Specific website not loading?

[zeth07]

A website I had been going to in the past is no longer loading as of a few days ago and I have no idea why. I tried in different browsers and it didn't load, which tells me it's not a cookies/cache issue since I don't use other browsers normally so they wouldn't exist, for example if I tested it on Edge which I don't use. The second thing is I tried it on my phone with wifi and it still didn't load, which should also rule out any firewall possibility on my PC interfering with that specific site. So after talking to my ISP they suggested restarting the modem/router, and after I did that it still didn't work. When I got back to them they suggested I try it on just my phone cellular data and IT WORKED. I then asked them (my ISP) if they ever blocked websites for some reason, like maybe a false flag and they said no, so I don't think it is an ISP issue.

So now I am here because it is obviously an issue with the router, since I doubt it is the modem itself. If a restart didn't fix it I have no idea what the cause is. I did not mess with any settings within the time it worked and the time it didn't work. Under Settings > Content Filtering > Block Sites there is nothing there because I obviously have no reason to block anything, especially not a site I am using.

To be clear it is a perfectly normal website so there wouldn't be any suspicious reasons for ANYTHING to block it anyway.

EDIT: ipv6 has been disabled for a long time and the routers built-in Adblocker option has never been enabled either.

[Netduma Fraser]

You said it only started happening a few days ago, did you change any settings on the router or physically with the setup around that time? Have you tried accessing when directly connected to your ISP modem/router? It could be they've blocked your IP for example so that would be a good check.

Otherwise, try changing DNS & set NAT to Open in WAN Settings. 

[zeth07]

6 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

You said it only started happening a few days ago, did you change any settings on the router or physically with the setup around that time? Have you tried accessing when directly connected to your ISP modem/router? It could be they've blocked your IP for example so that would be a good check.

Otherwise, try changing DNS & set NAT to Open in WAN Settings. 

As I mentioned in my post I did not change any settings anywhere between the time it worked and the time it didn't work. I also specifically asked my ISP if they blocked websites and they said no and considering the website there would be no reason to do that to begin with.

I tried to switch to Google DNS from the default ones by the ISP and the site still didn't work. The WAN settings were already set to Open prior to this.

I have not tried directly connecting to the modem but the modem I have is the Netgear CM2000 so I would be asking the same question here just in a different section anyway if it was the modem causing the problem instead.

For what it's worth this is the website: https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php

Again I've checked Down For Everyone Or Just Me and the site is up so it's clearly on my end somehow, since I even asked on the subreddit and someone else said it worked fine for them. So clearly something with the router is messing up that specific website for some reason.

[Netduma Fraser]

Nothing physically changed with the setup either? I'm not saying the ISP would have blocked your IP but the site itself/their hosting provider could. If it was the same issue on the modem as we're Netduma and not Netgear it's not something we could specifically help with. I'd highly suggest trying directly to the modem, it either works which then proves it definitely is the router or doesn't in which case it's not the router and more likely the site blocking you. Try disabling QoS fully from the Congestion Control menu and see if that helps but there really isn't anything else that could block you

[zeth07]

On 3/31/2026 at 5:04 PM, Netduma Fraser said:

Nothing physically changed with the setup either? I'm not saying the ISP would have blocked your IP but the site itself/their hosting provider could. If it was the same issue on the modem as we're Netduma and not Netgear it's not something we could specifically help with. I'd highly suggest trying directly to the modem, it either works which then proves it definitely is the router or doesn't in which case it's not the router and more likely the site blocking you. Try disabling QoS fully from the Congestion Control menu and see if that helps but there really isn't anything else that could block you

Correct, nothing physically changed. Disabling the QoS didn't seem to fix anything either. I haven't tried directly to the modem yet since other people have been needing the internet for stuff more important than this up til now but I'll try it eventually. I tried to reach out to the site company itself but I don't expect to get an answer from them. It is just so strange since I don't see any reason why they would even consider an IP ban for something I barely posted on and most recent post was a normal question and compliment to another person's work related to it lol. Like it legitimately makes no sense for it to get that far to happen as a thing which is why this is so strange.

[Netduma Fraser]

A lot of websites now use something like Cloudflare for protection and they can detect suspected spam/bot activity but they will have blocks of IP addresses that are blocked for whatever reason so if it's not the website itself they probably wouldn't even be aware of that happening. Not saying it is that but if you get the same issue direct from your modem and the ISP deny it then that would be the logical explanation. Do you know if your public IP has changed recently? If it has then it may have changed to one that is in a block list for example. Testing direct from the modem would give you the best information so far, though there really isn't anything else I can think of on the router that would be blocking it.