Why does one website fail to load on my desktop but work on my phone?
Asked by
MellowCedar42
I manage my own internet connection and there are no parental controls or intentional blocks enabled. A particular website worked normally until a few weeks ago, but now it hangs for a long time and eventually shows a connection error on my desktop. Disabling ad blockers and trying different browsers made no difference. The site still works normally on my phone using the same general connection, while other similar websites continue to load on the desktop. Windows Defender Firewall has no specific blocking rule, although it is configured to block inbound connections that do not match an allowed rule. Is that default behavior, and could it explain the problem?
Answers
Trying an alternate domain was also unsuccessful, so the issue may not be limited to one browser or ad-blocking extension. Compare the desktop’s DNS configuration with the phone, temporarily test a different DNS provider, and check whether antivirus or another security tool is filtering the connection.
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Try opening Command Prompt and running `ping pornhub.com`. Check whether the hostname resolves to an IP address and whether you receive any replies. You can also test the resolved IP in a browser, although many websites will not work correctly by IP alone because they rely on domain-based routing and HTTPS certificates.
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The ping test resulted in 100% packet loss, which suggests the desktop is not receiving ICMP replies from that host. That does not prove the website itself is blocked, since many servers ignore ping, but it points toward checking DNS settings, security software, network-level filtering, or the desktop’s route to the site. The Windows Firewall statement about unsolicited inbound connections being blocked is normal and generally would not prevent ordinary outbound web browsing.
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