Cannot access Google sites

[ÉIRE55]

Hello, Gondola.

I'm new here, and just went live with TT last Friday (10/11/23). The TT agent who set everything up had promised to phone me on that day to do some checks about my new account, but no-one has phoned me yet. Also, I can't access Google Chrome or my Gmail, so I'm having dreadful problems with trying to access my usual sites.

Could you please advise me where I should go within this forum, or give me a phone number or link where I could make some contact with TT to solve these problems? Many thanks.

[ferguson]

Glad to see it's working, thanks for letting us know.  🙂

[ÉIRE55]

Good morning, Ferguson.

Just to let you know that all is well now. It only took me a couple of minutes to follow your instructions to change the DNS, and hey presto! Easy when you know how. I've marked your post as the solution, with much gratitude.

[ÉIRE55]

Oh wow, thank you very much for your help and advice, as I was wondering what DNS was about.

I'll certainly give that a try later on, as I kept thinking it might be something to do with TalkTalk and Google not gelling in some way or other. Either that, or the loose bit that's rattling around in the router is the cause of this dysfunction.

As soon as I've tried that out, I'll get back and let you know how it went, although that might not be until tomorrow morning.

Thanks again for giving me some hope and direction in solving this rather annoying situation.

[ferguson · Accepted solution]

DNS = Domain Name System. It is essentially what translates the gobbledegook when devices try to contact each other over the internet into something decipherable. Everything has to go through a server designed to do this for you. 

The settings in your router are set to TalkTalk DNS servers by default. To change these you need to login to your router interface. Once you have done that proceed as follows: click on See internet settings > Manage advanced settings > Internet connectivity > DNS IPv4.  It will show Obtain DNS Automatically. Click on that and select Manually Specify DNS. Enter 8.8.8.8 in the Primary and 8.8.4.4 in the Secondary server boxes. Click Apply at the bottom. 

[ÉIRE55]

That sounds like a very good idea, as DNS has been mentioned whenever my attempts have failed. However, I don't know what DNS even stands for, so can you give me some advice as to where I can go to do that. Thanks.

[ferguson]

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the helpline. It may be there is a fault with the router, especially as you mention an apparent loose bit inside it! What you can try in the meantime is changing your DNS settings from TalkTalk to Google, that may help. 

[ÉIRE55]

Thank you for letting me know that. In that case, do you think I'd get any help if I phone the helpline number tomorrow morning?

As a new customer, I find it very odd that there seems to be so little help available from TalkTalk, especially as they already know of my ongoing problems since going live a week ago. Your advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[ferguson]

Sadly, you are unlikely to get a response before the end of the day and the support team here won't be back online again until Monday. 

[ÉIRE55]

Hello again, Michelle.

I switched everything off for a full hour, but I'm still unable to access Google via Chrome, so I've had to use Brave to be able to open my Google account. I also tried to open Edge again, and it worked this time, although I never use Edge and have always used Google.

During the countless times I've tried to open my Google accounts from my Windows start page, I keep getting the same message over and over again.....

This site can’t be reached

accounts.google.com’s server IP address could not be found.

Try:

• Checking the proxy, firewall and secure DNS configuration
• Running Windows Network Diagnostics

I've never had this problem before, so it must be something to do with this new router, which I suspect is faulty. Whether that's to do with the formatting of the router and/or the loose bit that's clattering around inside it, I've no idea. I went in and checked the router dashboard and found that the Band 2 (5 GHz) has now been re-enabled in the Wi-Fi settings, so both bands now seem to be switched on and in working order.

Can you please arrange for an engineer to come and check out what the problem(s) may be, as I've exhausted every possible way that I know how to get things up and running. I've no idea how to go about checking the router settings, but I do know how to add my other devices (which I haven't had time to do yet), so I need an engineer to what needs to be done. Everything was working fine until I switched over from my previous router to the TT router, so the fault lies there somewhere.

It would be great to hear back from you or someone else before the end of the day, as I'm completely lost and frustrated with this continuing problem for a whole week now. Also, can you please tell me where to go on this forum to find out why I'm being overcharged for my contract payments, with a package on it which I didn't ask for or need.

Many thanks for your time.

[ÉIRE55]

Okay, thank you. I'll get back to you later and let you know how things have gone.

[ÉIRE55]

Okay, thank you.

[Michelle-TalkTalk]

Hi,

Sorry for the delay. Yes it would be fine to switch the router off and on using the button on the back of the router. If you are still having issues connecting to these sites following this then please let us know.

Thanks

Michelle

[ferguson]

Just switching it off via the button will do. Make sure you give it a full 30 minutes though. 

[ÉIRE55]

Hi, Debbie.

Are you still there? I'm waiting for your reply to my last post before I switch everything off. Thank you.

[ÉIRE55]

Hi, Debbie.

Thank you for that information. So can I just switch the router off at the back of it (the ON/OFF button), rather than having to gain access to the wall socket switch (which is a bit awkward to get to)??? I don't know if there's any difference between either of those choices, but wouldn't have thought so, as the router would surely be switched off either way. Please let me know before I go ahead with this trial.

Many thanks.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi ÉIRE55

Apologies, powering down the router for a full 30 minutes forces the router to start a new session.

We just need to see if this resolves the issue first.

[ÉIRE55]

Hi, Debbie.

May I ask what this is meant to achieve, by switching everything off for half an hour?

It will take me a while to just close everything down on my PC, and then find the power cable plug in the wall socket in order to switch it off. Couldn't I just switch the router off instead of having to switch the wall socket off? It would be a lot easier for me, but you're the only one who can tell me that.

Many thanks.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi ÉIRE55

Thank you. It would also be worth powering down your PC too.

Once the router and PC have been switched back on then please can you try and access those sites again.

[ÉIRE55]

Hello, Debbie.

I suppose I could try switching my Wi-Fi Hub 65 (Model F5364) router off for 30 minutes, but what am I supposed to do after that time? Should I also switch off my PC before doing that, or can I just leave it on whilst I wait for that 30 minutes?

Many thanks.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi ÉIRE55

Apologies, please can you switch off the router at the wall for 30 minutes?