Unable to access https://app.smarstage.com

[hmarcel707]

I live in the northern virginia area and on my Fios internet; I'm unable to connect to https://app.smarstage.com I have tried all the different browsers chrome/firefox/safari with and without private browsing but I just get the error that they are unable to connect. Also have tried this on multiple devices on my home network (laptops, phone, wifi). 

I don't use a VPN and tried restarting my device and router, resetting system dns cache on my mac (using "killall -HUP mDNSResponder"). This only seems to happen on my Fios internet. Going to the local starbucks I'm able to connect. Running ping or traceroute on the DNS host indicate the DNS address cannot be resolved. 

Here's the output I get from running host command on my laptop

$ ping app.smarstage.com
ping: cannot resolve app.smarstage.com: Unknown host

$ traceroute app.smarstage.com
traceroute: unknown host app.smarstage.com

$ host app.smarstage.com 71.252.0.12  # note: 71.252.0.12 is the DNS server on my router
Using domain server:
Name: 71.252.0.12
Address: 71.252.0.12#53
Aliases:

app.smarstage.com has address 10.176.34.143
app.smarstage.com has address 10.176.36.115
app.smarstage.com has address 10.176.32.22

$ host app.smarstage.com 1.1.1.1
Using domain server:
Name: 1.1.1.1
Address: 1.1.1.1#53
Aliases:

app.smarstage.com has address 10.176.34.143
app.smarstage.com has address 10.176.36.115
app.smarstage.com has address 10.176.32.22

$ ping 10.176.34.143
PING 10.176.34.143 (10.176.34.143): 56 data bytes
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
Request timeout for icmp_seq 1
Request timeout for icmp_seq 2
Request timeout for icmp_seq 3
Request timeout for icmp_seq 4
Request timeout for icmp_seq 5
Request timeout for icmp_seq 6
Request timeout for icmp_seq 7
Request timeout for icmp_seq 7
Request timeout for icmp_seq 8
Request timeout for icmp_seq 9
^C
--- 10.176.34.143 ping statistics ---
11 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100.0% packet loss

[Capricorn1]

Sites often drop ping requests, so that might not reveal much.  It's a (weak but additional) way to avoid some (D)DOS attacks.  

I am also on Fios in Northern VA and tried a few ways to ensure I could get the IP address(es) at least. 

With PowerShell, I got:

PS C:\> Resolve-DnsName app.smarstage.com

Name                                           Type   TTL   Section    IPAddress
----                                           ----   ---   -------    ---------
app.smarstage.com                              A      60    Answer     10.176.32.22
app.smarstage.com                              A      60    Answer     10.176.36.115
app.smarstage.com                              A      60    Answer     10.176.34.143


PS C:\> Test-NetConnection -TraceRoute app.smarstage.com
WARNING: Ping to 10.176.34.143 failed with status: TimedOut
WARNING: Ping to 10.176.36.115 failed with status: TimedOut
WARNING: Ping to 10.176.32.22 failed with status: TimedOut

I also tried it from my (Linux) firewall:

root@gw20lts:~# dig app.smarstage.com A

; <<>> DiG 9.18.28-0ubuntu0.20.04.1-Ubuntu <<>> app.smarstage.com A
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 40402
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 3, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 1232
; COOKIE: affce570bbeaf49501000000672d6cc07951e548cc691dac (good)
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;app.smarstage.com.             IN      A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
app.smarstage.com.      60      IN      A       10.176.32.22
app.smarstage.com.      60      IN      A       10.176.34.143
app.smarstage.com.      60      IN      A       10.176.36.115

;; Query time: 12 msec
;; SERVER: 127.0.0.1#53(127.0.0.1) (UDP)
;; WHEN: Thu Nov 07 20:43:28 EST 2024
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 122

I tried Chrome (as you did) with the developer tools open so I could watch network requests/responses. It looks like app.smarstage.com never responds to the request (not that it couldn't be found). I also tried Brave and Tor and got the same results.

For giggles, I tried using a text-based browser (links) from servers in Atlanta, GA, and Newark, NJ. Neither could establish a connection on any IP addresses returned by the DNS query for app.smarstage.com. Something does seem to be not quite right with that server, but I couldn't say what.

I can't even guess why it works at Starbucks. (Are you using a VPN there, perhaps?)

[hmarcel707]

Thanks @Capricorn1  for helping me triage 🙌. I'm happy to at least know that I'm not the only one experiencing this issue. Is there anything I could try or should I be asking the admin on the app.smartsheet.com site to check on their end? Given that this issue only presents itself on FIOS networks I'm suspecting its a Verizon issues rather than the site I'm connecting to. 

On my personal laptop I'm not using a VPN even at my local Starbucks, nothing out of the ordinary, connect to their unsecure wifi, accept their wifi terms of policy and tried connecting. When I tried on my work laptop that does have VPN enabled by default, I get the same issue.

BTW: it's interesting you got a A response with dig. When I try its on my FIOS network without directly specifying a DNS server to lookup I don't even get an answer. 

dig app.smarstage.com A

; <<>> DiG 9.10.6 <<>> app.smarstage.com A
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 16377
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 512
; OPT=15: 00 0f ("..")
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;app.smarstage.com.		IN	A

;; Query time: 37 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.1.1#53(192.168.1.1)
;; WHEN: Fri Nov 08 18:01:01 EST 2024
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 52