Thanks @dfscale.... That begins to shed a bit of light.

I understand that there are many "hops" between my computer, Zen's router and servers, and the [eventual] destination website. So I recognise that the blockage or disconnect could be anywhere along the route. But how can that blockage be identified and overcome?

I'm a Linux user (who still very occasionally uses Windows). I have now discovered that I can run traceroute in the terminal. But identifying the different points on the route is still a mystery.

Which one(s) are Zen's? How do I know whether I have got out of, or beyond, Zen's bit of the route? Are the asterisks in your example the points where the connection drops? And how are they then identified, and who "fixes the break"? How is it that the others who have posted, who use Zen, and have tried to connect to fiero.nl, have been able to do so? If they take a different route, why can't I? If the software can't make a connection, can it be programmed to look for, and take, another route?

I wasn't seriously planning to quit Zen because of this, so no melodrama. But I'm looking at this as layman and user, not an IT communications expert. The questions seem to me pretty straightforward. An explanation in plain language, and a solution, would be very welcome...

Have a look at this https://www.catchpoint.com/network-admin-guide/how-t... The asterisks are where the router in question does not respond to pings and that stage of the traceroute 'fails'. If you reach the destination, it has succeeded. Really, you don't need to get into it too much. If others can get to it, it could be all sorts of things including you using dns servers with a duff ip address for your target.

As for other routes, the influence you have is limited to using your phone as a hotspot. The rest of it, the internet sorts out for itself with various routing algorithms, but not always promptly.

In reply to a post by br1anstorm:

Which one(s) are Zen's? How do I know whether I have got out of, or beyond, Zen's bit of the route? Are the asterisks in your example the points where the connection drops? And how are they then identified, and who "fixes the break"? How is it that the others who have posted, who use Zen, and have tried to connect to fiero.nl, have been able to do so? If they take a different route, why can't I? If the software can't make a connection, can it be programmed to look for, and take, another route?

when connected via Zen, from a command line if you run:

arp www.fiero.nl

What does your system return?

If you get returned the same IP address as in the posts above with the tracert then your DNS is fine. You should then be able to ping that IP address and get continuous, uninterrupted responses.

If you don’t then you have a routing issue.

If you do, then the issue isn’t routing but likely something else is blocking or filtering the website. Given that other Zen folks can reach the website, this looks to be the problem.

Two separate lines of investigation now, and here's what they reveal so far.

First, the traceroute check. My Windows laptop doesn't recognise the command "arp". But I can run traceroute in the terminal on my Linux machine. This is what it shows:

traceroute to fiero.nl (217.148.167.147), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 fritz.box (xxx.xxx.xxx.x) 0.609 ms 0.610 ms 0.582 ms
2 lo0-0.bng4.wh-man.zen.net.uk (51.148.77.131) 20.971 ms 20.897 ms 20.849 ms
3 lag-8.p2.wh-man.zen.net.uk (51.148.73.118) 25.003 ms lag-8.p1.wh-man.zen.net.uk (51.148.73.116) 25.805 ms lag-8.p2.wh-man.zen.net.uk (51.148.73.118) 24.896 ms
4 lag-3.p2.ixn-lon.zen.net.uk (51.148.73.228) 25.816 ms 26.039 ms be26.p1.thn-lon.zen.net.uk (51.148.244.49) 25.578 ms
5 * ldn-bb1-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.120.74) 25.898 ms 25.905 ms
6 * * adm-bb2-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.137.235) 30.622 ms
7 adm-b3-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.138.171) 29.959 ms adm-b3-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.136.229) 30.151 ms adm-b3-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.138.171) 29.357 ms
8 fusix-ic-319182.ip.twelve99-cust.net (62.115.151.185) 29.276 ms 29.994 ms 30.873 ms
9 cr0.eunets.nl.fusixnetworks.net (37.139.139.248) 30.910 ms 30.639 ms 30.640 ms
10 fusix-cr01tc2.wd6.net (37.139.137.225) 30.515 ms 31.125 ms 31.772 ms
11 hosted-by.wd6.net (217.148.190.21) 32.609 ms 30.880 ms 32.729 ms
12 hosted-by.wd6.net (217.148.190.19) 31.479 ms 32.425 ms 29.867 ms
13 hosted-by.wd6.net (217.148.190.14) 30.972 ms 29.318 ms 31.455 ms
14 * * *
15 * * *
16 * * *
17 * * *
18 * * *
19 * * *
20 * * *
21 * * *
22 * * *
23 * * *
24 * * *
25 * * *
26 * * *
27 * * *
28 * * *
29 * * *
30 * * *


I've edited out my own username and IP address in that copy of the terminal result. I deduce that wd6.net might be the host server for the fiero.nl website, and that it is not allowing me to have access.

I've also had a reply from Zen Tech support. They pass the buck (am I surprised?) . They say ".... we believe the website has blocked your IP..... I suggest trying to contact the website owner and getting them to check that your IP is blocked....".

Yeah, right. They expect me to solve the problem by contacting the website admin in the Netherlands! And yet, as I understand it, Zen (or its router) sets and assigns my IP: it's not something I normally have to decide or mess with. So if it is Zen's IP - or they are managing it - why isn't Zen investigating and sorting this?

Edited by br1anstorm (Tue 18-Feb-25 10:53:45)

Well, yes, it does look like your IP has been blocked. Are you on fixed or dynamic IP? Because if it is fixed, it looks like you have been targetted specifically. There's a forum related to that site on the same IP address. Just saying ...

The only good thing about CGNAT is it makes IP bans less effective and less defensible.

Well there's something wrong with your routing. Here's what I get on IDNet:

1 4 ms 2 ms 2 ms 192.168.1.1
2 10 ms 9 ms 10 ms telehouse-gw10.idnet.net [212.69.63.54]
3 9 ms 9 ms 9 ms telehouse-gw7.idnet.net [212.69.63.126]
4 10 ms 9 ms 9 ms telehouse-gw8.idnet.net [212.69.63.143]
5 45 ms 10 ms 12 ms 81.25.207.41
6 10 ms 10 ms 10 ms ae-10.r22.londen12.uk.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.5.156]
7 15 ms 14 ms 15 ms ae-3.r22.amstnl07.nl.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.5.2]
8 15 ms 15 ms 20 ms ae-0.a01.amstnl09.nl.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.253]
9 16 ms 16 ms 16 ms xe-1-5-0-3.a01.amstnl09.nl.ce.gin.ntt.net [128.241.10.105]
10 17 ms 17 ms 17 ms cr0.nikhef.nl.fusixnetworks.net [37.139.139.4]
11 16 ms 17 ms 16 ms fusix-cr01nh.wd6.net [37.139.137.223]
12 17 ms 17 ms 17 ms hosted-by.wd6.net [217.148.190.7]
13 17 ms 17 ms 16 ms hosted-by.wd6.net [217.148.190.13]
14 17 ms 17 ms 17 ms www.fiero.nl [217.148.167.147]

The latter part of which matches what DFScale posted. It does look somewhat like your IP address has been blocked. As for who should deal with it that's complicated but overall I'd concur with Zen Support that it's up to you to contact them and ask to be unblocked. Zen are providing you the service you pay for and it appears to be working correctly. It's not Zen's fault if a remote host has chosen to block one of their IP addresses.

And for future reference the Windows command is tracert. I doubt it will produce a different answer however.

I concur with you and DFScale that it does look like its been blocked at the destination and also agree that its the OP who should be contacting them (not Zen) to find out why.

As said above, very evident your public IP address is being black-listed, hence blocked. Contact them to get it unblocked. It may be because the IP address within a range you’ve been assigned by Zen has been used in the past for reasons, that have caused them to block it. Only they can unblock it.

Edited by Pheasant (Tue 18-Feb-25 11:27:41)

In reply to a post by DFScale:

Well, yes, it does look like your IP has been blocked. Are you on fixed or dynamic IP? Because if it is fixed, it looks like you have been targetted specifically. There's a forum related to that site on the same IP address. Just saying ...

The only good thing about CGNAT is it makes IP bans less effective and less defensible.

I don't know whether I'm on fixed or dynamic IP. Who decides and how? I have the impression that Zen assigns my IP address (it is shown in the router settings and it is always 192.168.xxx.xx). Does that mean it is fixed? If so, then Zen has fixed it. How can I change it? Trying to do so because of one site seems like sledgehammer to crack nut...

Incidentally I have no idea what CGNAT is or why it might be relevant...

Yes there is a forum on the fiero.nl site. So what? That's its main raison d'etre: it is a source of tech info on maintaining that particular vehicle.

Why would I (and not Zen?) have been targetted specifically, and why now? I have accessed the site for more than a decade without problems via my previous ISP (who presumably gave me a different IP?) and have not logged into the fiero.nl site and forum at all since my move to Zen. So why would I now be blocked by the fiero site?

To me that suggests it's not personal, but that the fiero.nl servers have "blacklisted" all or some of the IP address(es) used or assigned by Zen., for reasons that have nothing to do with me. And as a Zen client, since only a couple of weeks ago, I'm now suffering the consequences. Is that a reasonable analysis?

If it is, could I not ask Zen to assign a different IP address to me?