PayPal accessible only if resetting the router/modem

Clearing cookies, using different browsers, resetting everything does not help...
Only by resetting the modem is PayPal site finally accessible sometimes. It will not load unless I reset the router/modem sometimes.



How come these things?

malware jacked your hosts file?
open it in notepad and see if anything funky is going down.

MTU screwed up?

can you ping paypal site... see if theres any packet loss.

sacrifice a chicken maybe?

sounds like a weird mystery in the making

No, not the Hosts file.
Ping when, when it's not working or when it is working?


Didn't help. Next poster.

when its not working I suppose... see if its the browser being a nobby.

I was just throwing out buzz words

wonder if it cant establish a secure connection for some reason

I tried a general google-fu... seems you're the pioneer of this issue

It isn't the browser. I tried three browsers.
Yes it can't establish a connection for some reason
Not the pioneer, here's just one hit on the same issue:
http://community.ebay.com/t5/Payments/Can-t-get-Paypal-online/td-p/19213511

It's ok if you can't Google the answer
It appears to be router related...

try changing your router's DNS to google dns (8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4)?

OK. Maybe that will help.
Thank you.

If you scroll down that link you provided theres some ssl fixes for different browsers.

Only PayPal is affected and no other web site I use and the connection with PayPal cannot be established on Firefox and Chrome and Internet Explorer.
Resetting modem/router fixes the problem. Will try the DNS fix next time it happens.

Symptoms point to an issue with your router settings to some extent. Next time it happens, try it from a different device on your network. Also try to telnet to PayPal on port 80 and 443.

I can fix the problem (which only rarely happens) by simply resetting the router - but I would like to zero in as to what the cause is.
You should probably post how to telnet to PayPal on port 80 and 443 and what that would tell us.

In a command prompt type 'telnet paypal.com 80'
If you get a connection, then you can connect to the site over httpand https (80,443 respectively) which would rule out your browser. Did you try another device on your network? Restarting the router fixing the issue means it's most likely not an explicit setting because settings are persistent. It could be something to do with the way your machine is creating the request and sending it to your router. I don't have a logical reason what would cause it, but testing these scenarios will help narrow down the exact criteria that cause your issue.

Tbh, sounds an awful lot like malware, but could easily be something like a routing issue for your ISP or their DNS servers.

I believe this was persistent for all devices on the network.
It may be a while before it happens again at which point I will test everything mentioned and bump this thread.

It showed up again. I know it is a router issue because I can repliacate the issue on my phone if Wi-Fi is used but the phone connects to PayPal fine if phone data connection is used instead of Wi-Fi through router.


Of the things suggested, I tried going to DOS and using that command but I got:
'telnet' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
Then I figured how to install telnet client and then I got a blank screen with a flashing cursor in DOS after I ran
telnet www.paypal.com 80
telnet paypal.com 443 gives a blank black screen in DOS.

Setting DNS 1 to 8.8.8.8
Setting DNS 2 to 8.8.4.4

did help but in order for those DNS settings to take affect, router was automatically restarted.

Well restarting the router without doing anything fixes the problem but those new DNS entries remain so we will see if the problem returns eventually with new DNS settings.

EDIT: Problem returned as soon as I bought something on eBay and clicked to be taken to PayPal to pay.
Problem completely fixed by restarting router.
Once again this *only* affects the PayPal site, nothing else.


By the way, someone posted earlier this month in this thread and posted that restarting their router fixes this same exact problem for them too. This is not unique to my system, as proven here:
http://community.ebay.com/t5/Payments/Can-t-get-Paypal-online/td-p/19213511/page/2

On my phone, I had no problems connecting to PayPal using data but using Wi-Fi I did.
Interestingly this is what was happening on phone's Chrome browser:




But this is what was happening on phone's native browser, it was redirecting PayPal.com to BillMeLater.com [a paypal web site, but not paypal.com]

Weird.

Typically if you click on advanced, it will then allow you to go to that page after another click (first screen shot). This isn't mobile, but the concept is the same. Once you click on that link, another link shows up below it and should allow you to access the site you are trying to access...Not much help I know, but I didn't see a mention if you clicked through it that you could access it wirelessly so I figured that was worth a mention.

Have you tried another router yet? That seems like a logical next step (assuming you have another of course).

Yes. I will switch routers.

I made a purchase on Paypal, then tried to make another one and it happened.
I went to chrome to see what it would do there and this is what showed up:
(I am NOT using Wi-Fi, direct cable link to connect.)