no access to BBC website

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I'm new to this forum and I don't know if this is the right section to post this.

I have a Mac Book Pro in Spain and as of 2 weeks ago I've been unable to access any bbc websites using any browser, at all.

My father, in the same house & same wifi, has a PC and accesses the BBC website without problems, although he did report it down for a few hours a few days ago.

I can't find any information on this on mac websites, or other internet forums, although I have seen that other people with macs have the same problem. Is it because of an update that's incompatible with the BBC site? Or a BBC update incompatible with mac?

I hope someone can help. I normally access the BBC website every day.
 
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Welcome to Mac-Forums falcons!

I can confirm that for an hour or 2 the other day the BBC website was down due to a technical (although more human) error on the server side.
However I am currently able to access it on my MacBook Pro.

Could you provide the specs of your MacBook Pro and what OS and browser you are using for us?

Cheers
- Simon
 
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Hello Simon,

Thank you for your reply. It's a Mac Book Pro 5,5. Processor: 2.26Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo. I am running OS X 10.6.7.

I tried with Safari and with Firefox, with the same result.

I just rebooted again, and can now access with Safari, but only the text, no images, graphics, etc. When I click on the links, I get the same message as before - Safari can't find the server - or else nothing happens at all, nothing loads.

Sophie
 
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Hi Sophie,

Try resetting Safari to clear the cache and saved data. To do this open Safari, go to Safari > Reset Safari... check all the boxes then click the Reset button. Close Safari then re-open it and try again.
Post back the result.

Cheers
- Simon
 
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Thank you, Simon. I tried this - now I am back to not being able to access the BBC website (any of them) at all. This is the message I get, almost instantaneously:

Safari can’t open the page “http://www.bbc.co.uk/” because Safari can’t find the server “www.bbc.co.uk”.


Sophie
 
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Have you tried resetting your router (turn off and on again?)

Have a look at your Firewall settings through System Preferences > Security, if the Firewall is on then turn it off (no need for it really anyway, and also the reason Apple ships it's products with it turned off by default)

If this is not the case then next thing to try is to create a new account through System Preferences > Accounts. Create one with Admin privileges. And try it through that account. If it works then it could be that there is an application conflicting with your browsers, like a speed downloader or such.

Post back with the results.
Sorry it sounds a little long-winded to solve the problem but it's a case of ruling all possibilites out.

Cheers
- Simon
 
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Yes, I turned my router on and off a few times lately.

I don't have firewall on.

This is getting more and more strange. I created a new account, and logged into that, and was able to access the BBC website. Then came back to this (my usual) account, and was also able to access the BBC news website. I clicked on several links - radio, tv all working - but when I returned to the BBC news site, once again it was just the titles and no possibility to click on the news links, except one which gave me the 'Safari can't access' message. There seems to be no logic in all this.

Thanks for you help!
 
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Oh, I just closed and opened Safari and once again, I'm getting the Safari error message for the whole site.

How can I find out what is conflicting? I've not downloaded any new applications in the past few weeks that could explain this. The BBC website always worked fine until the end of March.
 
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Sounds like it could be a DNS corruption somewhere - have a quick look at your preferences> network> advanced> DNS and see what you've got in there.
 
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I'm also having the exact same problem (I also live in Spain), it started a couple of weeks ago, and when i searched Google it came up with a blank, it has just happened to me again tonight and google led me to this thread, very weird that the timing is the same.
I have recently taken my macbook pro to the USA, Switzerland, and the UK, and it has worked for the BBC at all times.
It isn't a constant problem, just more often than not. Sometimes it will find the page.
My girlfriend has a PC using the same wifi as me and that accesses the website just fine. Haven't a clue as to the problem, any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Try a different DNS provider - openDNS is 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220
Add those addresses in the DNS section of your network prefs as I detailed above.
 
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O.k. bbc site not working now.... just adding the DNS as detailed by northrnchimp, and hey presto BBC website works a treat.... Thanks for that!
Will there be any downside to having these DNS's in? I was working with a guy earlier who couldn't access web pages on certain networks until we deleted the DNS's, a i likely to experience this too when i'm on different networks?
Thanks heaps though Northrnchimp!
 
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OpenDNS is very reliable, I've used it on literally hundreds of different networks in about 10 countries with no problems at all.
 
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northrnchimp is spot-on correct with the suggestion of inputting the open DNS addresses, well done and thanks. I too live in Spain and had this "no access to BBC website" problem on my iPhone 3G with latest software updates etc. The problem began after my return from New York last month and only on the BBC. Anyway, all fine now it seems.
 
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Or maybe not...iPhone 3G now accesses the BBC site just fine when I have access to wifi but not on 3G when I´m out and about. Anyone have any ideas on this?
 
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Thanks Northrnchimp - brilliant. I too live in Spain and had lost the BBC, although sometimes I subscribe to MyExpatnet for a month or two and can get it that way. However, today, I looked in Internet Explorer (I use Parallels), I tried BBC.co.uk on that and had no problems. I am confused as to why I need to use the DNS as you described for Safari, because using Parallels means that Windows is really using my Mac settings. What's it all about?
 

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