Speedy.uk.net - Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

This page intends to help you diagnose any problems you have with your account. If anything is wrong, if you can't upload or view your website, then try the checks on this page to determine what is wrong. It may save you both time and money.

Before trying anything on this page, ensure that you have read Frequently Asked Questions and Error Codes Explained. Either of these pages may provide an easier solution to your problem.

Using Ping To Check Connections

Ping, a small utility provided with your computer, is very useful to establish if you have a connection to the Internet website you are trying to contact. It will give you a clue as to where the problem lies. What ping does is to send the website a tiny piece of data which the website then returns. It is styled after the radar 'ping' of a submarine or similar, in that it is the reflection of the data which is important and can give a lot of information about the world outside your computer.

Firstly you will need to open a command prompt window (or MS-DOS prompt). With Windows 95, 98 or ME, this is under Start->Programs->MS-DOS Prompt. On Windows 2000 or XP, Start->All Programs->Command Prompt. On a Unix style OS, open any command shell.

At the command prompt type ping 195.188.155.188 and press Enter/Return (the number represents www.speedy.uk.net).

You should see the following information:

Pinging 195.188.155.188 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 195.188.155.188: bytes=32 time=53ms TTL=49
Reply from 195.188.155.188: bytes=32 time=59ms TTL=49
Reply from 195.188.155.188: bytes=32 time=67ms TTL=49
Reply from 195.188.155.188: bytes=32 time=68ms TTL=49

Ping statistics for 195.188.155.188:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 53ms, Maximum = 68ms, Average = 61ms

This tells us that your PC can see the webserver across the Internet.

If you do not have any replies, then the route from your PC to the server is broken :

Pinging 195.188.155.188 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 195.188.155.188:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

The next thing to try is pinging a domain name to see if your computer can perform Domain Lookups. This is the process of translating a domain name into the physical IP address. If there is a fault here, you can use the numerical version of the address (which we pinged above) to access the site.

Type ping www.speedy.uk.net and you should see:

Pinging web.speedy.uk.net [195.188.155.188] with 32 bytes of data:

Ping statistics for 195.188.155.188:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 53ms, Maximum = 68ms, Average = 61ms

The top line indicates that the name www.speedy.uk.net has successfully been translated into the IP address 195.188.155.188 and there is a path to the server. If you do not receive this, then you will get a message like Ping request could not find host www.speedy.uk.net. Please check the name and try again. may appear, indicating that your computer cannot perform DNS lookups. If you are certain that the domain name you typed exists, then please redirect this error to your Internet Service Provider.

If the domain name has only just been registered, then please note - it can take up to 48 hours or more to be seen all around the world.

If www.speedy.uk.net can be found, you can next try your own web address - such as www.your_user_name.speedy.uk.net. If you have given the system 48 hours to update world wide and your address fails which the main site works, then this could indicate a problem with the Speedy.uk.net servers. In this case, leave us a note on the feedback form and we will investigate for you.

Using Telnet To Check Web Servers

If you can successfully ping the server but still cannot access your website or email, then you may consider some further testing using Telnet.

Telnet is a program which is readily available on all operating systems and is useful for diagnosing connection to Internet services to give error codes and feedback that your normal program does not provide.

Using Telnet To Check For Web Connectivity

Type telnet www.speedy.uk.net 80 into the command prompt and press enter.

Once you are connected to a http server, a blank screen occurs. You then enter the commands, then press enter twice to send the commands.

Try typing EHLO and press enter twice. (You may not be able to see what you are typing, do not worry about this)
The html of the page is then sent indicating that the webserver is doing its job correctly.

If you cannot connect to the server using telnet, then this indicates that the connection may be faulty to the server. Try the ping method to establish if this is ok.
If you still cannot connect, then this would indicate the possibility of firewall settings. If you or your systems are running a firewall, check with your firewall documentation or systems admin that you have access to view web pages.

Using Telnet To Check Email Servers

Similar steps to the above apply, only change the port number what we are going to use.
Example: telnet mail.speedy.uk.net 110
(110 = the port number for a POP 3 email server)

You should receive the message: +OK popd-2.2.2 ready

If you do not see this message, then check there is a connection to the server using the Ping method above.
If you still cannot connect, then this would indicate the possibility of firewall settings. If you or your systems are running a firewall, check with your firewall documentation or systems admin that you have access to view web pages.

At the prompt, enter USER username and press enter, replacing 'username' with the username you selected at the time of registration.
NOTE: if you press delete or backspace at anytime, your command will not be recognised. Press Enter and type the command again without error!

If the username is recognised you will receive the message:
+OK enter password for username

Type PASSWORD your password and press enter (obviously substitute the words 'your password' for your actual password supplied at registration).

This will now authenticate your username and password combination. If either are wrong, you will receive an error message.
Upon successful login you should see something like this:
+OK sending list ending with a '.' on a line by itself

We have now established a connection with the server and know that our username and password is correct.
Type QUIT and press enter to end the connection.