Tutor
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8 Messages
Can't connect to medicare.gov
I'm an ATT Uverse user in Western Connecticut (06810).
I'm a Mac user, OS X on several computers, several versions of X at my disposal (10.6, 10.7, 10.8). I'm well-versed on the Mac (Mac user for 27 years), but this has me stumped for the moment, and it seems to be UVerse-related.
I can't access the "medicare.gov" website using standard methods (read on).
I -can- access other "gov" sites, such as "loc.gov", "irs.gov", "va.gov", even "healthcare.gov".
But again, I -can't- reach "medicare.gov".
I have tried several browsers including Safari, Firefox, iCab, an old version of Camino. None work -- I enter "medicare.gov" in the URL entry bar and..... nothing.
This is on ALL the Macs in the household (four total), and I've switched between older and newer iterations of the OS -- again, nothing.
I -have found- something that works, but only part way:
If I use the EPIC privacy browser and choose the option to hide my IP address via a proxy server, it connects right up to "medicare.gov". However, using such a proxy limits my ability to interact with the site (example -- cannot get "find plans" search to work).
Interestingly, if I chose to run Epic in "non-stealth" mode (IP address NOT hidden via proxy), Epic behaves just like the other browsers above -- i.e., no connection.
Also -- if I use the Tor browser, I get the same results as using Epic in "stealth mode" -- I can connect to medicare.gov (even though full interaction with the site is limited because of the proxy server).
As an aside, I can go anywhere else on the net I want. No problems connecting to sites, EXCEPT for "medicare.gov".
I'm not the only person using UVerse in Connecticut that can't connect. There are others in my general area of CT who can't reach medicare.gov, either. Seems to be in the Fairfield County area.
Doing some googling, I've encountered postings from others (who seem to all be Windows users) who have had pretty much the same connection problem with the medicare.gov site. I even saw posts which said in some cases the only resolution was to change out the ISP's modem.
Thanks,
- John
j.albert
Tutor
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8 Messages
10 years ago
Thanks to Darknessrise for providing the answer in the reply above.
My residential gateway did not support ipv6 (or if it did, that capability was previously turned off).
I clicked the button to request ipv6 and let it sit for a couple of hours.
Then I went back to the same URL above, ran the test again, and it reported that ipv6 was now enabled.
At that point, I tried connecting to "medicare.gov", and the connection now goes through.
Also, I can now connect to "cms.gov" (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services). That, too, was previously "unreachable".
I will -guess- that some server or switch "along the way" (might have been at or near "192.57.116.66") required ipv6 to "get through" it. Unless ipv6 was active at the user's end, the request to connect got rejected.
Thanks again for the solution.
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cralt
Teacher
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15 Messages
10 years ago
9/3 still broken here on both uverse accounts.
The IPv4 works fine on
Comcast
ATT Wireless
Sprint
VZN
and Cablevision.
I wonder if this broke when they moved us CT folk over to the new IP block?
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catchtwentytwo
Mentor
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89 Messages
10 years ago
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rlindau
Tutor
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6 Messages
10 years ago
I was having the same problem, but it's now working for me.
I had worked with the AT&T Social Media people, who (among other things) were helpful / responsive. They had me do a traceroute, which identified the hop (far downstream from me, on the US government end) where the failure was happening. They then recommended I talk to the help person at mymedicare.gov.
Short story - the medicare.gov "help" was no help at all, said the problem must be at the AT&T end, and that anyway there's no support for medicare.gov, just mymedicare.gov (baloney, of course). He refused to put in in touch with a technical resource in medicare.gov.
Not wanting to screw around with the hopeless, I just turned around contacted the office of my US representative for help. Someone from that office contacted me, got the details (including the traceroute), and then contactecd the medicare.gov technical people. The problem disappeared the same day.
Net - try it again, maybe it's working for you now.
(Several of the problem instances I've seen reported are from CT AT&T DSL subscribers - if that fits you, the problem may be fixed for you now too)
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hwittenb
Contributor
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1 Message
6 years ago
I am not using AT&T, however, with my Windows 10 PC I can access my router from the pc via cabled ethernet or wifi. If I use cabled ethernet I cannot access the medicare.gov login site, I get a message that the site refuses to connect. If I access my router with wifi everything works as it should.
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