I couldn't access the steam store (DNS issue)

I just wanted to make my kid a steam account.

But I couldn't.

Then I realized that I couldn't access the steam store at all. Strange.

I'm an IT guy. I got this.

No malware.

Restarting didn't help.

I guess I have to actually think.

A Google search wasn't helpful. Even if I listed the error code I was getting when I tried to create a new steam account.

Ok, it isn't down for everyone.

But when I nslookup, the resulting IP is a .jp domain. And it seems legitimate...but decidedly *not* Valve's Steam.

Maybe my router's settings are causing trouble. After all, *it* is my DNS provider.

...nope, my router has some built-in tools and shows my isp as my dns provider. So this strange result is coming from Comcast.

The fix was easy enough, just specify 8.8.8.8 with 8.8.4.4 as my DNS servers in IPv4 properties, or in my router's WAN settings. Then ipconfig /flushdns. But why it happened and why more people weren't (presumably) affected, I have no idea.

*more research* -- even though my router listed my ISP as my DNS provider, it seems to be a router issues instead of a ISP issue...as far as I can tell. Or at least I can't fault comcast at this point without more research. Changing my router's DNS to 8.8.8.8 fixed this for me. I'll keep looking into the Comcast issue and report back if I have an update.

Don't use ISP Provided Email!

Life Tip: Don't use ISP Provided Email!

Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) provides you with an email address. Don't use it! I mean, you can use it, but probably shouldn't. Odds are you will want to change providers at some point, and you don't want to be tied to that annoying ISP email. I've moved around a few times and, luckily, only used ISP mail for anything important (personal correspondence, recovery email, etc.) when I was too young to know better. While I've only gone through three ISPs since living on my own, I've moved 6 times, often switching between those three (in addition to being deployed twice -- once long enough to cancel my service while out of country). I think Cellular networks offer email addresses, too. Don't use them either, for similar reasons. You don't want to add any complexity to your option to switch cell service providers.

There used to be some advantages (mailbox size allowance, native email client compatibility, etc.) of ISP email over webmail, but they've largely gone away for most users. Your best bet is to get a gmail or outlook.com address and use it. I lease some domains and have been tempted to use a "@chapmanit.com" email primarily. That isn't a terrible idea if you KNOW you are going to lease the domain name for a while. I use that for business contacts related to my IT business sometimes, but still shy away from it otherwise in case I want to stop leasing that domain.