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Midinotes's avatar
Midinotes
Joining in
12 months ago
Solved

Odd issue - website loads fine on 5G and iMac on WiFi but not on iPhone or iPad on WiFi

This problem is driving me nuts!   In the last week my iPad and iPhone, when connected to our Virgin WiFi (full fibre) will not open www.3churches.org.  They just time out.  I have deleted all website data, reset both devices, to no avail.  If I switch to 5G the website opens fine, but when on WiFi only this site will not open  (all other websites seem to be fine).  The odd thing is that my iMac which is also on the same WiFi network opens the website fine.  All devices use Safari browser.  Any ideas?

Simon

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    12 months ago

    When enabled, Apple Relay routes all your traffic via an Apple exit point, i.e. it functions much like a VPN.
    I suspect that Apple Relay also bypasses VMs Child Safe and Virus Safe web filters.

    Just keep a mental note that Apple Relay is enabled,  in case some other website or app that was absolutely fine, suddenly grinds to a halt.

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  • fibreking's avatar
    fibreking
    On our wavelength
    12 months ago

    Possibly DNS issue. Check if the Mac and the phone are using the same DNS servers? Assume you rebooted the router. Install a VPN app on the phone and try that.

  • Midinotes's avatar
    Midinotes
    Joining in
    12 months ago

    Well Apple Relay was already disabled on my iPad and iPhone - so I thought enable it and see what happens.... and it fixed it!   No idea why but at least it's fixed the issue, thank you both for helping me find a solution.

    Simon

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    12 months ago

    When enabled, Apple Relay routes all your traffic via an Apple exit point, i.e. it functions much like a VPN.
    I suspect that Apple Relay also bypasses VMs Child Safe and Virus Safe web filters.

    Just keep a mental note that Apple Relay is enabled,  in case some other website or app that was absolutely fine, suddenly grinds to a halt.

    • Midinotes's avatar
      Midinotes
      Joining in
      12 months ago

      Well great it solves the issue but not so great that Apple Relay keeps coming and going. One minute it's available, next it isn't.  Does this mean there's an issue with Virgin Media's DNS servers?   It's a pretty harmless Church website so it does make me wonder.  Are there are any decent free DNS servers I can use instead to see if that helps, or do I have to pay for a VPN?

      Thanks again Client62 🙂

      Simon

      • jbrennand's avatar
        jbrennand
        Very Insightful Person
        12 months ago

        Coudflare is 1.1.1.1  and Google 8.8.8.8  both free.

        Proton offer a decent VPN which has a very good "free" option - albeit with some limited functionality - but it does everything I need 😎

        https://protonvpn.com/free-vpn

         

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    12 months ago

    On your VM connection ( with Apple Relay OFF ) does the VM DNS return the correct IP for your website ?

    Below I perform the lookup first with Virgin DNS and then with Google Public DNS - the result for me is identical.

    C:\Users\Philip>nslookup www.3churches.org
    Server: cache1.service.virginmedia.net
    Address: 194.168.4.100

    Non-authoritative answer:
    Name: 3churches.org
    Address: 87.247.245.133
    Aliases: www.3churches.org

    C:\Users\Philip>nslookup www.3churches.org 8.8.8.8
    Server: dns.google
    Address: 8.8.8.8

    Non-authoritative answer:
    Name: 3churches.org
    Address: 87.247.245.133
    Aliases: www.3churches.org



  • Midinotes's avatar
    Midinotes
    Joining in
    12 months ago

    Hi Philip

    I get exactly the same result as you on my iMac (which works fine with 3churches.org). However not sure how I do this command line test on my iOS devices to test.  Will have to research that!

  • Midinotes's avatar
    Midinotes
    Joining in
    12 months ago

    Only slight difference on my iMac is the hash 53 after the addresses:

    simon@Simons-iMac ~ % nslookup www.3churches.org

    Server: 194.168.4.100

    Address: [REMOVED]

     

    Non-authoritative answer:

    www.3churches.org canonical name = 3churches.org.

    Name: 3churches.org

    Address: [REMOVED]

     

    simon@Simons-iMac ~ % nslookup www.3churches.org 8.8.8.8

    Server: 8.8.8.8

    Address: [REMOVED]

     

    Non-authoritative answer:

    www.3churches.org canonical name = 3churches.org.

    Name: 3churches.org

    Address: [REMOVED]

     

    [MOD EDIT: Personal and private information has been removed from this post. Please do not post personal or private information in your public posts. Please review the Forum Guidelines]

     

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    12 months ago

    #53 is just for info, 53 is the standard port number for DNS.