Hello @xin9292 

What error message do you get when opening the website and can you put the url here so others can have s look?

And which modem do you have?

hi @Waqqas  thanks for your reply

the error is simply ”sites can not be reached” .  url for example: fanfou.com

modem is Zyxel T-50

Hello @xin9292 

I have a Zyxel too and can access this website via T-Mobile WiFi.

I am not using the default DNS servers but cloudflare, maybe it's a solution for you.

Log in to 192.168.1.1 with admin and password on the back of the Zyxel.

Go to menu > netwerkinstellingen > thuisnetwerk > LAN configuratie (first tab) > look under DNS waarden and click on statische DNS. Fill in server 1 and 2, 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1, click on toepassen and restart your modem.

Should work.

hi @Waqqas 

i did what you said but problem still exists 

it only happens 5 days ago. before that i had no issue accessing these Chinese websites. I also asked my friends who use t-mobile, neither of them has similar problems.

@xin9292 

Seems like a problem with only your IP.

@Waqqas

looks like it  any idea how this could be fixed?

I tried to call the customer service and the lady didn’t have many clues. She said everything looks normal from her side

Hi @xin9292, thank you for the additional information and thanks for testing @Waqqas. If you’re the only one experiencing this issue then it almost looks like your IP might be blocked but over multiple websites that would be quite exceptional. Can you still reach the websites through your mobile phone for example? The solution would be to either use a VPN service (which costs money) or you could try disconnecting the modem for 24 hours. This will force a network reset in some cases which results in a new external IP which might solve the issue. This is not a 100% waterproof solution though but it might be worth a shot.

hi @Brian 

Thanks for the reply! 

Yes the website can be reached by my mobile phone with 4G.

It feels more like I’m blocked by T-mobile to access these Chinese IP websites rather than my IP is blocked by these websites. I don’t know if I’m making any sense, probably not. 

I called the customer service again and this issue is submitted to technical department. The processing time is 9 days…

So in the meantime I’ll disconnect the modem for 24 hours to see if it works. cheers.

hi @Brian . 24 have passed and the problem still exists… the external IP address didn't change. Is it possible that a T-mobile technician can manually change my IP address?

hi @Brian 

i did a test on my phone using the app "Speedtest” to check my internet connection to different locations in the world. here's the results:

using t-mobile wifi: have issue connecting servers in China; no issue connecting servers in Japan, Korea, India, Europe, US…

using 4G: no issue connecting servers everywhere

Can you do a trace route to the website you are trying to access.

maybe we can see if the problem is inside the T-Mobile network or somewhere else.

hi @TechRacing93 it's a great idea!

I traceroute fanfou.com using T-mobile and 4G network respectively. Snapshots are in previous posts.

with T-mobile, it gets stuck in 202.97.xx.xx (if I traceroute to some other Chinese websites, it also stops at 202.97.xx.xx). With 4G network, it gets through this node. 

202.97.xx.xx appears to be a backbone network in China. Now I have this theory that maybe my T-mobile IP is blocked by some firewall installed in China network. We know China has this notorious Great Firewall that censors everything. Maybe my T-mobile IP is on the blacklist of that Firewall … It's just a theory from a guy barely knows how Internet works.

I highly think if T-mobile can allocate me another IP, the issue will be gone. 

If you switch off and on your mobile phone, the IP adress will change. For mobile subscriptions it is dynamic.

So, the Chinese firewall would than block a whole subnet of t-mobile. They can not reach our to the hosting provider of the website you want to visit to ask for a deblock of their range. You as user of that website could ask the owner of the domain to help out.

hi @eric_2  I don't know if the Chinese firewall block a whole subnet of t-mobile because other t-mobile user i konw don't experience this issue. (it could still be a subnet, I just don’t know anyone from that subnet. And most of them won’t notice this issue as they don’t need to access Chinese IPs)

And it's not some Chinese IPs I can't visit, I think it's all of them (obviously i can't test all IPs, but each every one I tested I can not visit)

202.97.xx.xx is a backbone network, which is like a first gate into Chinese network. I can't pass this level using t-mobile. That's probably the reason why I can't access any Chinese IP. 

If there's any firewall at this level (202.97.xx.xx),… it's unlinkly that I can't ask them to de-block my IP because a)i'm not sure which party I should contact with and b)it could be at a government level...

I used a google extension “anoymoX” to mask my IP. Then I can access the Chinese website which I previously can’t… so ...yeah… I think my t-mobile fixed IP is blocked by the Chinese “Great Firewall” 

@xin9292 That's a great workaround, but quite unfortunate that it has to come this far. It appears as though your IP, or perhaps a series of IP's within the same range, has been blocked (at least partially) by the Chinese firewall - just like you mentioned. 

hi @Jason it’s a workaround but apparently not a solution...as the internet speed drops dramatically with IP mask.

I have to ask if it’s possible that T-mobile manually allocates a different IP for me.

@xin9292 There's no surefire way to manually allocate a different IP. The only option would be to either force an IP switch by keeping the modem disconnected (that includes disconnecting it from a power socket) for at least 24 hours, or by performing a factory reset - the latter I strongly advise not to however, considering the fact that it might disrupt the current batch migrations to a different BNG-server.

Like my colleague Brian, I'd much rather advise on using option one (keeping the modem disconnected for 24 hours) or using a VPN. Good luck, hope this helps!

@Jason I tried disconnect the modem (DSL cable and power socket )for 27 hours. still the same IP.

I read some post from this forum that changing router MAC may also leads to new IP

I bet replace a new modem can gurantee a new IP

@xin9292 Replacing a modem solely for the purpose of changing the IP-address isn't a valid reason, sorry.

The best option right now is to either acquire a VPN (NordVPN for example), or by asking the domain owner to help you out. Here's a list of the ten best-tested VPN's of 2020. Good luck, hope it works out!

@Jason thanks for the reply. Today the problem mysteriously disappeared. With the same IP, i’m not blocked anymore …  

therefore, yay~!

That's fantastic news @xin9292, seriously!

Enjoy your unencumbered web-services from now on and if ever you need help, please don't hesitate to ask. Have an amazing weekend and stay safe!