[Mark McDonnell]

Hi!

This is a perplexing technical problem. For the last couple of days I've only been able to access Eratosphere via my phone and then only when my WiFi is turned off (so via my mobile data). I can't access it through my home broadband connection at all, either on my phone, laptop or ipad. I just get a 'this site can't be reached' message on all devices. All other websites seem to work! Anyone else having this issue or have any ideas?

Mark

[Cally Conan-Davies]

Yes! I've mentioned it in passing on a couple of poem threads. I can use it on my home broadband, but I often can't access the site, or it drops out when I'm using it. Same message you're getting, Sharkey.

[Mark McDonnell]

Hi Cally

Yeah, I've often found the Sphere to be spottier than other websites, but just in the last 48 hours or so it's disappeared completely for me! The only way I can type this is on my little phone screen with my WiFi turned off. And I have a Pay As You Go phone so doing that costs me money even sitting in my own house.

Grrr.

Hopefully it'll magically fix itself, as these things sometimes seem to.

(btw I did know that Heaney poem. Brilliant )

[Cally Conan-Davies]

It's been worse the last 24 hrs for me, too. But not lost completely. It comes back when I check again a few hours later. Then it goes again. I lost two replies I'd typed into the box.... reminder to always write on a separate document.

(Isn't that what we're after? The marvellous?)

I hope you resolve your prob! I'm waiting for your next poem . . .

[Jim Moonan]

.
Do you login via an icon or by manually typing in ablemuse.com address? I've had problems logging in using the icon and needed to type in address to get in. Also, it never hurts to shut down your laptop/computer entirely for a few minutes and then reboot and see if that jogs things back to normal.

When I was a 10 year-old bad boy we used to kick the coke machine in just the right spot and out came a coke. In my defense, it often ate my nickels and dimes : ) So you might want to give your laptop a whack. Or give it to a 10 year-old to fix.
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[Roger Slater]

Have you tried it on a different WiFi network? It's possible that it's a problem with your own WiFi router. I'd try unplugging your modem/router, waiting a minute, then plugging it back in. Then give it two or three minutes to reconnect with the internet. Then see if the problem persists. If it does, take your iPad to a Starbucks or anywhere else with WiFi and see if it works there.

[Mark McDonnell]

It's back! After two days it came back a few hours after complaining about it ha. Roger, I had tried switching the router off and back on. This time I left it off for a good three minutes and that seemed to do the trick. Or it was a complete coincidence, I dunno. It's all witchcraft to me.
Still weird though, as the Sphere was the only site affected.

Anyway. All good again at the moment!

Thanks all.

[Orwn Acra]

I've been having the same problem.

[Roger Slater]

Glad it worked. I figured since it was happening on all your devices the problem must be with the network. I don't really get it, but it has to do with DNS numbers, I think. They get assigned to websites by the modem/router and sometimes they don't work and the only way to shake them loose and get a new one is to switch off and on (both the modem and the router).

[Aaron Novick]

Most likely, it has something to do with Alex's anti-bot measures, and your home network temporarily was on a banned IP. I had a same issue a few times; it came and went and there was nothing I could do on my end to fix it.