ping and browser don't agree

pmennen said:

I'm using windows 7 so ping isn't enabled by default, so I enabled it from the firewall.
I proved that ping is working by pinging google from eToolz which reported this:

Host information for "google.com":
Host name:
IP address: 74.125.224.147
Country: United States (US)

Sending 3 ping(s) with 32 byte to "74.125.224.147", timeout is 2000 ms:

1. reply from 74.125.224.147: 17 ms, Ok.
2. reply from 74.125.224.147: 16 ms, Ok.
3. reply from 74.125.224.147: 16 ms, Ok.

3 Ping(s) sent (3 correct, 0 failed, 0 timed out).
------------------------------------------------------

Then I tried pinging delorme.com which reported this:

Host information for "delorme.com":
Host name: GPS, Digital Map Data, and Mapping Solutions - DeLorme
IP address: 208.65.206.22

Sending 3 ping(s) with 32 byte to "208.65.206.22", timeout is 2000 ms:

1. reply from 208.65.206.22: timed out.
2. reply from 208.65.206.22: timed out.
3. reply from 208.65.206.22: timed out.

3 Ping(s) sent (0 correct, 0 failed, 3 timed out).

Why does this time out? I haven't blocked them with the firewall.
At one point I did block them using the hosts file but I have removed that.

What is even more confusing is if I enter:
GPS, Digital Map Data, and Mapping Solutions - DeLorme
or GPS, Digital Map Data, and Mapping Solutions - DeLorme
into firefox, it brings up Delorme's web site.
What the heck is going on here?

The reason for this investigation is that I was trying to block
access to this particular website (delorme) by putting them
into the hosts file, however it simply did not work.
I was able to block other sites this way however.

~Paul

pmennen said:

What is even more confusing is if I enter:
GPS, Digital Map Data, and Mapping Solutions - DeLorme
or GPS, Digital Map Data, and Mapping Solutions - DeLorme
into firefox, it brings up Delorme's web site.
What the heck is going on here?
~Paul

I see that reviewing my post (in html formatting) it is not easy to
see what I entered into firefox. What I should have said is:

What is even more confusing is if I enter:
"h t t p : / / 2 0 8 . 6 5 . 2 0 6 . 2 2 /"
or
"w w w . d e l o r m e . c o m"

~Paul

Paul it is simple. Ping uses a different port the the browser's (port 80) so you may time out on ping.

xarden said:

delorme.com timed out when I pinged pang panged pung sent an IMCP request.
So its possible that the server is configured to actively refuse to respond to such requests. Which is a normal security measure, to prevent hackers or bots from portscanning the server.

Ok, some more experiments that also have confusing results:

I added these three lines to the end of my hosts file:

127.0.0.1 delorme.com
127.0.0.1 208.65.205.22
127.0.0.1 208.65.206.22

Then when I ping delorme.com I get:

Host information for "delorme.com":
Host name: AVA
IP address: 127.0.0.1

Sending 3 ping(s) with 32 byte to "127.0.0.1", timeout is 2000 ms:

1. reply from 127.0.0.1: 0 ms, Ok.
2. reply from 127.0.0.1: 0 ms, Ok.
3. reply from 127.0.0.1: 0 ms, Ok.

3 Ping(s) sent (3 correct, 0 failed, 0 timed out).

------------------------------------------------------

This is what I expected because of the hosts file entry.
However then if I ping either of the IP addresses associated with this domain
I get:
Host information for "208.65.205.22":
Host name: GPS, Digital Map Data, and Mapping Solutions - DeLorme
IP address: 208.65.205.22

Sending 3 ping(s) with 32 byte to "208.65.205.22", timeout is 2000 ms:

1. reply from 208.65.205.22: timed out.
2. reply from 208.65.205.22: timed out.
3. reply from 208.65.205.22: timed out.

3 Ping(s) sent (0 correct, 0 failed, 3 timed out).

--------------------------------------------------------

So why doesn't this get translated to the 127.0.0.1 address as well?

Further more, firefox has no trouble accessing the Delorme web site using either the delorme.com address or either of the two numerical IP addresses. Dose this mean that the hosts file simply doesn't work, or is Delorme doing something so clever that it is not possible to squelch them?

I've seen hundreds of hits to searches like "hosts file not working" but none of them seem to be able to explain what I am seeing.

Any ideas?

~Paul

xarden said:

run from command prompt:
ipconfig /flushdns & ipconfig /registerdns
then repeat your test after a short wait

Hi xarden. Thanks for the response.

I entered the two ipconfig commands, and waited an hour.

No change in either the behavior of the pings that I mentioned in my previous
post, or in the response of firefox to those URLs. Any other ideas?

~Paul

pmennen said:

xarden said:

delorme.com timed out when I pinged pang panged pung sent an IMCP request.
So its possible that the server is configured to actively refuse to respond to such requests. Which is a normal security measure, to prevent hackers or bots from portscanning the server.

Ok, some more experiments that also have confusing results:

I added these three lines to the end of my hosts file:

127.0.0.1 delorme.com this points any request for delorme.com to a LOCAL IP (not good)
127.0.0.1 208.65.205.22 This points any requests for this IP to local
127.0.0.1 208.65.206.22 This does also

Then when I ping delorme.com I get:

Host information for "delorme.com":
Host name: AVA
IP address: 127.0.0.1

Sending 3 ping(s) with 32 byte to "127.0.0.1", timeout is 2000 ms:

1. reply from 127.0.0.1: 0 ms, Ok.
2. reply from 127.0.0.1: 0 ms, Ok.
3. reply from 127.0.0.1: 0 ms, Ok.

3 Ping(s) sent (3 correct, 0 failed, 0 timed out).

------------------------------------------------------

This is what I expected because of the hosts file entry.
However then if I ping either of the IP addresses associated with this domain
I get:
Host information for "208.65.205.22":
Host name: GPS, Digital Map Data, and Mapping Solutions - DeLorme
IP address: 208.65.205.22

Sending 3 ping(s) with 32 byte to "208.65.205.22", timeout is 2000 ms:

1. reply from 208.65.205.22: timed out.
2. reply from 208.65.205.22: timed out.
3. reply from 208.65.205.22: timed out.

3 Ping(s) sent (0 correct, 0 failed, 3 timed out).

--------------------------------------------------------

So why doesn't this get translated to the 127.0.0.1 address as well?

Further more, firefox has no trouble accessing the Delorme web site using either the delorme.com address or either of the two numerical IP addresses. Dose this mean that the hosts file simply doesn't work, or is Delorme doing something so clever that it is not possible to squelch them?

I've seen hundreds of hits to searches like "hosts file not working" but none of them seem to be able to explain what I am seeing.

Any ideas?

~Paul

See the above reference to Local IPs above.