Adelphia/TW doesn't work with Playonline

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Hello who may read this. I enjoy FFXI a lot, but I am unable to connect due to my network connection through the former Adelphia connection. TimeWarner is strictly in belief that it is the services of Square-Enix's services called Playonline and not their own. This is false. Other people who have internet services with other companies in North America have no problems. The problem seems to be for those who are part of the former Adelphia services that are now owned by Adelphia.

If you fall under this, please try accessing the website: http://www.playonline.com and access the NA portion of the site. It will not work.

Other people have confirmed this same information. I have posted the following information on different websites, please spread the word!! Also, if you have any technical expertise, please comment...

I have posted the following info at Allakhazam.com and Order of the Blue Gartr's LS forum


For those who are not able to connect to the POL.exe or to playonline.com and are Adelphia/Comcast-> Time Warner please read this:

I personally made a call to Timewarner's support line. Since I am an Adelphia customer, I called 1-866-668-6044 to put a complaint.

o Bypass their tier 1 customer service level by mentioning it is a DNS issue. Inform the Tier 1 Customer service rep that the issue is beyond basic web browsing and a problem with a specific site that exclusively effects Adelphia users

o You will be given a workorder and transferred up

o Give the TIer 2 your work order to proceed with the call

o Tier 2 will give you information that this is a known issue and one of the engineers on Adelphia/TW's end has called Playonline and they determined it is a routing issue. This information is false. Networking doesn't work like that:
- Inform him that the service for both the website and FFXI works for Verizon (#1 competitor) users
- Switching DNS server on your router to Verizon's DNS servers of 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.3 works perfectly fine for viewing the website, but you are unable to access FFXI via POL

o They will note that if DNS doesn't work with Verizon after you switched it, then this is a Verizon issue. Inform them then why does the website work with Verizon's DNS but not Adelphia/TW's? This will put them on their back heels because their is no explaination of why the site works but not the game.

o The tier2 will reply back that this is a routing issue on POL's side and that not all traffic is being redirected. This is FALSE no information on the back end will be scoped out for just us, and if that is the case then the Engineer's with POL would have to call up to request that this be fixed.

IMPORTANT PART
o Request that they put the call up to their higher level network engineer's of a problem in accessing both gaming features and the website with Adelphia/TW"s DNS server information. If they reject this saying that it is a known issue on POL's end, demand that they put it up anyways.

o Key is in numbers. Technical support on upper level end will notice and issue if MORE PEOPLE REPORT. Trust me on this, don't take no for an answer.



Technical information regarding how to test Verizon's DNS and confirm that POL doens't work but http://www.playonline.com does:

o To check your configuration of your network:
- Click on Start > Run > type in without quotes "cmd" > click ENTER
- Type in without quotes "ipconfig /all" > hit the Enter key on your keyboard.
- Look at the DNS field. It should show up for Adelphia users: 68.168.64.21 and 68.168.64.22

How to Ping:
- From the CMD prompt mentioned previously, type out without quotes "ping playonline.com" > hit Enter you will get back a

C:\Documents and Settings\User>ping playonline.com
Ping request could not find host playonline.com. Please check the name and try a
gain.

- This will occur with Both Verizon's and Adelphia/TW's DNS. I can't explain this. However, someone pointed out in a different thread that the IP for playonline.com is 43.253.131.24

- Ping results fail from both DNS. Proof comes from NSLOOKUP

-Here is an NSLOOKUP of playonline.com from Adelphia's DNS

C:\Documents and Settings\user>nslookup playonline.com
Server: dnscache7.cdptpa.adelphia.net
Address: 68.168.64.21

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to dnscache7.cdptpa.adelphia.net timed-out

-Here is a NSLOOKUP of playonline.com from Verizon's DNS


C:\Documents and Settings\User>nslookup playonline.com
Server: vnsc-pri.sys.gtei.net
Address: 4.2.2.1

Name: playonline.com

Conclusion to NSLOOKUP info: Verizon's DNS is not allowing non-Verizon user's all features of thier DNS services. Other DNS server information from different ISP's be appreciated.


How to change DNS from Windows XP for non-router users:
-Start Control Panel (or Settings then Control Panel) > Network Connections.
* If you see Network and Internet Options, then click on that
* You will then click on Network Connections
- Locate your connection to the internet. It might be either LAN or wireless
- Right click on it and go to Properties
- Double click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
- Your default settings will be set to "Use the following DNS servers"
* If you want to change this information to test Verizon's DNS, enter the two DNS servers spaced out accordingly with the Dots with 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.3
* Click OK > click OK

How to change your DNS for your router
- First identify your gateway's IP by going to Start > Run > type in without quotes "CMD" > click OK
- Type out without quotes "ipconfig /all"
- Identify the gateway server. Most likely will be 192.168.1.1 or can slightly be different
- In your web browser, type in the Gateway's IP address and when prompted for username and password enter without quotes "admin" (works for Linksys routers, may not work for all other brands)
- At the first screen will be your DNS servers. Enter the the correct IPs of 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.3 to change it to Verizon's for testing.
- To return back the settings change them to 0.0.0.0

***********Update***********
I made a big oversight that would really helped me prove my case with the customer support. I forgot "www" before playonline.com

With Adelphia's DNS server information:
C:\Documents and Settings\user>nslookup www.playonline.com
Server: dnscache7.cdptpa.adelphia.net
Address: 68.168.64.21

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to dnscache7.cdptpa.adelphia.net timed-out

C:\Documents and Settings\user>ping www.playonline.com
Ping request could not find host www.playonline.com. Please check the name and t
ry again.


With Verizon's server information:
C:\Documents and Settings\user>nslookup www.playonline.com
Server: vnsc-pri.sys.gtei.net
Address: 4.2.2.1

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: www.playonline.com
Address: 43.253.131.24


C:\Documents and Settings\user>ping www.playonline.com

Pinging www.playonline.com [43.253.220.30] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 43.253.220.30: bytes=32 time=233ms TTL=231
Reply from 43.253.220.30: bytes=32 time=221ms TTL=231
Reply from 43.253.220.30: bytes=32 time=222ms TTL=231
Reply from 43.253.220.30: bytes=32 time=220ms TTL=231

Ping statistics for 43.253.220.30:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 220ms, Maximum = 233ms, Average = 224ms

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