Weird Internet issue

[dclement]

Hello,

At my work place, I have met a strange Internet issue today. I was using my usual laptop (LMDE2-64-Mate) connected to the usual WiFi access point. I was unable to surf with either browser I tried (Firefox / Chrome): "Web site unreachable".

I was first tempted to blame the WiFi connection, but with an Ethernet cable plugged in, it was the same. Moreover, I was able to reach web sites with my smartphone (connected to the same access point).

Plus, every other Internet application I tried did work: e-mail (Evolution), ftp (Filezilla)... I was even able to ping some Web sites. And LAN browsing was also OK.

And just before that, I had been using another LMDE2 PC (desktop, 32-bit, Mate) without problems.

So I wonder what happened to this laptop which used to connect without problem at work -- and did reconnect faultlessly to my home network once I got back home...

I really don't have a clue on this one... TIA for any insight - best regards, Daniel

[kevinthefixer]

Before you start tweaking stuff, reboot your router. Actually shut it down and leave it off for a few minutes, then reboot it. I have this happen often with my Androids, one of them will simply not connect to the internet although it seems fine on the LAN. If a simple reboot of the Droid in question doesn't fix it then rebooting the router does every time. So far, anyway.

[dclement]

Hmm... I'm not the network administrator, so I cannot reboot the router.

However, I can reboot the wireless access point. I'll do that today and try again, then report back here.

[kevinthefixer]

If your net admin is worth his salt he (or she) will have the router set to reboot every so often anyway. This issue is not uncommon, and it and several others are usually cured this way. But sometimes they need to be powered down for a number of minutes to make sure all caches get flushed.

[dclement]

Well... It was working today, the connection was back up and running.

I don't know what solved the issue: either the router got restarted in the interval, or perhaps it helped that I rebooted the WiFi AP.

But I generally prefer when things work without my understanding why, than the converse

Thanks for your support, kevinthefixer!

[kevinthefixer]

I'm trying to build up a bunch of brownie points, so that when I do something really stupid you guys will bail me out. Given my history, it's just a matter of time...