Whirlpool

Does anyone else having issues with DNS / proxy server with TPG? I am based in Sydney and been experiencing intermittent connection issues with TPG.
The modem says its connected but I can't browse anything. If I typed in IP address manually I can connect though. I suspect its the proxy problem as if I set up proxy manually with the IP address I can browse the internet but it also doesn't last very long. I need to keep changing proxy from time to time. I have one other friend having the same problem.
Calling TPG technical support is hopeless, I end up spending 1 hour for nothing. They told me to hard reset my modem and make me lose all my modem settings and still have the same problem. I was told its been escalated to level 2 and will get a phone call within 24 hours which I never received.
Does anyone else have same issues and manage to resolve it?

Thanks.

could be related to a problem I'm having with Ventrillo not being able to connect to the server. I'm in Yass, but traffic is routed via sydney.

I've turned my manual proxy off to be able to browse the net, currently set to proxy1.tpg

I have had problems with this for the past week
I am using a public DNS server instead of the TPG one and the problem is resolved
here is the IP of the server I am using
Primary 67.138.54.100
Secondary 207.225.209.66

I was using the Cisco DNS world server but it developed problems today so I switched to the above server.

Hope this helps

Don't call TPG, it's part of the wonderfull service, i suppose you get what you pay for:

1. Poor internet speeds and nearly non existant web browsing from about 7:30pm till 12am.
2. Enhanced call center experience, talk to there always helpful staff in Malaysia or India.
3. Always answer a call within 20 rings, that's if you don't get a message and disconnected.

oh and don't say anything about a slow connection, it isn't the proxy's fault, it really is one of the following:

1. Modem – Is it TPG certified????????
2. Phone line noise – See everyone talks on the phone from 7:30pm till 12am and the exchange gets overloaded, or it could be line noise!!!! Let's give you half the speed you have with the same result :)
3. Modem – If it isn't point 2 then it just has to be point 1 again........Oh and it can't be our proxy's, if you see the following message REMEMBER it is your MODEM:

ERROR
The requested URL could not be retrieved

While trying to retrieve the URL: /forum-replies.cfm?t=1001714

The following error was encountered:

• Socket Failure

The system returned:

(24) Too many open files

The proxy server is unable to create a TCP socket, presumably due to excessive load. Please retry your request.

IS YOUR MODEM CERTIFIED!!!!!!! <-- sorry that is my line just to make things clear.

Please contact TPG Helpdesk or the cache administrator and quote your dialup/ADSL location and IP address if you feel this error is incorrect. If you are reporting this error to the cache administrator you must include this entire error message in your email. Without the correct details we may be unable to resolve your issue.

Your cache administrator is tpg-proxy@tpgi.com.au
Generated 30/Jun/2008:21:24:25 +1000 by syd-pow-pr7.tpgi.com.au

when will you people learn...its NEVER TPG's fault. The only way to get this issue resolved is to send a complaint to the TIO

jw1976 writes...

While trying to retrieve the URL: /forum-replies.cfm?t=1001714

works fine here.oh how did you post this if tpg proxy does not work on wp ....

nice try

Stoneyyy writes...

works fine here.oh how did you post this if tpg proxy does not work on wp

maybe he used someone elses computer thats with an ISP that actually works un like TPG

Quit trolling, you knob.

The proxies/network are up and down like an Englishman's bowling ffs. Timed out? Just refresh the page.

Sean Rodden writes...

you knob.

Nice name to call me..

The proxies/network are up and down like an Englishman's bowling ffs.

No they are NOT i am having no problems and neither are you, your in here posting a fair so it must be working ok

Timed out? Just refresh the page.

Not getting it

Just because you're not having problems doesn't mean that others are not. I and many others (judging by the active threads) have been having plenty of problems with pages timing out, connections being severed and so forth. To suggest that if someone can post here means that their connection is fine is either trolling or just plain ignorant. I've seen enough of your posts to know that you're not an idiot therefore your post of "well you're posting here, nice try" is just a troll. Act like a knob, people will call you a knob.

Yes at the moment it's working mostly OK but I'm still getting occasional timeouts both here and while surfing other sites. Many more than I was getting a week or two ago and many more than on my work ADSL links.

Stoneyyy writes...

i am having no problems

everyone stop complaining, stoneyyy is fine so we are all wrong, when are all you fan boi's going to realise that just because your connection is fine, it doesnt mean others arnt experiencing some broblems, when are you going to realise that the vast majority have gone through the TPG hoop of testing, re testing, trying different equipment, getting telsta to test the lines, buying modems, spending hours on the phone to the help desk, sent our usernames and THE PROBLEM IS STILL HERE!!!!!

surly the law of averages come into this, if lots of people complain about the same thing, here and on TPG's forums, then take some people away that have configured their equipment wrong, the ones left may just have a legitimate issue

your in here posting a fair so it must be working ok

it just took me around 15 seconds to open this to reply, if thats what you constitute as ok then you have very poor standards

billyking writes...

the vast majority

omg most of tpgs 800,000 customers wow

surly the law of averages come into this

Ok lets look at your posting history. why have ypu avoided seeking help through the correct channels for your issues ?

"it doesnt mean others arnt experiencing some broblems, when are you going to realise that the vast majority have gone through the TPG hoop of testing"

erm dont twist my words, I never said ALL TPG customers

Stoneyyy writes...

Ok lets look at your posting history. why have ypu avoided seeking help through the correct channels for your issues ?

sigh once again just for you.....

1. Ive tested all equipment including another computer and modem, bought a new modem, all this more than once
2. Ive had telstra test the lines
3. Ive emailed TPG, sent my username, spent hours on the phone
4. I rang the maker of my modem, which by the way cost $260 when my other modem WORKED FINE!!!
5. Sent a letter to the TIO, which im doing again

the reason I dont send my details to IanC or Jason A is because...wait for it....I ALREADY DID!!! and they just give the TPG spin, oh it must be your equipment, now re read my points above, see the circle, can you see how frustrating this is for the ones experiencing this problem? no of course you cant because your connection is fine.

TPG has got a problem some where and they wont admit it, actually Cathy L has TWICE, Its like some of you belong to a cult

I read posts like this all he time here, and all justified. Actually i was having big problems with my browsing. What peeves me off is that for those that are technically minded we can see it is the proxies causing the slowness. The people that don't know go out and buy extra equipment to test for a problem that a new device is NOT going to fix.

Just accept that the proxies are being hammered and spend some money and either upgrade or add more but don't expect your customers that are using your service because they may not have the dough to go elsewhere to spend hard earned cash to troubleshoot a internal problem.

Some can afford it but others cannot and it is already a struggle for most, noone is going to sue you for being honest, being dishonest is actually worse and will cause you more issues and distrust later.

Fix your network TPG, your a business for crying out loud.

jw1976 writes...

we can see it is the proxies causing the slowness.

I disagree, where is there actual real proof its actually the proxies causing slowness... where are the real technical facts no one seems to be ever able to produce them.

Problems can only be fixed when the REAL facts are presented then the problem can be found, just calling everything a proxy issue is immature and serves NO benefit what so ever

i think type ip = work, type words = not work

dns problem?

it is DNS problem, but when I set proxy manually the DNS resolve by itself? I think somehow one of the TPG proxy couldn't connect to TPG DNS server? is that even possible?
Anyway I now use opendns server and all working fine. Thanks for the suggestions, no thanks to TPG customer support. There should be customer support for more technical customer I think.
It just leaves me in frustration having to go through unnecessary steps when calling TPG, it seems like they can't be flexible listening to customer input and having all callers goes through series of questions to tick.

Stoneyyy writes...

I disagree, where is there actual real proof its actually the proxies causing slowness... where are the real technical facts no one seems to be ever able to produce them.

Fact 1:
Certain websites cannot be reached for extended periods each day (usually evenings/overnight).

example: www.hotfrog.com.au (error HTTP 404)

Fact 2:
Other aspects of the net connection appear to work fine (eg, email, MSN, browsing to other sites)

Fact 3:

By MANUALLY CHANGING the proxyhost setting in the web browser configuration (Firefox and Internet Explorer) the unreachable sites are immediately reachable.

eg. change from default "direct" or "autodetect" to proxyhost for HTTP "proxy1.tpg.com.au" (port 3128)

FACT 4:
When the browser is set to default (and not reaching problem sites such as Hotfrog) a proxy ID test is performed at http://www.lagado.com/proxy-test to identify the apparent proxy that TPG sets automatically.

"
The proxy host is syd-pow-pr3.tpgi.com.au which has ip address 202.7.166.165
The proxy server has announced itself as 1.1 syd-pow-pr3.tpgi.com.au:3128 (squid)
"

This proxy is causing a failure to retrieve the HOTFROG site and others, as of at least the last 1 hour.

FACT 5:
Ref Fact 3, and repeating FACT 4 proxy ID test gives the proxyhost (the one that CAN retrieve HOTFROG and other failing sites) as:-
"

The proxy host is proxy1.tpgi.com.au which has ip address 203.26.24.211
The proxy server has announced itself as 1.1 proxy1.tpgi.com.au:3128 (squid/2.5.STABLE12)
"

FACT 6:
None of the above has anything to do with isolation tests, phone cable lengths, certified modems, rain, voodoo, sync tests, virus, antivirus software, service packs, Vista, XP, last night's curry, distance from the exchange, overloaded website, operator error, etc.

Problems can only be fixed when the REAL facts are presented then the problem can be found, just calling everything a proxy issue is immature and serves NO benefit what so ever

At least five facts as presented above appear to suggest the TPG network's implementation of transparent proxies (or certain proxies) as being the culprit.

For users with problems accessing certain websites, repeat the test as set out in FACT 4 to ID the default proxy being dished up by TPG at the time of failure.

NOTE: i made NO CHANGES to the DNS automatically allocated by TPG to the modem.

Update to my posting.

As of now,some of those failing websites are now reachable using the default/auto proxy. This pattern of failure (some sites timeout/Error 404 evenings and nights and again reachable during the day) has been occuring for some weeks now.

ie. hotfrog.com.au and various other sites were NOT reachable last night for several hours, UNLESS the proxy was manually changed in the web browser.

This morning this is the auto-allocated proxy (I did nothing to DNS/reboots etc, just reset proxy to auto/detect/none and went to the site).

http://www.lagado.com/proxy-test result:-

The proxy host is syd-pow-pr4.tpgi.com.au which has ip address 202.7.166.166

The proxy server has announced itself as 1.1 syd-pow-pr4.tpgi.com.au:3128 (squid).

LOL...just tried another from my list and that still fails unless I manually set the proxy.

alxr101 writes...

LOL...just tried another from my list and that still fails unless I manually set the proxy.

Can you provide to me a telnet test result to the sites that are having problem. Instructions can be obtained here – http://www.tpg.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2188.

Send the result to forum_admin@tpg.com.au.

Regards,
Jason

Have emailed.

syd-pow-pr1.tpgi.com.au is the proxy failing on www.hotfrog.com.au at moment.

Then syd-pow-pr4 was autodetected/allocated and it's failing.

Set to pr3 and is fine. Situation unworkable for other frustrated users at home to change their browser proxy settings all the time.

This is how flakey the whole TPG proxy scene is.

Yesterday I had to manually set a proxy to reach a site because the default proxy PR1 failed to display (error 404 timeout).

So I set to PR3 manually and it was fine. This morning I reset to auto/default/no proxy.

This afternoon PR3 now fails (it's now the default allocated proxy) so I have to manually set to Pr1.

How do non-tech users get on !!!

This is ridiculous that browsers must be manually reconfigured at random/regular intervals when a site cannot be reached.

nb.
PR1 = syd-pow-pr1.tpgi.com.au

PR3 = syd-pow-pr3.tpgi.com.au

etc etc.

I went to

alxr101 writes...

http://www.lagado.com/proxy-test result

and it told me

Proxy Test
This request appears NOT to have come via a proxy.

then i goto
http://stuff.daniel15.com/php/testproxy.php
and it told me

Proxy server detected!

seems the lagado site does not work properly so its useless as a reference point

alxr101 writes...

This is ridiculous that browsers must be manually reconfigured at random/regular intervals when a site cannot be reached.

I had a similar issue with youtube videos (kept coming up video not available) switched proxies manually all good.

This is dynamic content why is it being cached? Maybe the cache server caches the player shell and kills it?

Stoneyyy writes...

seems the lagado site does not work properly so its useless as a reference point

Well I think switching proxy servers manually is a more definitive reference point....one works and the other doesn't.

Out of interest, which proxy server did it state you were on?

alxr101 writes...

Well I think switching proxy servers manually is a more definitive reference point

I am still struggling to work out why you keep having to do this, i am not having problems, I leave my proxy setting blank and get whatever i am given

Right now i am on Server address: nme-pow-pr5.tpgi.com.au (port: 3128)

but that changes when tpg adjusts the balance and it works well

2ofdem writes...

I had a similar issue with youtube videos (kept coming up video not available)

Look around WP and google and you will find this is a goble issues nothing to do with proxies

switched proxies manually all good

yeah well it worked but may not of been what fixed it

Stoneyyy writes...

I am still struggling to work out why you keep having to do this

Welcome to my frustrations.

It is only on certain websites. Clearly I am not having issues on Whirlpool and neither are you.

We don't surf the same breaks. All your beaches are accessible but some of mine I can't reach without changing proxies.

Some other sites I regularly visit (and these are not obscure Australian sites) have timeout issues (only fixed by changing the proxy).

Just noted:-

• stuff.daniel gave proxy as being "PR5" (my notation) ie:-

The proxy host is syd-pow-pr5.tpgi.com.au which has ip address 202.7.166.167

The proxy server has announced itself as 1.1 syd-pow-pr5.tpgi.com.au:3128 (squid)

• But lagado gave my proxy as being "PR15"( my notation) ie:

The proxy host is syd-pow-pr15.tpgi.com.au which has ip address 202.7.166.182

The proxy server has announced itself as 1.1 syd-pow-pr15.tpgi.com.au:3128 (squid)

Telnetting to each site (on port 80) confirmed the differing proxy address for each site.

Have a look at the proxy listings

/forum-replies.cfm?t=493725&r=7496376#r7496376

Yes, all rather interesting but what are you suggesting by looking at these? Implementing these manually will eventually fail on selected sites.

Well and good to change the proxy manually for anyone vaguely tech savvy (presuming sufficient knowledge to know if it's a proxy issue and not a general network access issue) but not for anyone with access restrictions etc to changing settings.

What does Ctrl-F5 do? I thought it refreshed by going back to the originating site.

After I updated a web page, I was still seeing the old version. Ctrl-F5 did nothing. When I changed the proxy in Tools-Connection-LAN settings, the new web page was visible first go. To complete the learning curve, I changed back to the original proxy, and it was still showing the old version; nothing I did could get that one to show the new version.

I'm not a techie, but this muppett can only conclude that the cache proxy or transparent proxy or proxy server (or whatever it is/they are called) isn't working .. got itself in a knot .. is not balanced .. [insert correct technical description].

gtho4 writes...

I'm not a techie, but this muppett can only conclude that the cache proxy or transparent proxy or proxy server (or whatever it is/they are called) isn't working .. got itself in a knot .. is not balanced .. [insert correct technical description].

"STUFFED" comes to mind, along with a few other suggestions not appropriate for this forum.

Howdy ppls,

I thought its about time to wade down onto the beach and dip a toe into this whole "proxy" issue.

Now I can see that from some ppls points of view there is no problem, cause they aren't seeing any issues themselves, and somehow that makes all the world ok. Its sad, but things just don't work out that way.

Now I only got connected up to TPG on Friday night. So far mainly so good. I haven't seen any real issues to speak of. A couple ot times dns was slow, a mere blip though. A few sites sometimes didn't like loading, slashdot and ssl.google.com which is part of the google analytics barf mainly, but I have been way to lazy on my weekend to look into the issue, as this kind of stuff is my job.

I work as a performance and load tester for network applications and systems, more often than not n-tier systems that use various configurations of transparent proxies and caches.

The types of intermittant behaviour of that some ppl are seeing is actually very common. I could name more than one type of enterprise hardware cache provider that have issues under large multi user loads, so it wouldn't surprise me that a "value" level isp, even one the size of TPG might have some apache/squid proxies in their pools whose configuration isn't quite right.

It doesn't take much of a miss step in config to make strange hard to diagnose problems occur, which is a good thing for me as it keeps me in a job. I applaud those users that are trying to offer up information to help TPG fix the problem, and I hope the reps pass the info along to those that need to know.

If I start seeing any real problems myself, then to be honest I'll use it to contact them and spruike my services, as a contractor should always be on the lookout for their next gig.

Reapl

I'm constantly having to change proxies just to browse. I change to 1, it works for a while then I have to change to a different one. It's a pain in the a...

Other than that everything else works great, d/l's are full speed, p2p and torrents no prob, never get disconnected, always able to connect etc.

It just that damn proxy and of course slow browsing.

Since 5PM (now 7PM), very slow browsing and connection interruption messages in Firefox.
Using foxy proxy to switch between proxies, but after a few pages, same story.

having my squid proxy rotate between proxies aswell. Overall very slow performance and quite annoying.

john-au writes...

I'm constantly having to change proxies just to browse. I change to 1, it works for a while then I have to change to a different one. It's a pain in the a...

Other than that everything else works great, d/l's are full speed, p2p and torrents no prob, never get disconnected, always able to connect etc.

It just that damn proxy and of course slow browsing.

Yea, we have had the same issue for the last 3 – 6 months i think, my g/f even posted on their forums about it cathy started to help her then nothing. I for one get a little sick and tired of TPG saying to their users test this.... do this... go to this forum topic ect ect only for the issue to STILL BE THERE. As others have stated you only have to look at this forum and their own forum to see there is deffinately and issue with their proxy servers or there are some serious balancing issue on their end. Either way once our contract runs out with tpg we are good as gone good riddance to bad rubbish i say.

Just a few things which are vaguely on topic I think :)

First off, why would you lose any settings on your modem/router by power cycling it? I think it may be broken. Anyway...

If you have NO proxy set in your browser port 80 (ONLY) is transparently redirected to one of TPG's proxy servers (maybe via round robin, maybe based on some hash based on the URL...whatever...). This transparent proxying (or interception caching) does not affect any other traffic, not games, not bittorrent, not DNS. In this case your PC does the DNS lookup, so any DNS resolution problems are either:

1. Your OS's DNS Resolver
2. Your routers DNS Resolver – most SOHO routers work as a (crap) DNS forwarder to your ISP's DNS servers
3. Your connection (ie No PPPoE connection or ADSL sync)
4. Your ISP's DNS servers

The list is in the most likely order of problems from my experience (never underestimate the "weird shit not working right" Windows factor), although YMMV.

Option 2. may not be applicable depending on your router, Option 3. can be ruled out by trying to ping a known IP address to see if your connection is live, Option 1. can be ruled out with the old reboot.

Once the name is resolved then the proxy servers come into play.

If a site is reachable using the IP address, the proxy is working fine (you can see the page right?), as your request will have transparently gone via the proxy.

On the other hand if you set a proxy server in your browser manually the PROXY does the DNS lookup, not you. The only DNS lookup involved is the initial lookup to find the IP address of the proxy you set, which will be cached for up to a few hours by your browser/OS. To perform the lookup the proxy will use, you guessed it, your ISP's DNS servers, which will generally rule out Option 4. above, except if the proxy has cached the IP address from someone else accessing the same site recently.

I agree that TPG has definite issues with their proxy/caching infrastructure however if that is caused by rubbish load balancing or rubbish proxy servers I am not sure, but generally DNS is a pretty problem free service.

After seeing so may threads with posts from people claiming TPG's proxy's were affecting their email, World of Warcraft and the price of petrol, I just though it might be nice to let people know what transparent proxying will and will not affect.

Which is: Port 80 (HTTP, ie the Interweb).
Which is NOT: P2P, DNS, Email, MMOPRGS...Everything else...

Disclaimer: I am a happy TPG user, not had to use their Helpdesk though. I have had problems with the transparent proxy setup but have worked around the problem by having a local linux server that alternates between the three Perth proxy servers (one goes down, it is not used until it responds), which I appreciate is not something most people would bother/want/or know how to do.

That was a lot longer than I planned.

Stoneyyy writes...

I disagree, where is there actual real proof its actually the proxies causing slowness...

Okay. Explain this one:
Here is the page returned by the proxy:

"While trying to retrieve the URL: http://www.miniriders.com.au/forum/riding-spots-events/10165-canberra-surroudning.html

The following error was encountered:

Unable to determine IP address from host name for www.miniriders.com.au

The dnsserver returned:

Server Failure: The name server was unable to process this query.

This means: The proxy server was not able to resolve the hostname presented in the URL. The website you have tried to view may not exist. Please check if the address is correct and retry your request. "

Right. So the proxy won't load the page.

and here is the ping:
C:\>ping www.miniriders.com.au

Pinging www.miniriders.com.au [67.222.3.142] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 67.222.3.142: bytes=32 time=233ms TTL=49
Reply from 67.222.3.142: bytes=32 time=223ms TTL=49
Reply from 67.222.3.142: bytes=32 time=222ms TTL=49
Reply from 67.222.3.142: bytes=32 time=222ms TTL=49

Ping statistics for 67.222.3.142:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Okay then. So, ping works.

Now, just for fun, try: http://67.222.3.142/
Yay! Up comes the page!

"
Mini Dirt Bikes, Pit Bikes Forum
Home UserCP Members Register Calendar FAQ
"

Go on, explain this. I am listening.

Stoneyyy writes...

Look around WP and google and you will find this is a goble issues nothing to do with proxies

yeah well it worked but may not of been what fixed it

Seems like the proxy thing is a common theme and has worked several times. Ill keep doing it if it keeps working or TPG sort the issue out but hey its a budget ISP we get what we pay for.

2ofdem writes...

we get what we pay for

I think I missed a plot here.. I thought I was paying for Internet access... You know, where you type words into a 'web browser' and it magically goes and gets 'web pages', downloads files and displays them? Have I missed something?

2ofdem writes...

Ill keep doing it if it keeps working or TPG sort the issue out but hey its a budget ISP we get what we pay for.

nothing wrong with the proxy

Stoneyyy writes...

nothing wrong with the proxy

You may be right but the evidence against this statement is fairly substantial.

Disparate writes...

I think I missed a plot here.. I thought I was paying for Internet access... You know, where you type words into a 'web browser' and it magically goes and gets 'web pages', downloads files and displays them? Have I missed something?

You are but the wonderful world of cut price ISPs means corners are cut long phone cues to the helpdesk and a proxy which as much as stonyyy assures me is fine still seems to cause problems.