# Okay, I understand the Cogent/Level 3 blowup... but this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2005, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-i-understand-the-cogent-level-3-blowup-but-this/325001 "2005-10-06T04:05:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-i-understand-the-cogent-level-3-blowup-but-this/325001/1 "2005-10-06T04:05:57Z")
I wasn’t able to access Weather Underground, Drudge Report, and quite a few other sites for a while. Fine. However, going to 192.168.1.1 gave me the exact same behavior (blank page no matter how hard I tried). That blew my mind. Was it simply coincidence? All the times that my router crashed, I got a popup window saying “192.168.1.1 could not be found” or equivalent thereof… never a simple blank page; but then again, this is a new router. A modem/router restart late this night fixed everything, though the Cogent pages are still quite slow. I run a cheapo Linksys 802.11g wireless router. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-i-understand-the-cogent-level-3-blowup-but-this/325001/2 "2005-10-06T05:10:38Z")
> [@dre2xl](#): > > However, going to 192.168.1.1 gave me the exact same behavior (blank page no matter how hard I tried) \ I have no idea what caused the problem you describe other than the router just stopped accepting/processing packets\*. Anyway, the part I quoted had me laughing as I pictured someone sitting, an intense look on their face, clicking the mouse madly while chanting ‘YOU CAN DO IT!’. Slee \*I don’t know jack about routers. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-i-understand-the-cogent-level-3-blowup-but-this/325001/3 "2005-10-06T05:15:53Z")
192.168.1.1 is almost certainly your router acting as a gateway. You do understand that, right? But can you explain “the Cogent/Level 3 blowup?” ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-i-understand-the-cogent-level-3-blowup-but-this/325001/4 "2005-10-06T07:02:20Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > But can you explain “the Cogent/Level 3 blowup?” [Link](http://beta.news.com.com/Network+feud+leads+to+Net+blackout/2100-1038_3-5889592.html?) ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-i-understand-the-cogent-level-3-blowup-but-this/325001/5 "2005-10-06T08:32:58Z")
You sure that’s the IP of your router? Sometimes it can be 192.168.0.1 or 2.1 or other things. Check your gateway IP. ---
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-i-understand-the-cogent-level-3-blowup-but-this/325001/6 "2005-10-06T11:17:15Z")
_checks_ yup, 192.168.1.1 was the IP of my router. I was able to access a bunch of other sites. I guess it was coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-i-understand-the-cogent-level-3-blowup-but-this/325001/7 "2005-10-06T11:21:14Z")
… wait a second. [www.routerlogin.net](http://www.routerlogin.net) is an alias for 192.168.1.1 on my router (although I didn’t type that URL). Maybe that might’ve had something to do with it… oh, well. ---
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-i-understand-the-cogent-level-3-blowup-but-this/325001/8 "2005-10-06T11:27:00Z")
> [@sleestak](#): > > Anyway, the part I quoted had me laughing as I pictured someone sitting, an intense look on their face, clicking the mouse madly while chanting ‘YOU CAN DO IT!’. It was more like this… click **click_clickclickclickclickCLICK!!!_** _pantpantwheeze_ _thud__goes off to nurse bleeding fingers when she regains consciousness_ ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-i-understand-the-cogent-level-3-blowup-but-this/325001/9 "2005-10-06T12:28:56Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > [Link](http://beta.news.com.com/Network+feud+leads+to+Net+blackout/2100-1038_3-5889592.html?) Thank you. I had no idea what she was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-i-understand-the-cogent-level-3-blowup-but-this/325001/10 "2005-10-06T14:58:07Z")
> [@dre2xl](#): > > _checks_ yup, 192.168.1.1 was the IP of my router. I was able to access a bunch of other sites. I guess it was coincidence. Actually, my point was that it’s _not_ a coincidence. If you can’t access your router which was at 192.168.1.1, you should not be surprised that websites will be inaccessible.