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Really strange problem just started on my 2010 mbp running mountain lion.

I reset my machine because I was having problems with outlook crashing (this is not strange well knows anyone who tries to make microsoft products work on a mac), and upon reset for some reason I can't access the web.

The machine appears to connect and obtain an IP address fine on wifi, but no traffic will come through, can't access web pages in any browser, FTP and mail clients don't work. I tried plugging in the Ethernet cable and again the machine appears to connect without any issue, but no traffic will come through.

Other machines in my house are working fine.

Any ideas?

Update: I've also since found that if I login on this machine as a guest or as another user, everything works fine... Which seems very odd. Doesn't appear to be a DNS issue.

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2 Answers 2

Check the /etc/hosts file by putting this command in Terminal:

cat /etc/hosts | open -f

Be aware this only lets you read the file, you can't edit it this way. Assuming the file is not lengthy, post the output here.

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This may be caused by an improper DNS configuration either on your router or locally on your system (more likely in your case).

You can check the current DNS servers in the network preferences dialog. As a test, you can manually enter one of the Google Public DNS servers (perhaps Then don't forget to apply those settings and maybe turn the WiFi off and back on. If webpages load, then you can either leave your DNS manually set or you can attempt to figure out why the router DNS isn't working.

Edit: Can you elaborate on what makes you believe it is not a DNS issue? Just because it works as another user doesn't mean that your location settings are correct for the user of interest.

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Can you ping something on the internet? "google.com" perhaps? –  Eric Marsh Jan 21 '13 at 21:44

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