(104) Connection reset by peer

[jmt356]

Does anyone know why I have been getting this error message lately when browsing sites as diverse as Amazon, eBay, and even this Lounge?

"While trying to retrieve the URL: http://example.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The following error was encountered:
•Read Error
The system returned:
(104) Connection reset by peer
An error condition occurred while reading data from the network. Please retry your request.
Your cache administrator is webmaster."

There are tons of hits relating to it on Google, but none seem that helpful. Many relate to Linux, but I don't have Linux; I'm running Windows XP and on my other computer, which had the same errors showing up, I was running Windows 7. On this computer, I'm running IE 8.0.

There is much talk on proxy servers; but I'm not using one. I'm connecting the internet from a hotel if that means anything ...

Sometimes, pressing refresh helps in getting me to the page I'm trying to view; othertimes, the same error message appears.

[StuartR]

My initial guess would be lost network packets, or very very slow network speeds.

Can you run a pingtest and post your results.

[DaveA]

There is much talk on proxy servers; but I'm not using one. I'm connecting the internet from a hotel if that means anything ...

Most hotels are using a proxey server of some type. It may be their problem with their server.

[jmt356]

Ping Test returns this error:
"Packet Loss Test Error.
Couldn't connect to the test server. A firewall could be blocking the connection or the server might be having some issues. Please try again later."

I don't think speed is the issue. speedtest.net reports 12 mb/s upload and 11 mb/s download speeds.

Why would a hotel use a proxy server? Are they trying to prevent their clients from accessing certain sites??

[HansV]

You'd have to ask the hotel...

[StuartR]

...
Why would a hotel use a proxy server? Are they trying to prevent their clients from accessing certain sites??

Maybe to reduce internet traffic, if they think that many of their customers will access the same web sites.
Maybe because they don't allow you direct access to the Internet, but only to the web, to prevent high bandwidth abuse of their service.

[jmt356]

they don't allow you direct access to the Internet, but only to the web

What's the difference between direct access to the internet and direct access to the web?

The hotel says they don't use a proxy, and the IT specialist checked my computer to confirm that it too isn't set for a proxy...