I have a problem that neither Hotmail nor an otherwise helpful technician can solve. I have within my home a network: Compaq desktop with a D-link extreme G card, attached via a modem to an ADSL line, a separate router and a new Tosh laptop with a wi-fi card. Everything works as it should, except that i cannot access Hotmail from the laptop: any other URL can be accessed immediately. I have had various "help" suggestions from Hotmail, including re-installation of IE 6. Nothing works and my computer adviser has given up. If I plug the ADSL line into the laptop direct, I can access Hotmail normally, yet not when I do so remotely through the router and desktop. Do you have any suggestions?
I have two guesses - one involves your router, and the other involves an obscure network setting.
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I've not tested this, but I wonder if HotMail is sensitive to what's called "double NATing" and wonder if that's what you have happening.
Double NATing happens if you are behind two routers, each attempting to perform "Network Address Translation". I have seen several cases where a broadband modem attempts to perform NAT, and thus in some ways it's "acting like" a router. If you put a NAT router in front of that modem, then you are, effectively, behind two routers.
When you plug your laptop into the ADSL line directly, does your IP address begin with 192. or perhaps 10.? If so, then it appears your ADSL modem is performing NAT. Addresses that begin with 192 or 10 never appear on the internet, but are assigned by routers when sharing a single internet connection between several computers. If your modem is assigning you an address in that range, then it's pretty likely that it's acting a little bit like a router. At least in a way that we care about.
If that happens, you might consider turning DHCP off in your router and seeing if a) all computers connected still connect to the internet properly, and b) whether or not this resolves your problem.
My other guess has little to do with the router, but apparently has resolved HotMail access issues for others. While I think of this as more of a long shot, it's possible that how you connect to the network could impact this.
There is an obscure network setting called "MTU" that deals with how packets are sent on the network. Several people have reported that reducing the MTU setting has restored access to some sites that they couldn't access before. This article: I can't access some websites ... why? covers the setting, and how to go about adjusting it.
As I said, it's a long shot, but it is something that could be affected by your network topology.
Related:
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Ask Leo! - What is Double Natting?
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Ask Leo! - I can't access some websites ... why?
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Ask Leo! - How should I set up my home network?
Article C2648 - May 8, 2006
when a tried to acess my hot mail [email address removed] I get ERROR 81000395
Posted by: Paulo Pantoja at March 25, 2007 4:44 AMWhat's this mean?
i can get bebo up on my homepage but cant sign in its been like this for a week now any ideas????
Posted by: siobhan at May 9, 2007 11:33 AMOh my god .. the MTU setting worked for me too !! I too have a D-Link DI-524 router which could not get to hotmail. I changed the default MTU setting of the router from 1500 to 1200 and now hotmail works !! I'll try slowly increasing the MTU setting to see how far up I can take it.
Thanks Leo & Tom Young !!
Posted by: KSJ at September 4, 2007 12:25 PMBTW .. MTU setting of 1492 also works on my D-Link DI-524 router !
Posted by: KSJ at September 4, 2007 12:46 PMI used my hotmail password yesterday prior to noon. When I needed to get bac k to read my email, it would not accept my password. I had not changed it. Consequently I signed up for the new version email [Email Address Removed] and now that wont accept my password. What gives? This is the second weekend that this happening.
Posted by: Joan M. Cowley at October 26, 2007 10:10 AMThank you Leo! My roomate and i have been trying to figure out the router for almost two weeks! the MTU worked for us too! Thanks for your help :) We'll check in on your site for any future PC needs ...
Posted by: Patzka at October 30, 2007 11:32 AMhello I'm frist time user new to all this so hoping some out there can help me.I bought A new linksys broadband router.bestbuy told me I could use this as a spliter to get on line and play xbox live 360 at the same time follow all cd insteructions and did everything my desktop ask me to do It comes up as my desktop telling me I have limted or nonconectivity. can some plese hepl me out,I would appreciate for any hints or hepl
Posted by: henry at November 25, 2007 2:44 PMwhen i try to get onto bebo it says sorry, you cannot use this site! is there any reason why?
Posted by: chloe at December 9, 2008 12:59 PMI cant get into my hotmail account and some other web sights.I can access it from my laptop just fine but not my desktop why is this.Iv read all the other comments.
Posted by: Philip at January 3, 2009 7:17 AMI got this error from changeing to different isp
Posted by: Shannon at April 8, 2009 2:29 AMbefore that it was okay, but once i changed to another isp, i cant login