Messages Beta stopped working

[illjazz]

Is anyone else seeing this or is it just me?

I installed Messages Beta the day after it came out. That was Friday. It worked perfectly (including message syncing with iPhone) for all of Friday and Saturday. Then on Sunday, suddenly it stopped working. Suddenly, I get the red circle with an exclamation mark for every message I try to send. When I click the mark OR the message, I get the error in the attached image.

Back on Sunday I uninstalled and reinstalled Messages Beta. After that it worked great again. Until just now. Same thing as before.

Just me or is this a thing that others are seeing?

I know it's beta and I know hiccups are to be expected, but it's odd that it would work great for a while, then fail completely.

 

[illjazz]

Did some more digging. Found this: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3742295?start=0&tstart=0

Apparently, changing the DNS server in your Network settings to 8.8.8.8, which AFAIK is Google DNS, does the trick for a lot of people. Oddly, really. I tried, but that did nothing.

Next thing I tried is to pull out my Ethernet cable, disable wi-fi and use tethering over USB with my iPhone 4S. Suddenly, Messages Beta works.

So I guess it has something to do with my local network at this dorm. Doesn't explain why it would work perfectly for 48 hours, then break down, though.

Seems I always get these fun computer problems that defy logic. Stuff is never just broken. It always works first, then breaks down without anything having changed in the equation... Oy.

Anyway, thought I'd update this thread with the new info.

 

[illjazz]

Spent a good two hours on iPhone tethering and the whole time, Messages worked perfectly. Finally decided to try on Ethernet again and... presto. Works.

Guess I'll chalk this up to beta-ness.