My internet connection keeps dropping requests

Question

I am having this bizarre behavior where a bunch of locations I browse to fail to load. They just sit there on the loading spinner while the status bar says "Waiting for xyz.com..." and eventually fail. Reloading several times eventually works, but it's really disruptive.

This problem crops up all over the place. I notice it most often with imgur.com, but it happens to almost every site, like reddit.com or tumblr.com. It happens in both Chrome and Internet Explorer, so I don't think it's a browser issue. Restarting does not fix it. It also started just recently, and without changing anything as far as I know.

I use Windows 7 connected via ethernet cable to a Verizon FIOS router. Anyone have any ideas?

Answer 1

Do you have any firewall/web filter software running? If so, turn it off and then try to load the sites. Also check the settings on your router, there is a firewall there too. I would also suggest checking your internet connection speed, you can do that by going to www.speed-test.net, to make sure your not getting any strange drops in your service level. You can also run ping to the site to see if your dropping packets. For a more detailed view of what is happening when you try to connect to the site install Wireshark and start a packet trace, then attempt to go to the site, wireshark will capture everything that takes place between your computer and the web server hosting the site. You can get wireshark for free, just google the name. Hope that helps!