Ubuntu

Random Firefox web browsing issues (Hotmail, TFL, Weather.com)

Asked by Solstace

Okay - My GF's laptop doesn't like connecting to:

Hotmail (Very slow - sometimes connection times out)
Transport for London Journey Planner (can browse the site, but the journey planner function times out)
Weather.com (doesn't work at all - connection times out)
Myspace.com (doesn't work at all - connection times out).

She's using Firefox as configured in Ubuntu 7.04. Most other websites she uses are fine, and the machine works normally when connected to my Wireless Lan. Only when she uses her machine on her Wireless LAN does she get problems, when my MacBook and her flatmates IBM Thinkpad seem to work fine, even browsing the same sites with Firefox.

So - it seems to me that there's a problem either with the router packet size, or with her ISP's proxy server. Given that we've not set up a proxy, I'm surprised that this should be the case.

We upgraded her machine this weekend to see if things improved. Wireless connectivity (and the ease of making this work) and Hotmail accessibility have indeed improved. The only way Hotmail worked on her machine until now was to force Firefox to pretend to be running on Windows, which fooled everything except Googlemail into working - so this was not a workable option.

We've got halfway towards this - so I'm keen to get it working!

Now, I can't see it being a DNS issue, unless there's a problem with the router that's preventing the Linux machine picking up this info from DCHP, when Windows or Mac machines can do it just fine.

The machine is an Acer Travelmate 4001WLMi. It's got an Intel Centrino chipset, with integrated Intel graphics.

Anyone have any ideas?

Cheers.

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Answered
For:
Ubuntu Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
Ralph Janke (txwikinger) said : 		#1

Thanks for the question.

Just a hunch. We have seen some problems with the identification string that firefox uses in feisty. It can be solved by installing the user agent extension in firefox and then set it to IE on XP or something like that.

I hope this helps.

Revision history for this message
Solstace (chris-s-ferguson) said : 		#2

Tried this already and it essentially works - but it breaks
Googlemail into HTTP-only mode, so is not an acceptable alternative,
unless it's the ONLY option.

Any other ideas out there?

Chris Ferguson
<email address hidden>
0796 838 8635

http://www.flickr.com/photos/abstractnoise

On 30 Apr 2007, at 16:35, Ralph Janke wrote:

> Your question #5889 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.beta.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/5889
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Ralph Janke proposed the following answer:
> Thanks for the question.
>
> Just a hunch. We have seen some problems with the identification
> string
> that firefox uses in feisty. It can be solved by installing the user
> agent extension in firefox and then set it to IE on XP or something
> like
> that.
>
> I hope this helps.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> _
> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to
> let us
> know that it is solved:
> https://answers.beta.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/5889/+confirm?
> answer_id=0
>
> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
> following page to enter your feedback:
> https://answers.beta.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/5889

Revision history for this message
Solstace (chris-s-ferguson) said : 		#3

Sorry - further information just in:

Make & Model = Linksys Wireless-G ADSL Home Gateway Model # WAG200G
          ISP Name - eclipse (uk)

Does that give any more clues?

Thanks!

On 30 Apr 2007, at 16:45, Solstace wrote:

> Your question #5889 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/5889
>
> Status: Answered => Open
>
> You are still having a problem:
> Tried this already and it essentially works - but it breaks
> Googlemail into HTTP-only mode, so is not an acceptable alternative,
> unless it's the ONLY option.
>
> Any other ideas out there?
>
> Chris Ferguson
> <email address hidden>
> 0796 838 8635
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/abstractnoise
>
>
> On 30 Apr 2007, at 16:35, Ralph Janke wrote:
>
>> Your question #5889 on Ubuntu changed:
>> https://answers.beta.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/5889
>>
>> Status: Open => Answered
>>
>> Ralph Janke proposed the following answer:
>> Thanks for the question.
>>
>> Just a hunch. We have seen some problems with the identification
>> string
>> that firefox uses in feisty. It can be solved by installing the user
>> agent extension in firefox and then set it to IE on XP or something
>> like
>> that.
>>
>> I hope this helps.
>>
>> _____________________________________________________________________
>> _
>> _
>> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to
>> let us
>> know that it is solved:
>> https://answers.beta.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/5889/+confirm?
>> answer_id=0
>>
>> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
>> following page to enter your feedback:
>> https://answers.beta.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/5889

Revision history for this message
Ralph Janke (txwikinger) said : 		#4

If that generally helps, than it might be a problem. The problem is that certain commercial web proxies somehow reject something in "feisty" in the identification string. So maybe it is a solution to create a custom string that still indicates firefox and linux, but not feisty.

Actually with option the default string can be changed. If you replace feisty with edgy. Maybe it works.

Can you help with this problem?

Provide an answer of your own, or ask Solstace for more information if necessary.

To post a message you must log in.