

matt12345123

@windstream.net matt12345123 Anon Windstream redirects firefox search bar even w/ opendns



For future reference: When I use google via the firefox search bar I actually want to go to google not »



This redirect happens in both windows and linux even if dns is hard set in router and tcp/ip settings



It took me 45 minutes to figure out how to disable this "feature"



»



Honestly this isn't the kind of behavior I expect out of my isp and I consider it very unprofessional. Dear Windstream,For future reference: When I use google via the firefox search bar I actually want to go to google not » searchredirect.windstream.net/ This redirect happens in both windows and linux even if dns is hard set in router and tcp/ip settingsIt took me 45 minutes to figure out how to disable this "feature" searchredirect.windstrea ··· refs.php you can disable this "feature" hereHonestly this isn't the kind of behavior I expect out of my isp and I consider it very unprofessional.



mshelton

join:2004-04-29

Blairsville, GA mshelton to matt12345123

Member to matt12345123

This started happening to me today even though I use Level3 DNS. Very annoying.



Windstream

Premium Member

join:2009-03-31

Twinsburg, OH Windstream to matt12345123

Premium Member to matt12345123

matt12345123 - We apologize as this is an issue that we are aware of and are currently working to resolve. You should not be getting that redirect page when you are doing your searches. We should have this resolved soon.



JL



matt12345123

@windstream.net matt12345123 Anon



@windstream techsupport



the problem can be fixed by "opting out" here:

»searchredirect.windstrea ··· refs.php yes I use opendns servers (ad free)@windstream techsupportthe problem can be fixed by "opting out" here:

Sallack

join:2003-09-07

Charlotte, NC Sallack to matt12345123

Member to matt12345123

Yeah it was annoying.



But it does not take 45 minutes to correct. I imagine you were filled with rage at the gall of windstream to hijack your google search bar. I was getting a little ticked, I calmed down and read the page....

The Windstream results page had a link and instructions to change the behavior.



bonez2088

@windstream.net bonez2088 to matt12345123

Anon to matt12345123

The preferences solution doesn't work for me. When I go to searchredirect.windstream.net/prefs.php, I get this message:



"Your Preferences Are Currently Locked

The preference settings for your IP are currently locked either because you are not allowed to set preferences or because the preference server is currently offline."



I would imagine this is because I'm on a university's network, so I don't have access to my IP preferences. Regardless, I shouldn't have to deal with this issue.



SirMeowmix_I

@windstream.net SirMeowmix_I to matt12345123

Anon to matt12345123

Luckily I'm not having this issue so I suspect it's because I'm running my own bind9 caching NS. I don't trust the other DNS providers since it seems all to common to hijack NXDOMAIN now, which is an egregious offense.



So, Windstream, how does this deplorable search hi-jack work? Are you poisoning DNS queries or using layer 7 DPI and 302 redirecting?



I'd like to know since I'm a customer and this was sprung on me, with technical details so I can gauge how it impacts me and take appropriate action to mitigate it outside of an "opt-out" page.



In the future the default action choice should be "opt-in", not "out-out". Let me "opt-in" if I want my HTTP data mangled.



Napsterbater

Meh

MVM

join:2002-12-28

Milledgeville, GA Napsterbater MVM I'm running 2 W2k3 DNS server that are caching and forwarding to the 4.2.2.1-6 servers and haven't noticed anything.

niugnep7

join:2010-04-02

Meansville, GA niugnep7 to matt12345123

Member to matt12345123

The way this "opt-out" works (or at least use to work) is that it places a cookie on your computer. As soon as you close your browser, delete your cookies, clear temporary internet files, etc... it reverts back to the same behavior which requires you to go back in and reset the preference. This is a lot of work when you start considering that a household may have 4 or more computers, or laptops, or cell phones that can't even save cookies. Or that it must be done every time you close your browser, or if you have multiple operating systems.



When I complained about this, they gave me special DNS servers that I could use that wouldn't hijack. It has worked wonderfully. However, now... my Firefox searches are being hijacked even with my custom DNS. This is ridiculous. Please fix this.



Bildo

@windstream.net Bildo Anon Happening here too. Not happy and it was not overly obvious what was causing as mentioned previously.



Napsterbater

Meh

MVM

join:2002-12-28

Milledgeville, GA Napsterbater to niugnep7

MVM to niugnep7

I suggest you switch DNS server to open DNS or the L3 server (4.2.2.1-6), the only way i get the search redirect is if i use WS DNS servers even the "ad free" servers.



Majincarne

@windstream.net Majincarne to matt12345123

Anon to matt12345123

Search redirect, $10 increase in bill, mystery 5GB storage fee being added(I have never requested such)



I have the solution: New ISP.



Thank you not so much Windstream.

niugnep7

join:2010-04-02

Meansville, GA niugnep7 to Napsterbater

Member to Napsterbater

Forgot to mention, I am using DynDNS DNS. Not Windstream DNS.



Napsterbater

Meh

MVM

join:2002-12-28

Milledgeville, GA Napsterbater MVM DynDNS DNS?



What server IPs are you using?



sashwa

Mod

join:2001-01-29

Alcatraz sashwa to matt12345123

Mod to matt12345123





»/faq/16534 New FAQ on this added to show how to opt out of this:



lacibaci

join:2000-04-10

Export, PA lacibaci Member How does it work? Is it cookie based? What about non-browser requests?

niugnep7

join:2010-04-02

Meansville, GA niugnep7 to Napsterbater

Member to Napsterbater

www.dyndns.com/services/ ··· dme.html



resolver1.dyndnsinternetguide.com / 216.146.35.35

resolver2.dyndnsinternetguide.com / 216.146.36.36



I've been using DynDNS for my DNS hosting for over 7 years, great company. I switched from Windstream's "ad free" servers to DynDNS last year and haven't had any issues until today. resolver1.dyndnsinternetguide.com / 216.146.35.35resolver2.dyndnsinternetguide.com / 216.146.36.36I've been using DynDNS for my DNS hosting for over 7 years, great company. I switched from Windstream's "ad free" servers to DynDNS last year and haven't had any issues until today.



Napsterbater

Meh

MVM

join:2002-12-28

Milledgeville, GA Napsterbater MVM That's strange like i said im using level 3 and im getting no non existent domain redirect or search bar redirects, unless im using any of WS servers.



sashwa

Mod

join:2001-01-29

Alcatraz sashwa to lacibaci

Mod to lacibaci

That I don't know but I'll ask Windstream to pipe in on this.



so_sad_ws

@windstream.net so_sad_ws to matt12345123

Anon to matt12345123

Looking through Firefox's cookie manager I could not find any cookies related to having this disservice enabled or disabled. After disabling it stopped for me. Then came back randomly and disappeared again. Weird, huh?



Also I should mention that when Google searches are hijacked, unlike when non-existent domains were hijacked; I actually see the Google results page load briefly, then it hijacks me to Windstream's ad-filled search page with all of their unrelated sponsored results.

dtn25

join:2010-03-25

Manheim, PA dtn25 Member anyone else click "Why am I here" and notice the big lie saying it can't find the domain! Let's vote with our dollars and get rid of windstream.



Windstream

Premium Member

join:2009-03-31

Twinsburg, OH Windstream Premium Member



We are currently investigating the redirects during searches using search bars. For now, if you do not wish to use this service, please browse to » The purpose of the DNS Redirect is to take the user to a Windstream landing page when DNS can not be resolved.We are currently investigating the redirects during searches using search bars. For now, if you do not wish to use this service, please browse to » searchredirect.windstream.net and click the "Opt Out of this Service" link on the lower right hand corner and disable the service. We apologize for the frustration and will post updates when we have further information.



SirMeowmix_I

@windstream.net SirMeowmix_I to matt12345123

Anon to matt12345123





luser:~$ dig a thisdomaindoesnotexist.doesnotexistever.com ; <<>> DiG 9.5.1-P3 <<>> a thisdomaindoesnotexist.doesnotexistever.com ;; global options: printcmd ;; Got answer: ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN, id: 49934 ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0 ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;thisdomaindoesnotexist.doesnotexistever.com. INA ;; Query time: 2 msec ;; SERVER: 192.168.1.254#53(192.168.1.254) ;; WHEN: Fri Apr 2 19:25:50 2010 ;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 61

I am also using Firefox and the Google search toolbar option (not the Google Toolbar) and searches are working as expected and behaving normally.



Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; en-US; rv:1.9.0.18) Gecko/2010021719 Iceweasel/3.0.6 (Debian-3.0.6-3)

I still stand by my guns that NXDOMAIN hi-jacking is terrible but since I'm not experiencing the issue I really can't comment on if this is new or not. I would very much like clarification by Windstream if this is nothing more than the classic NXDOMAIN hi-jacking gone awry or if this is something new being implemented. For what it's worth, I'm not having this issue. I am running a Bind9 caching nameserver pointed to the root hints. I am getting NXDOMAIN just fine for nonexistent domains. This is very important to me because I run a mailserver and must have NXDOMAIN for non-existent domains. I've seen some even mangle NXDOMAIN on MX queries.I am also using Firefox and the Google search toolbar option (not the Google Toolbar) and searches are working as expected and behaving normally.I still stand by my guns that NXDOMAIN hi-jacking is terrible but since I'm not experiencing the issue I really can't comment on if this is new or not. I would very much like clarification by Windstream if this is nothing more than the classic NXDOMAIN hi-jacking gone awry or if this is something new being implemented.

dtn25

join:2010-03-25

Manheim, PA dtn25 to Windstream

Member to Windstream

Is it fair to call this a "dns redirect" when people have stated this happens to them even when they aren't using windstream's dns?!

wreker

join:2010-04-03

united state wreker to matt12345123

Member to matt12345123

I'm using a m0n0wall box with my windstream DSL. I was using the windstream DNS servers and out of the blue, today, my google search was hijacked by windstream.



This behavior absolutely disgraceful.



Anyway my LAN hosts get my m0n0wall IP as the the DNS server and the m0n0wall forwards requests to either hard coded DNS servers or the WAN DHCP DNS servers.



When I changed the DNS forwarding settings in m0n0wall from WAN DHCP servers to OpenDNS servers, the hijack was fixed.



Windows boxes that get the actual DNS servers rather than their router IP for DNS may need a couple ipconfig/flushdns commands or a reboot.



I've seen XP machines keep old DNS servers through a reboot, so you may need more than one.



Good luck.



Windstream

Premium Member

join:2009-03-31

Twinsburg, OH Windstream to dtn25

Premium Member to dtn25

said by dtn25:



Is it fair to call this a "dns redirect" when people have stated this happens to them even when they aren't using windstream's dns?!

Is it fair to call this a "dns redirect" when people have stated this happens to them even when they aren't using windstream's dns?!



-BP I would say that it not behaving as a DNS redirect should. However we are working on resolving this issue as quickly as possible.-BP



matt12345123

@windstream.net matt12345123 Anon I find it weird that I have opendns servers hard set into my router and still experienced this issue. The only solution was to opt out.