kept on a DNS server that direct you to whatever sites. Those records are supposed to propagate from highest tier DNS servers to lowest tier, can be incorrect or corrupted, may be mistakenly blocked by filters designed to block spam & other nasties etc. Sites can also get access blocked on a DNS server if whomever runs that server goes by site ratings entered by regular users at whatever organizations, e.g. McAfee or Norton. DNS servers also get hacked -- so do routers -- so that when you want to go to a certain site they'll send you to a look alike that can do nasty things. Those hacks can damage a DNS server's records &/or software, or the fake DNS server you're directed to may only work with some sites.
In my personal opinion one of the easiest things to try is to set your router's DNS to 1.1.1.1, or use Google's, at 8.8.8.8. That's because those are almost certainly better [faster] than whatever your local ISP has you use. If it solves a particular problem like this, great, & if not, you've still most likely got faster service. If that doesn't fix the GOTD problem, try using a VPN -- the blockage could effect your whole area of the Internet, and with a VPN, you're actually entering the internet from a different location, since you're tunneling to the VPN server, & that server is making the request to visit GOTD, rather than you.
Posted 5 years ago #
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