# Why isn't SouthWest.com working? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120 "2009-01-13T18:29:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/1 "2009-01-13T18:29:12Z")
Okay, this is an odd one. My parents have been unable to access [SouthWest.com](http://SouthWest.com) on either of their computers for 2-days now. Every other website works fine, and they’re also able to access the site from the library just down the street. They’ve tried resetting the modem and router and clearing their cache, but nothing helped. Their internet supplier, Comcast, was equally confused. Any ideas why this might be? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/2 "2009-01-13T19:11:17Z")
It is possible their DNS has been hijacked. Sometimes this is used as a “man-in-the-middle” attack on a PC. Instead of using Comcasts DNS servers (as they should be) they are being pointed to someone else’s DNS servers. Unscrupulous types can then use their DNS server to point you where they want you to go. Try this: Click on START\>RUN and type in CMD in the box that appears and click OK or hit ENTER (or in Vista click on the logo in the lower left-hand corner of the screen and in START SEARCH at the bottom of the menu type CMD and hit ENTER). In the window that pops up type: PING [www.southwest.com](http://www.southwest.com) The screen should show you an IP resolution. I get 63.169.44.100 If your parents are getting something else or do not resolve an address then something is wrong with their DNS. To test this type that IP address in a browser window. That will bypass DNS and go straight to their website. If DNS is messed up let us know and we can walk you through some things to maybe correct the problem. ETA: The ping on Southwest will fail (or it does for me). That is fine as they likely have disabled their routers from responding to a ping request. The URL should still resolve into an IP address. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/3 "2009-01-14T09:21:49Z")
Thanks for the very in-depth reply Mole! I’ll send them this info and see where it gets them! Thanks again 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ZomZom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zomzom/32/5620_2.png) [@ZomZom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZomZom)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/4 "2009-01-14T15:03:02Z")
It’s also possible that [southwest.com](http://southwest.com) was the target of a denial-of-service attack, filters put in place to mitigate the attack, and that your parents’ IP is in the set of IPs being filtered (either intentionally or unintentionally). A Web site I worked on suffered a DoS attack and Mae West put in a filter, forgot to remove the filter after the attack abated, and many on the west coast couldn’t access the site for quite a while. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/5 "2009-01-14T17:43:00Z")
When I ping [Southwest.com](http://Southwest.com) I get unreachable but I’m able to get into the site fine Did you try through [Skweezer.com](http://Skweezer.com)? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/6 "2009-01-14T18:18:09Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > When I ping [Southwest.com](http://Southwest.com) I get unreachable but I’m able to get into the site fine Lots of network admins tell their routers to not respond to a ping so getting that unreachable message does not necessarily mean anything. For the OP above the point of the ping was to see how DNS resolved the URL. If the OP wants he could try a TRACERT instead of a ping and do the same thing. Then he will see every hop the packet takes on its way to [Southwest.com](http://Southwest.com) (where it will fail again at their router but you’ll see the rest of the steps). ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/7 "2009-01-14T18:21:49Z")
You can also try using this handy website in the future: > **[Is it down? Check at Down for Everyone or Just Me](https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/)** > > Check if a website or service is down or having problems and report your problems! Click now to check/report problems! It will tell you if the site is actually up and you can’t reach it, or if it is down for everyone. J. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/8 "2009-01-14T18:53:34Z")
Update: So I had my parents try the PING idea and here’s what they got: (I should note that I had the exact same results, although SouthWest works fine for me, though I live two states away). > [@](#): > > Pinging [www.southwest.com](http://www.southwest.com) [12.5.136.100] with 32 bytes of data: > > Request timed out. > Request timed out. > Request timed out. > Request timed out. > > Ping statistics for 12.5.136.100: > Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss) I also had them try going to the aforementioned IP address (63.169.44.100), but it said “The address is not valid.” Ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Fang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fang)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/9 "2009-01-14T19:04:41Z")
How about if they try the IP address that appears there, 12.5.136.100 (which is also the IP address resolved for [www.southwest.com](http://www.southwest.com) by [samspade.org](http://samspade.org)) ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/10 "2009-01-14T19:29:28Z")
> [@Fang](#): > > How about if they try the IP address that appears there, 12.5.136.100 (which is also the IP address resolved for [www.southwest.com](http://www.southwest.com) by [samspade.org](http://samspade.org)) Same problem, apparently. Thanks though. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/11 "2009-01-14T19:48:14Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Same problem, apparently. Thanks though. Weird. The IP address they got is also owned by Southwest according to [WhoIs](http://www.whois.ws/whois-ip/12.5.136.100/). From Southwest’s website they say: > [@](#): > > To what URLs and IP Addresses will DING! make HTTP requests? > URL’s – [southwest.com](http://southwest.com) and [ding.southwest.com](http://ding.southwest.com) > IP addresses – 12.5.136.100, 12.5.136.120, 63.169.44.100, and 63.169.44.120 > > [http://www.southwest.com/ding/admin\_faq.html](http://www.southwest.com/ding/admin_faq.html) Only thing I can guess now is they did something to their firewall. Have them disable their firewall (if they know how) in Windows (you can find it in the Control Panel). If it is in their router you’ll have to figure that out on your own as everyone has a different interface. If that works then you know the culprit. You will want your firewall back on of course but then you can sort out why it is blocking some traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/12 "2009-01-14T19:54:47Z")
Try the following: Have them open a command prompt (CMD as described in my first post) and type the following in _exactly_ as shown: netsh interface tcp set global ecncapability=disabled Sounds like a weird fix but seems to have solved this same problem for another guy. Found it here: [http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r21413038-Unable-to-Access-Website](http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r21413038-Unable-to-Access-Website) ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/13 "2009-01-14T19:55:16Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Only thing I can guess now is they did something to their firewall. Have them disable their firewall (if they know how) in Windows (you can find it in the Control Panel). If it is in their router you’ll have to figure that out on your own as everyone has a different interface. If that works then you know the culprit. You will want your firewall back on of course but then you can sort out why it is blocking some traffic. Perhaps, but both computers shouldn’t have been affected at the same time if it was a firewall issue, right? Unless it’s an extreme coenidence. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/14 "2009-01-14T19:59:33Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Try the following: > > Have them open a command prompt (CMD as described in my first post) and type the following in _exactly_ as shown: > > netsh interface tcp set global ecncapability=disabled > > Sounds like a weird fix but seems to have solved this same problem for another guy. Found it here: [http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r21413038-Unable-to-Access-Website](http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r21413038-Unable-to-Access-Website) Just had him try it, apparently getting a “command cannot be found” message. Thanks for all the help btw 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/15 "2009-01-14T19:59:37Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Perhaps, but both computers shouldn’t have been affected at the same time if it was a firewall issue, right? Unless it’s an extreme coenidence. Maybe. Sometimes Windows Updates will re-enable security settings. Or someone installed new software on both PCs at the same time. Can happen under such circumstances. If no one did anything to either PC and it just started then not sure what to say. I suppose if that were really the case I’d be calling my ISP. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/16 "2009-01-14T20:08:17Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Just had him try it, apparently getting a “command cannot be found” message. Thanks for all the help btw 🙂 NETSH is a little program on their PC (or should be…assuming this is Windows). It should be in your C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 directory (might be a hidden file). If they type: cd\windows\system32 That should put them in the directory where the file is (although usually that directory is in a default search path…not sure why it wouldn’t be). Then have them try the command again. Seems a longshot but meh…why not? Making that change will not affect anythign adversely and might help. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/17 "2009-01-14T20:15:26Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > NETSH is a little program on their PC (or should be…assuming this is Windows). It should be in your C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 directory (might be a hidden file). If they type: > > cd\windows\system32 I’m a bit confused–opening the folder alone will do the trick? I mean, how does the Command Prompt know the folder’s open? Do they run it from within the folder? Or is there something I’m not understanding here (which I’m sure is the case)? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/18 "2009-01-14T20:23:22Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > I’m a bit confused–opening the folder alone will do the trick? I mean, how does the Command Prompt know the folder’s open? Do they run it from within the folder? Or is there something I’m not understanding here (which I’m sure is the case)? Computers use a thing called a “Path” to find files. When you try to run a program from a command prompt the first place the computer looks is at the directory you are currently in (which could be anything). If it does not find it there it then refers to a list of file paths (e.g. C:\WINDOWS) and looks in there. There can be numerous locations specified and it will look for your program at each location in turn. If it cannot find it in any of those you get an error like you did. So, what I was having you do was simply change the directory to where I think the file likely is. The “CD” part of that command means “Change Directory”. When you try to run the NETSH program the first place it looks is in the directory you are currently in. Usually the System32 directory is a default search path but it can be changed. That or somehow you do not have NETSH on those PCs. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/19 "2009-01-14T20:26:43Z")
I am just curious, and probably not helpful: what happens if they try to get to Southwest’s site from a link on a different site? Is there no chance they are getting the url wrong? I am assuming by “clearing the cache” you mean they are not, for instance, using the autocompleter in IE to pull up an erroneous url… Or what happens if they use Firefox, e.g.? I guess I just have trouble believing it’s a firewall issue if they don’t mess with anything on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120/20 "2009-01-14T20:59:50Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Or what happens if they use Firefox, e.g.? I guess I just have trouble believing it’s a firewall issue if they don’t mess with anything on purpose. I agree it probably isn’t a firewall thing if other websites work fine but you never know and it is easily turned on and off to check. In my experience in cases like these it is almost always something the user did. If the PC broke on its own it would not be so selective…they would not be able to browse to any web site for instance. I have years doing computer support and I really cannot count the number of times the user told me they didn’t do a thing and of course, upon investigation, it is abundantly clear they did whatever it was that caused the problem. Which is fine by me since it pays the rent. 😉 Parents are notoriously adept at messing things up. So in this case who knows? Need to work through it. It is an odd one to be sure. Maybe their antivirus software or ad-blocker or something popped up a message once when they went to Southwest and said the page wanted to display something that concerned it, did they want to continue and they said no. Poof, web site blocked. Or they got a very bizarre virus or malware that doesn’t like Southwest. Just have to keep poking about till an answer is found. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-southwest-com-working/481120.md?page=2)