Some Web sites load — others won't! Why? Strange web behavior has baffled all tech support. Safari on MacBook w/ broadband
I have a very bizarre and inexplicable problem that has recently occurred with my Internet connection.
The basics: MacBook Pro running Safari 5.1.9 on OSX 10.6.8, connected to Internet via up-to-date Comcast/Xfinity cable modem.
Everything was working fine with NO problems until a couple days ago when suddenly a wide variety of Web sites simply stopped loading, and became inaccessible. I made no changes to cause this, altered no settings, did not download anything, didn't install any new extensions or widgets, hadn't gotten infected by any malware -- nothing like that. I was simply looking at random news articles on the Huffington Post, clicked on one, it loaded normally and I read it, clicked on the next one -- and it wouldn't load. And from that moment on, no page on Huffington Post would load. But that was just the tip of the iceberg -- turns out a wide variety of mainstream and always-reliable sites suddenly stopped loading -- nothing I did could successfully make a connection to them.
The sites which suddenly became inaccessible include:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
...along with many other lesser-known sites.
Additionally, some pages start to load, but never complete the loading, and the page content never appears. Examples include:
...and several others.
Now, it might seem from these facts that obviously my Internet connection is not working at all. But no! Aside from the list above, MOST Web sites do load and work perfectly fine, just like normal.
The major sites that load and function normally include:
http://www.networksolutions.com
...and about 90% of all Web sites (at least as far as I can tell).
So my internet connection, for the most part, is working perfectly well, as it always has been. What I can't figure out -- in fact, what no one has been able to figure out -- is why certain sites load normally, while others do not.
Why, for example, does the Washington Post page load in a snap, but the New York Times never load at all? Both are newspapers.
Why does Twitter work fine, but Facebook hangs and never loads a page? Both are social media sites.
Why does Drudge Report load as normal, but Huffington Post not load at all? Both are news aggregators.
I can't find any common feature which would identify the reason for why a certain class of sites wouldn't work.
Perhaps is there some feature or content or widget or code on certain sites that don't "agree" with my browser or OS? If so -- what? As far as I can tell, the functioning sites have just as much Javascript and Flash and auto-play ads and videos as the non-functioning sites. So that can't be it. So what is the cause?
Here are some key details:
The problem occurs whether I am connected directly to the modem via an Ethernet cable or via a wi-fi signal from the modem's built-in router. So it's not a problem associated with either Eithernet or wi-fi, because it happens either way.
I tested the connection with friends' laptops, and NONE of them experienced the same problem. Some of these test computers ran OSX 10.6, some ran newer versions of OSX, some ran Windows -- didn't matter, none of them had any problem connecting to any Web site. So the problem is pinpointed specifically on MY computer (MacBook Pro, 10.6.8).
A Comcast repair supervisor came to look at the modem and declared it to be working 100% perfectly fine -- there is nothing wrong with it. He also looked at all my DNS and IP and other Network settings, and said they were all correct and did not need any changing.
Phone tech support for Xfinity, Ooma and Apple were all completely baffled -- despite hours of attempts, none could come anywhere close to figuring out what was causing the problem.
And here's the most baffling part of all:
The problem is NOT limited to just Safari -- the same Web sites won't load even if I use Firefox or Chrome (new versions freshly downloaded)! So the problem is not browser-specific either.
So, I've narrowed it down to this:
Since the problem occurs only on my computer but no one else's computer, the issue is NOT occurring with the modem or the internet connection itself. It is limited to somewhere on my computer.
Since the problem happens on any browser, not just Safari, it is not browser-specific, but must be some kind of System setting or other software issue.
But the repair guy was 100% positive that all my network system settings were perfect and did not need changing!
So what else could be the issue?
The only thing I think might be the answer is that I have running in the background an app called "Little Snitch" which informs you if any Web page is making secret "calls home," which might indicate malware code on the page, or at a minimum an annoying advertisement "call." And one can then set a rule to permanently deny specific "calls home" from noxious Web pages. (Having Little Snitch makes Web browsing go a lot faster, I have found.) BUT...I have never set a rule against any of the problem pages noted above, and the same issue persists even when Little Snitch is turned off. So that can't be the problem either!
Help! I'm at my wit's end. Any ideas, suggestions, recommendations, solutions?
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
