HI all, I posted this a while back, but now I cannot reply to it so starting a new thread.
Within the last few months I have been unable to reach certain websites/urls that I use daily for work. It's very odd:
- Using my work laptop on my home wifi, I cannot access the sites
- Using my work laptop, directly connected to my Google router, I can connect to the sites
- Using my work laptop with my phone (on my wifi as a hotspot), I can access the sites
- Using my personal laptop I have no issue connecting via my home wifi
I'm not a network expert so I'm at a loss of what to try. My work laptop uses a VPN, I have contacted my network team and the VPN provider, we ran tests and it is not the VPN stopping the traffic. I can also access the sites when I am at work with the same laptop.
The error I get is "this site cannot be reached". Once in a while if I try enough times, I can get some text but the pate never loads and I cannot use any links on the page.
Hoping for some help...as I am stumped, as are the teams at my work.....
@ovidioj replied with this to which I added some comments:
Thanks for posting in the community.
I understand the frustration of encountering issues accessing specific websites on your home Wi-Fi network with your work laptop. It seems you can access these websites:
- Directly connected to your Google WiFi router (bypassing the Wi-Fi network). Correct
- Using your phone's mobile hotspot Correct
- From your work network - Correct
- Since other devices on your home Wi-Fi can access these websites, the issue likely lies with your work laptop's network configuration or an interaction with your Google WiFi settings. Here are some possibilities:
- Network Restrictions: Your work laptop might have specific network restrictions configured that could be blocking these websites. Check with your work network team to see if any website filtering or firewall rules might be interfering. There are no restrictions getting to these sites, I have triple checked with my network team and with our VPN provider. We have done extensive testing.
- DNS Settings: Incorrect DNS settings on your work laptop could be directing it to the wrong servers for these websites. Try changing the DNS settings on your work laptop to a public DNS provider like Google DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) and see if it resolves the issue. I have switched DNS settings a few times, to no avail.
Since the issue only occurs on your work laptop and the VPN is not the culprit, your work IT department might have more specific insights into potential network restrictions on your work laptop. I have worked extensively with my network team and the work IT department and they cannot find what is wrong. It's so strange - only my work laptop and only on my home wifi. Any other combination works just fine. Home wifi, personal laptop - AOK. Work laptop any other network - AOK. HELP!
Please follow the steps above and let me know how they go. Thank you.
