Linksys router is blocking certain websites

[Channing]

Hello there, I have a small home network configured which consist of a desktop computer and a Sony laptop both of the computers running on Windows XP. The Internet connection is shared between the computers using a Linksys wireless router. Recently the router has started blocking certain websites. Whenever I try to visit certain website, the browser shows Connection Timed out page. I cant figure out why the Linksys router is blocking certain websites and need your expertise to solve the issue. Please share some useful information which might help me in solving the issue. Any help is more than appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Abdullah30]

You will have to check the configuration of the router first. It is possible that the router is not configured properly. If the router is not configured properly then computers attached to it will not be able to share all the network resources. To check the configuration of the router, first you will have to login to the router using the default IP address of the router which can be found out by referring the user manual. Once logged in to the router, open the configuration page and then see if there are any changes to be made in the configuration. Make the necessary changes and then save the configuration. Reboot the router and see if you are able to visit the website or not.

[Lemog]

Are there any security software's installed on the computer? If yes then they could be the reason behind the problem. The basic tendency of the security software is to block the unknown traffic coming or leaving from the computer. Due to this tendency, sometimes the user desired traffic is also blocked. To solve the issue, either move the processes of the applications which you are using to surf the internet to the trusted applications list in the security software or disable all the security software while accessing internet. Once the above steps are taken, try visiting the websites which were not opening.

[Wyvern]

Check if the link which is providing the bandwidth to the router is working properly or not. Many times it happens that the link which is providing the bandwidth to the computer, is faulty and is not able to provide all the services to the computer. Hence run some diagnostics tests on the link and check if the link is working properly. You can contact your ISP and can get the link checked by them. If there is some fault with the Link, then ask the service provider to rectify the problem. Meanwhile you can also test the link by visiting Websites like Speedtest and PingTest which provide online tests for checking the Internet connectivity.

[Wguy2008]

There are certain websites which dont have valid security certificates. If such websites are visited by using the browser which blocks the websites without the valid security certificates then the user will get "Connection Timed out" error. Try changing the preferences of the browser which you are using. To change the preferences, go to tools and then select option. In option visit all the tabs and change the preferences of the browser according to your needs. Once all the changes are made, save and then restart the browser. If you are still not able to visit the website, then download some other browser and try opening the website on it.

[Steve123]

Sometimes the internet service provider block many of the websites which they think are harmful for the users. This is done in order to protect the user against some virus attack or hacking. Hence contact the Internet service provider and then ask them if the websites which you are trying to visit are blocked by them or not. If they are blocked by the ISP then there is nothing much you can do about it. Otherwise ask the ISP to solve the problem.