Website missing elements

[coldwaves]

I have a problem that has puzzled me for a while. Whenever I go to Apple's website using the home internet, several elements on the website (the top of the webpage) are missing (see attached picture). So far, I have only observed this on apple.com and not on other website. I am on Comcast/Xfinity. Clearing the browsing history or refresh does not help. This only occurs when I connect to the home network. When I am at work or connected through the hotspot from my phone, the website show up without the issue. Rebooting the router or modem does not solve the issue either. Speed test shows that I got the expected downloading and uploading speed.

I tried another Windows laptop using Chrome or IE connected through the home Wi-Fi, same thing occurs. If I directly plug in the cable from the modem to the laptop, same thing still occur. All these suggest that it is not the router, not the laptop, not the browser. It is either ISP or the modem.

It is on a Mid 2015 MacBook Pro 15. When I first noticed this, it is on macOS 10.14.3. After updating to 10.14.4 today, the problem is still there.

Any idea what causes the problem? I talked to Comcast service without any success. I am curious to know what can cause problem like this.

 

[BrianBaughn]

What are your DNS settings when going through the ISP modem?

 

[coldwaves]

What are your DNS settings when going through the ISP modem?

Thanks for your insights!

The admin page of the modem does not have any info about DNS setting. It only shows the connection status, including downstream and upstream channels. The router has a DNS setting. It is currently set to “connect to DNS server automatically”. I guess this means that it is using the DNS server from the ISP.

After trying a few DNS server settings, it appears that the issues is caused by Comcast DNS servers. If I use openDNS or Cloudflare DNS, apple.com shows up fine. Using Google DNS, it shows up fine most of the time.

PS: each time when I changed DNS settings on the router, I clear the Safari browsing history, disconnect Wi-Fi, and connect again. This is to make sure the results are not influenced by cache.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Long ago I set my router's DNS to Google's. I'm on Comcast internet.

 

[coldwaves]

Long ago I set my router's DNS to Google's. I'm on Comcast internet.

Thanks! Yeah, it appears switching to a different DNS server solve the issue. Google works and for me, Cloudflare DNS server is a bit faster so that's what I am using now.

 

[csurfr]

I've seen this in Chrome before, but never Safari. Usually what I do is "Empty Cache and Hard Reload" from the dev tools in Chrome. . . You can try the same thing in Safari. Hit Safari -> Preferences -> Advanced and check "Show Develop in menu bar" (see below). then Click Develop in the menu bar and choose "Empty Caches".

No guarantee, but it's worth a shot.

 

[coldwaves]

I've seen this in Chrome before, but never Safari. Usually what I do is "Empty Cache and Hard Reload" from the dev tools in Chrome. . . You can try the same thing in Safari. Hit Safari -> Preferences -> Advanced and check "Show Develop in menu bar" (see below). then Click Develop in the menu bar and choose "Empty Caches".

No guarantee, but it's worth a shot.

View attachment 828598 View attachment 828599

Thanks! I tried this but this does not solve the problem. Rather, the DNS server from Comcast seems to be the culprit. Changing to another DNS server in the router settings resolve the issue.