US Telco Support > CenturyLink > EMBARQ Hijacks Browser Search Capabilities

EMBARQ Hijacks Browser Search Capabilities

Haven't noticed this behavior, however I don't rely on Embarq's DNS either so that could be the reason.

reply to pcbill941
I've been using OpenDNS for the past months now. No need to worry about the DNS Search hijacking anymore. (Unless they begin to force redirect IP's within the network!)

reply to pcbill941
I looked at OpenDNS and put their IP's into my router and ended up right back at search.embarq.com/index.php when I entered a non URL in the address bar.

Bill

Sounds like you didn't release and renew you pc's ip/dns after you set the info in your router.
click Start
then Run
enter cmd then click ok
type the following seperately

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

That will pull a fresh ip and dns from your router, then you should no longer see Embarq's, OpenDNS has thier own mistyped url redirect also but you can opt out of it easily enough, you can even create shortcuts so for instance "dslr" can redirect you to the full dslr url.
--
Life's 3 rules: 1. Stuff happens 2. Stuff happens on a regular basis 3. Better get used to the first two... (not the actual saying but you get the drift)

reply to pcbill941
I just noticed this happened a few days ago. While I'm against this sort of thing in principle, it really doesn't bother me too much in this case. If it keeps my bill down and funds expansion, so be it. Just don't get the idea you can start doing more invasive tinkering.
--
"It is a future in which globalization really does work ... and everybody winds up getting to be part of the third world." - William Gibson

reply to pcbill941
Bastages! It just happened to me as well. I opted out but now I'm getting redirected to »domainhelp.search.com.

Anyone seen this before?

Also, I should note this only happens when I'm using IE. If I use my Firefox browser it's not a problem.

Sounds like you have a toolbar or something else controlling browser behavior.

reply to pcbill941
I had the same thing happen to me a few weeks ago. There was an opt-out option, which I selected.

Just spent 40 minutes on phone with Embarq support. Ralph did not know anything about issue of address bar search failure. He spoke with Techs that are just as uninformed or will not admit they are the problem. I did Optout and my searches immediately changed from going to Embarqs Search page to "The page cannot be displayed" page, but the address bar search will not work.

That's not the same as having a DNS server that returns an error indication when there's no such domain. Opting out just gives you a different result page with error text instead of search results. A nonexistent domain now returns the IP address of a server at customers.simplicita.com whether you opt out or not. The server checks your opt-out status (presumably by your IP address - I wonder how well it keeps up with dynamic IPs), then if you're opted out returns an error page, or if not, a search results page. Your local application has no way of knowing if the domain was invalid - all queries return an IP address.

I meant the option of separate, unadulterated DNS servers for customers to use.

Edit: Simplicita is owned by Sandvine, ugh.

Edit 2: Opting out unadulterates the DNS server.

I didn't realise that. Thanks for the clarification. I rarely mistype URLs. I usually start typing them and then complete it from the address bars history. I'll have to mistype a URL when I get home to watch it in action.
I don't think it will have a problem tracking who has opted out, as the DSLAM does do background PPPoE with the Redback, that the user never sees, and this can easily be stored in their LDAP server, or whatever Embarq uses to store information on it's customers. I may be wrong on this point since this is a DNS level "feature." I wonder if they have their DNS servers talking to whatever servers store the customers profile.

reply to Maxo
May I suggest that you try using 'nslookup' from a command prompt? I don't have the Embarq DNS server IP addresses (and even if I did, Embarq may obstruct access from outside of their IP network). But I can see the difference between using an error correcting DNS server and a straight, unadulterated DNS server.

Standard DNS (provided by my ISP):

C:\Documents and Settings\User>nslookup www.microsoft.con
Server:  dnsr1.sbcglobal.net
Address:  68.94.156.1
 
*** dnsr1.sbcglobal.net can't find www.microsoft.con: Non-existent domain
 

C:\Documents and Settings\User>nslookup www.microsoft.con 208.67.222.222
Server:  resolver1.opendns.com
Address:  208.67.222.222
 
Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    www.microsoft.con.aosake.net
Address:  208.67.219.130
 

reply to MrMoody
Hmm, seems I was wrong. Opting out (of both options presented) returns:

Server: unknown
Address: 192.168.1.1

*** unknown can't find www.typo.con: Non-existent domain

And fixes the search from address bar. The DNS addresses did not change. Apparently the DNS server is checking accounts before returning results.

reply to NormanS
If I remember when I get home tonight I'll do that.

reply to Maxo
Features and Benefits

* Per-user preferences that function independent of cookies and dynamic IP addresses for opt-out and opt-in - improves subscriber experience with holistic preferences and controls integrated into the “My Account” experience

»www2.simplicita.com/product_nxd.html

reply to NormanS
Mind you, this is on Linux:

david@david-desktop:~$ nslookup www.microsoft.com
Server:         192.168.1.254
Address:        192.168.1.254#53
 
Non-authoritative answer:
www.microsoft.com       canonical name = toggle.www.ms.akadns.net.
toggle.www.ms.akadns.net        canonical name = g.www.ms.akadns.net.
g.www.ms.akadns.net     canonical name = lb1.www.ms.akadns.net.
Name:   lb1.www.ms.akadns.net
Address: 207.46.19.190
Name:   lb1.www.ms.akadns.net
Address: 207.46.193.254
Name:   lb1.www.ms.akadns.net
Address: 207.46.19.254
Name:   lb1.www.ms.akadns.net
Address: 207.46.192.254
 

david@david-desktop:~$ nslookup www.microsoft.con 208.67.222.222
Server:         208.67.222.222
Address:        208.67.222.222#53
 
Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   www.microsoft.con
Address: 208.69.32.130
 

reply to NormanS
FYI -- you can also disable OpenDNS's error correction service if you register with them. (No cost)

; <<>> DiG 9.3.3rc2 <<>> www.microsoft.con @208.67.222.222
; (1 server found)
;; global options:  printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN, id: 26917
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
 
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;www.microsoft.con.             IN      A
 
;; Query time: 66 msec
;; SERVER: 208.67.222.222#53(208.67.222.222)
;; WHEN: Wed Nov 14 21:16:00 2007
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 35