Princess Website is not supported by my provider: Help from Tech Gurus

[cr8tiv1]

Please - reaching out to all those tech savvy individuals.  I am at such a loss and struggling to understand how this can happen to me.  I've used the process of elimination to narrow down who is at fault.  For the longest time, I was blaming Princess (they did have technical difficulties, but after 3 weeks, I decided I needed to further investigate why I am unable to connect to Princess' website.

 

Scenarios:

 

Error Messages to log in (I can do this now).

I can sometimes see my account and bookings / intermittent

At times I can actually get in to bookings.

Searching for cruises is not fun when you get so far and then the site stalls.

 

Totally not able to get into EZ Air with or without logging in from my home computer.  Ran some tests.  I could log in and search EZ Air from the Apple Store, from my doctor's office, from cellular service on my phone (but not via wifi).

 

Cleared History.  Cleared cache.  Turned off computer.  Updated operating system.  

 

Finally, in desperation, called my internet provider.  All is good with service.  BUT sometimes, "provider does not support website".  Huh...how does that happen?

 

Chatting with my IT son-in-law.  He is willing to do screen sharing with me to see exactly what is going on.  Decided it wasn't that critical, yet.  It can wait until my next visit.  

 

I have a Mac.  It is so frustrating, especially if I want to check to see if my EZ Air fare has dropped.  Did call them today and had the most pleasant agent (after holding and being disconnected once).  

 

SOS...help...kokua...Am I doing something wrong?  Is it my equipment.  Has this happened to anyone else?

 

 

[AlpacaBag]

Fascinating... I have worked in IT for almost 20 years... I can try to help. I have a couple questions:

 

You said you're on a Mac - are you using Private Relay from iCloud+? What browser are you using - Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, something else?

 

What version of MacOS are you on? You can find this out by going to the apple in the top left corner of the display and then choose about this mac.

 

Who is your ISP?

 

Are you using a VPN at all? (Private Relay counts as a VPN, imo)

 

Do you have any strange network security settings in your firewall that might be intercepting your browser requests and doing some sort of filtering? This might be called a PiHole or Secure DNS feature. You can check by going here: https://www.top10vpn.com/tools/what-is-my-dns-server/

 

and then press the purple Press to check your DNS server settings...  Can you post what they are when you get them in a reply? Don't worry, it won't post anything private about your identity or your home IP address. Here's what mine looks like:

  

 

Edited January 20 by AlpacaBag

[cr8tiv1]

You are so kind to try to help someone who doesn't know what they are doing.  I know this will be difficult to "fix" remotely.  My fall back is to have my son-in-law or daughter take a look when I visit later.  This is not life-threatening...just annoying.

 

4 minutes ago, AlpacaBag said:

Fascinating... I have worked in IT for almost 20 years... I can try to help. I have a couple questions:

 

You said you're on a Mac - are you using Private Relay from iCloud+? What browser are you using - Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, something else?

 

Doesn't work on Safari nor Chrome.  Don't know what Private Realy from iCloud+ is.  Must not be using it since I haven't had problems in the past and don't rely on iCloud at all for back up.

 

4 minutes ago, AlpacaBag said:

 

Who is your ISP?

 

As in Frontier Communications?  I have no other viable choice.

Not using a VPN.

 

I found DNS code, but not comfortable sharing that on the internet (paranoid).  I am connected.  I can do most everything on my computer, ipad, iphone, except connect with Princess.  Sometimes I have to double click to get the page moving/to load.  DSL...really slow.

 

4 minutes ago, AlpacaBag said:

 

Are you using a VPN at all? (Private Relay counts as a VPN, imo)

 

Do you have any strange network security settings in your firewall that might be intercepting your browser requests and doing some sort of filtering? This might be called a PiHole or Secure DNS feature. You can check by going here: https://www.top10vpn.com/tools/what-is-my-dns-server/

 

Don't think I have an strange security settings.  I had Apple Genius check that yesterday.  Yes, Firewall is on.

 

4 minutes ago, AlpacaBag said:

 

and then press the purple Press to check your DNS server settings...  Can you post what they are when you get them in a reply? Don't worry, it won't post anything private about your identity or your home IP address. Here's what mine looks like:

  

 

 

[AlpacaBag]

No problem. Thanks for the info.

 

Since you have frontier and DSL I'm going to go out on a limb and guess your DNS IP was probably Frontiers DNS which (last I checked) is 74.40.74.40 and 74.40.74.41. (don't worry, that's public info, not top secret, hehe)

 

What about your version of MacOS? I think you were already replying to my original post when I edited that part in - You can find this out by going to the apple in the top left corner of the display and then choose about this mac.

Edited January 20 by AlpacaBag

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

It does sound like a DNS issue to me.

 

Interesting that the reported DNS is Cloudflare. First thing I'd do is change the DNS and see if that fixes it... perhaps to Google DNS on 8.8.8.8 or Cloudflare's public DNS on 1.1.1.1. Can't help with how... I don't know Mac's:) 

[AlpacaBag]

13 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

It does sound like a DNS issue to me.

 

Interesting that the reported DNS is Cloudflare. First thing I'd do is change the DNS and see if that fixes it... perhaps to Google DNS on 8.8.8.8 or Cloudflare's public DNS on 1.1.1.1. Can't help with how... I don't know Mac's:) 

That's my DNS using Cloudflare. OP didn't reveal theirs.

 

My working theory about OPs problem is this:

 

Frontier DSL infrastructure is known to be kinda meh right now, they are ignoring their DSL subscribers in favor of Fiber. I suspect packet loss on OPs DSL line which would be verified by an MTR report. The Son In Law should be able to help with that over remote, though on MacOS it will require installation via terminal. I wasn't going to go that deep in this post though.

 

If OP runs a MTR to a known site like google.com and lets it run for about 30 minutes, I would wager there's a lot of packet loss.

 

That packet loss + DNS timeouts = having a bad time on the internet. This explains why it works from the apple store and on cellular.

 

My advice to OP is this:

 

1. Ask son in law to run MTR report and see if there is mass packet loss on the internet connection. Try to do this on a device that is connected to the router via ethernet. If there's packet loss, proceed with pushing back on frontier support and get a tech out.

 

2. If there's no packet loss, it may still be DNS issues with frontier's dns. I would recommend asking son in law to change the DNS settings either on the OPs computer or in their router to something like Cloudflare's DNS or Quad9 if they want some additional security.

 

Once the DNS is updated, flush the DNS cache on the computer, and then try to do these things on the Princess website again.

 

For the uninitiated, DNS is like the internet phone book. Without it, we'd all have to remember IP addresses to get to websites we like to use. With the advent of IPV6, this makes IP addresses go from something like 1.2.3.4 to 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334 (for example). Who wants to remember that? DNS makes it possible to take those IPs and translate them into www.something.com

 

DNS servers run on the internet by almost all ISPs but also other major companies like Cloudflare provide the lookup service for our devices. So when you visit Yahoo News from your phone, table, or computer - you can type news.yahoo.com instead of 2001:4998:3c:807::1.

 

Hope this helps OP and others reading. OP talk to your son in law, give them the info above, he should be able to corroborate the above and help!

 

Edited to add: OP - if your MacOS version is super out of date and your computer is old, that may also be part of the problem, but I suspect that isn't the case.

Edited January 20 by AlpacaBag

[cr8tiv1]

40 minutes ago, AlpacaBag said:

No problem. Thanks for the info.

 

Since you have frontier and DSL I'm going to go out on a limb and guess your DNS IP was probably Frontiers DNS which (last I checked) is 74.40.74.40 and 74.40.74.41. (don't worry, that's public info, not top secret, hehe)

 

What about your version of MacOS? I think you were already replying to my original post when I edited that part in - You can find this out by going to the apple in the top left corner of the display and then choose about this mac.

 

DNS is 192.

 

Sonoma 14.2.1 (operating system)

 

All the rest is Greek to me.  I am not sure SIL will be able to "fix" Frontier since he is in another state and the computer will work fine on his super fast internet when I get there.  No way to connect computer to Ethernet here.  All wireless.  

 

Thank you so very much to you both for providing information (that is way above my comprehension) but reassuring that it is not me.  I will copy and send email to SIL.

 

And you are absolutely correct.  Frontier is not supporting DSL and will not improve service in my area.

Edited January 20 by cr8tiv1

[AlpacaBag]

Just now, cr8tiv1 said:

 

DNS is 192.

 

 

Ah, 192 is a local IP address that is only inside of your network. gotcha, so that means your computer is referencing your router as the DNS server. This means that your router is controlling that. I would advise SIL to do the other stuff in my post and see if that helps. Really hope it does.

 

Wanted to clarify a couple things:

 

1. Re: no ethernet, just wifi - that's no worries. 🙂 If your son in law runs a MTR report, it will work fine on wifi. The MTR is just a way to check if there's "intermittent connectivity" on your network.

 

Think of it like this, on your computer, when you type google.com into the browser, a few things happen. First, a DNS lookup. Your computer goes to your router and says hey, where can I find google.com? Your router may have it cached and can immediately reply and say oh it's here at 8.8.8.8. And bam, your browser loads up google.com. But sometimes, your router may not have it cached and it has to ask Frontier. So your router forwards the request to Frontier via the internet.

 

If your connection is experiencing intermittent connectivity, that request may never make it to Frontiers servers, and instead it times out. Timeouts aren't typically something you want.

 

Now, think of it from a bigger perspective. When you load a more complicated website like Princess.com, all sorts of requests are firing off behind the scenes for different things like all the images on the page, scripts that exist to help you login, all the text in the menus, and all sorts of analytics that track what you do for their marketing team *unless you opt out.

 

Imagine hundreds of requests all asking your router for "this" or "that". Your router may have some or all or none of this on hand so it has to ask Frontier. If some of those requests never make it to Frontier, the Princess website won't load correctly.

 

If in the end, there's no intermittent connectivity, then I would definitely try changing the DNS server settings in the router to something other than Frontier's DNS servers, and your SIL can definitely help with that. Cloudflare has instructions here for their DNS service, which is free https://developers.cloudflare.com/1.1.1.1/setup/router/ and Quad9, also free but with some enhanced security features, has documentation here https://docs.quad9.net/

 

This concludes our lesson on DNS today hehehe 😛 Seriously though, let me know if you have any other questions OP!

[cr8tiv1]

Now, you are speaking in language that I can understand.  Thanks for the story.  Yes, I do get a lot of "timed out" error messages.  And not just for Princess.  If I click on the browser search address bar again, that usually "fixes" the problem, except for Princess.  

 

Apple did mention that my devices are more simplistic and "should" work better than trying to access Princess through my computer.  Apps for devices are programmed differently for the lack of chip space.  (that I understood)

 

 

[AlpacaBag]

Glad to have helped. 🙂

[cr8tiv1]

Didn't log in.  Search cruises to pull up EZ Air quotes.  First attempt, got as far as being able to pull up cruise...then bumped off.

 

 

Hit address bar again to refresh.  This message popped up.

 

 

Repeat refresh

 

 

Finally got in on 5th try.  All the way to choosing flights and getting quotes on my computer.  I need to apologize to Princess.com.  They may have been the initial culprit, but Frontier DSL has replaced them as the scalawag.

 

Edited January 20 by cr8tiv1

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

FWIW I concur with AlpacaBag (great name!)... not that my agreement means anything but I just wanted to give you confidence that you are going along the right path with this.

 

Good luck 🙂 

[cr8tiv1]

Another day...just like the weather:  Wait until tomorrow. (adapted from Mark Twain)

 

I didn't do anything differently, but had no problems accessing Princess today.  I did have to prompt the address bar a couple of extra times, but fare quotes came up AND I was able to get into my account.  

 

sigh

[DHP1]

On 1/20/2024 at 1:44 AM, cr8tiv1 said:

Didn't log in.  Search cruises to pull up EZ Air quotes.  First attempt, got as far as being able to pull up cruise...then bumped off.

 

 

Hit address bar again to refresh.  This message popped up.

 

 

Repeat refresh

 

 

Finally got in on 5th try.  All the way to choosing flights and getting quotes on my computer.  I need to apologize to Princess.com.  They may have been the initial culprit, but Frontier DSL has replaced them as the scalawag.

 

When I get this message and I will refresh the page and it works for me. Using a IPad

Edited January 21 by DHP1

[Rick&Jeannie]

Tinkering with the TTL *might* make some difference with these timeouts...but that's digging way down under the hood and you *really* shouldn't have to. 

Edited January 21 by Rick&Jeannie

[cr8tiv1]

That's Greek to me...TTL?

 

Thank you to those still trying to help me out.  I'm willing to try anything (within my capabilities) to get this resolved.

 

I don't mind the time outs, as long as I can eventually get in.  It shouldn't be this frustrating though.  Planning for cruising should be enjoyable.

[AlpacaBag]

Hey there, just getting to my PC to reply to your post.

 

TTL means time to live.

In DNS terminology, it refers to 2 things:

 

1. The amount of time a entry that is part of a DNS record is valid before "root DNS servers" request an update of the record

 

or 2. the amount of time your request for "something" on the internet is valid before it times out or your computer resends the request. (Not all request types can be resent, sometimes the hard refresh is the only way)

 

I really think if you changed the DNS in your computer (for now) as an override to the DNS your router is using - which is Frontier's crappy dns - you will have a better time.

 

I can walk you through the changes on your computer, if you'd like - but keep in mind, if it does solve the problem, you'll really want your son in law to do that change to your router. Otherwise, the other devices on your wifi like your phone and tablet will still have these types of issues.

 

The easiest way I think to do this would be for me to create a video for you that does some explanation and then has very easy instructions for you to follow. Would you be open to that?

[Rick&Jeannie]

Yes...I really debated even tossing out that "TTL" reference.  (Sorry...my 30 years in IT sometimes breaks through and I just cannot keep it at bay! 😄)

 

Personally...I would change from using DHCP settings and go static IP addresses...but you have to know what to plug in for your environment.  Those in (or previously in) IT will know what I mean, so don't worry about doing this.  Doing so would allow you to manually select 8.8.8.8 as your DNS server.  (That is the DNS server that Google maintains.)  I've used it on occasion when I had issues with Medallion Net on board (pre Starlink.)

[AlpacaBag]

I actually found this video which does a great explanation https://youtu.be/Yn4E8f-L6nI?si=RZokAO37rGoFjASe

[KarmaCruisers]

I wonder if your router cached some bad dns records for princess and that’s why it couldn’t get there.

[cr8tiv1]

Would changing these settings interfere with my connections to Alexa, fire stick, and all the other smart devices I have in my home?

[AlpacaBag]

No. The changes proposed in the video only affect the device you do them on.

[Moondogy]

I'm no computer tech, but I have noticed over the past couple of weeks princess has been redoing the website. I see a new screen with different options than before and some others have reported the same thing, while others have reported no change in the website.....could this have anything to do with it??

[AlpacaBag]

10000% percent, especially if paired with OPs DNS problems from Frontier.

 

If Princess are changing what are called URIs, Uniform Resource Indicators (which are different from URLs) and Frontier isn't updating their DNS caches on a regular basis  - this could absolutely cause visitors to have a bad experience.

 

Using a better/higher performance DNS provider like Google's Public DNS, Cloudflare, Quad9, (loads of others), nets a better experience on the web in general.

Edited January 22 by AlpacaBag

[cr8tiv1]

I am so over my head.  It is working 80% of the time.  I will take that as an improvement (without me modifying any settings).  But I will take all of these suggestions to heart when I have a load of time to work with my son-in-law...remotely.  He says we "can make time to screen share).  Wish they lived closer.

 

I was hoping this would be a real quick and easy fix....or that it wasn't my problem but Princess.  

 

Thanks again @AlpacaBag for all of your suggestions.

Edited January 22 by cr8tiv1