topic Re: Unable to access a particular domain in Broadband & Landline

Unable to access a particular domain

CCINS — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 18:11:13 GMT

I have a domain chryselwood.ca that I can't access using an EE broadband connection unless I use a vpn. I'm able to access the site on the mobile network with no issues. what am I missing?

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

XRaySpeX — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 18:20:46 GMT

I can easily access chryselwood.ca (Whites Lane Solar System Info ) over EE Full Fibre BB.

Do you get any error msg when you try?

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

Northerner — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 18:49:52 GMT

Hi @CCINS

You posted this same message 2 years ago on BT forums. Works for me same as @XRaySpeX .

Run the site via ChatGPT or equivalent and try the following prompt.

You are a UK web filtering and mobile network content-classification expert.

Analyse why the website insert site would be blocked by EE mobile data in the UK.

Explain:

Whether the block is caused by website code, scripts, or security issues (be explicit if it is not).

How EE’s Content Lock / Adult Content Filter works and what categories typically trigger it.

What specific on-site content, wording, navigation structure, or page themes would cause EE to classify the site as blocked (e.g. alcohol, nightlife, age-restricted language).

Clarify what is not causing the block (malware, SSL, cookies, GDPR banners, etc.).

Provide practical, real-world solutions, including:

EE reclassification / review process

User-side workarounds

Optional wording or structural changes to reduce false positives

Write the response in plain English, suitable for a site owner or business user (not a developer), and be definitive and confident rather than speculative.

Do not invent specific lines of HTML or JavaScript unless they are verifiably present; instead explain how content classifiers work in practice.

Structure the answer with clear headings and prioritise the most effective fix.

Thanks

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

CCINS — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 19:07:12 GMT

Interesting - where are you? I'm in Newark Notts. I can only get that response with connection VPN. Without the VPN it times out as do Ping's. Trace routes don't resolve. I have a EE-HUB Router (DNS 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4)

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

CCINS — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 19:16:53 GMT

Interesting response from ChatGPT. I created this site many years ago using old school Html. Accessing the domain is the issue. According to my domain host everything is correct. I have only had this issue since moving to EE-Fibre and would like to not need a VPN connection to access my domain.

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

Northerner — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 19:19:50 GMT

Hi @CCINS

Do you have any content blocks active on your account.

Some of the old code maybe causing false positives.

Thanks

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

XRaySpeX — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 19:23:08 GMT

@Northerner : This is not mobile data but BB. Accordingly it's not Content Lock but might be Parental Controls vis app

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

XRaySpeX — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 19:29:05 GMT

Location shouldn't matter.
No VPN
EE Brightbox 2
OpenDNS
Tracert & therefore ping:
Tracing route to chryselwood.ca [173.209.54.179]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 <1 ms <1 ms 1 ms OrangeRouter2 [192.168.1.2]
2 2 ms 2 ms 1 ms 172.16.14.26
3 * * * Request timed out.
4 3 ms 3 ms 3 ms 62.172.102.76
5 23 ms 6 ms 5 ms core4-hu0-16-0-6.faraday.ukcore.bt.net [62.172.102.41]
6 5 ms 5 ms 5 ms 166-49-209-194.gia.bt.net [166.49.209.194]
7 * 25 ms * 40ge1-3.core1.lon2.he.net [195.66.224.21]
8 72 ms 72 ms 72 ms port-channel22.core3.nyc4.he.net [184.104.188.100]
9 * 79 ms * 100ge0-70.core1.ymq1.he.net [184.105.213.141]
10 80 ms 80 ms 80 ms xe-0-0-0.core1.mtl1.globo.tech [216.66.49.202]
11 79 ms 80 ms 80 ms po1.dist1.mtl1.globo.tech [67.215.0.67]
12 81 ms 80 ms 80 ms carter.wznoc.com [173.209.54.179]
Trace complete.

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

CCINS — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 20:14:01 GMT

the DNS on the router is not the Google ones - they are:

Primary DNS 81.139.56.100 Secondary DNS 81.139.57.100

I've changed the device to use the router DNS - problem still occurs

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

CCINS — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 20:26:24 GMT

Here's Trace Routes from my site:

No VPN
traceroute to chryselwood.ca (173.209.54.179), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets
1 192.168.1.254 (192.168.1.254) 3.531 ms 5.477 ms 1.931 ms
2 * * *
3 * * *
4 62.6.204.188 (62.6.204.188) 10.132 ms 9.565 ms
62.6.204.190 (62.6.204.190) 9.965 ms
5 core2-pos14-1.birmingham.ukcore.bt.net (62.6.204.169) 9.661 ms
62.6.204.117 (62.6.204.117) 9.571 ms
core2-pos14-1.birmingham.ukcore.bt.net (62.6.204.169) 11.172 ms
6 166-49-209-194.gia.bt.net (166.49.209.194) 11.083 ms 9.710 ms 12.277 ms
7 * * 40ge1-3.core1.lon2.he.net (195.66.224.21) 13.134 ms
8 port-channel22.core3.nyc4.he.net (184.104.188.100) 77.384 ms * 81.494 ms
9 * 100ge0-70.core1.ymq1.he.net (184.105.213.141) 85.940 ms *
10 xe-1-0-0.core2.mtl1.globo.tech (216.66.43.189) 85.181 ms
xe-0-0-0.core1.mtl1.globo.tech (216.66.49.202) 85.704 ms
xe-1-0-0.core2.mtl1.globo.tech (216.66.43.189) 83.711 ms
11 po1.dist1.mtl1.globo.tech (67.215.0.67) 85.366 ms 85.369 ms
po2.dist1.mtl1.globo.tech (67.215.0.69) 86.233 ms
12 * * *
13 * * *
14 * * *
15 * * *
16 * * *
17 * * *
18 * * *
19 * * *
20 * * *

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

CCINS — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 21:05:49 GMT

the routes are similar - mine goes through Birmingham - ends up in Montreal (Mtl) - but never resolves. Oh for the days when I worked in IT and networking was simpler...;)

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

CCINS — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 21:52:27 GMT

None that I'm aware of - none show up on the router

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

XRaySpeX — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 22:59:02 GMT

I thought you said your router's DNS were DNS 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4 which are the Google Public DNS.

81.139.56.100 etc. are EE/BT's.

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

CCINS — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 10:21:38 GMT

Sorry about that - my laptop had Google DNS the router has the EE/BT. I changed the laptop to the EE/BT DNS. It is strange that for me the domain name gets resolved to the correct address but doesn't make it through network to the destination without routing through a VPN. Is there a way for a customer to see all the settings in the router or is only available on the network side?

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

bobpullen — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 11:17:16 GMT

@CCINS - is it possible that the host is somehow blocking traffic from your IP? Perhaps worth powering your hub off for 30-60mins or so to see if the same happens when you've a new WAN IP assigned.

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

XRaySpeX — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:21:00 GMT

What happens if you change the router's DNS to Google's DNS 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4?

Which EE router do you have (read label or post a pix)?

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

CCINS — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:46:50 GMT

the router is a smart hub SH32B - I don't seem to have the option of changing the DNS on the broadband page

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

XRaySpeX — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 13:10:07 GMT

It's on Advanced > My Network > IPv4 Config > DNS Servers > Auto = NO.

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

CCINS — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 13:45:29 GMT

Hi - thanks - I did that and set the DNS to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 - saved & restarted the router. Once things settled and I reconnected. I tried pinging my domain - no Joy :(. I checked the Broadband Advanced settings and the DNS entries hadn't changed. I also checked the IPV4 Config settings and they were as modified N0/ 8.8.8.8 - 8.8.4.4.

Re: Unable to access a particular domain

CCINS — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 14:49:17 GMT

done some more digging. I'm a MAC environment. I did some nslookups

#1 No VPN - uses the router DNS

chrisharwood@Chriss-2016 ~ % nslookup chryselwood.ca

Server: 192.168.1.254

Address: 192.168.1.254#53

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: chryselwood.ca

Address: 173.209.54.179

Pinging to this times out.

#2 - VPN connected (ExpressVpn)

chrisharwood@Chriss-2016 ~ % nslookup chryselwood.ca

Server: 100.64.100.1

Address: 100.64.100.1#53

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: chryselwood.ca

Address: 173.209.54.179

Pinging works

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

I've seen other posts that the DNS on some smart hub routers is fixed?