Eircom Hijacking my Browser!!

Moojuice

Hey Guys,

Forgive me if this is in the wrong forum, but everytime I load up my web browser I am presented with an advertisment for Eircom broadband and I have to click a button to continue to my desired site. I cannot stand eircom and their rip-off ****ty products so this is the last straw. Is there something on my machine causing this os is it something on their end? Either wayhow do I get rid of it?

Thanks guys,

spongebob

You are an existing flatrate customer I take it . They are serving popups from their Web Proxy since yesterday .

M

Moojuice

Yes I am loathe to admit it but I am an existing flatrate customer. I would have thought my Norton Firewall would have blocked it. Do you know of any way of blocking them?

Thanks Muck,

Cabaal

Originally posted by Moojuice
I would have thought my Norton Firewall would have blocked it. Do you know of any way of blocking them?

Thanks Muck,

Norton how I loath it
Try something like Mozilla or Firefox from www.mozilla.org
enable pop-up blocking and that might fix it :-)

Eurorunner

popup killer or ads-gone should do it.


course, making the switch to a reseller like iol/utv would also sort it out

theciscokid

and i thought galeon was good..

then i found firefox from mozilla, sweet as

eth0_

Originally posted by Muck
You are an existing flatrate customer I take it . They are serving popups from their Web Proxy since yesterday .

M

Please, please tell me this is a joke?
Talk about underhand...I could sort of understand them doing this for 'free' customers, but not subscribers!

Could always use another proxy I guess. I think the IOL one is open.

Boro

Use opera and set it so it only allows popups you click and that will sort you out. Opera is the biz.

Another tool to remove browser hijacks is Hijack This. Recommended.

netman

Anyone know what the eircom.net web proxy is? (IP address and port?)

BrianD

I cannot stand eircom and their rip-off ****ty products so this is the last straw.

Yet you are an Eircom flat rate customer???

I am surprised you made this posting. You are an Eircom customer and your home page is probably the Eircom page. Are you really that surprised that a pop up for another Eircom product appears??? It's called sales. If it's any comfort Esat BT/IOL also do it on a regular basis.

netman

Why don't you just change the home page... I mean it's not like it's hard!

vibe666

this sh1t is unbelievable.

i'm trying to surf and I'm getting DNS redirects sending me a page pimping eircom's broadband.

uploaded a pic below.

i'm just about fecking fuming abiout this and i'm going to call them first thing and give somebody a mouthful about it.

this is tantamount to spam. it's unsolicited junk advertising and this makes them no better than the people peddling porn, pills and printer ink, and i'm not going to let it go.

the worst thing is that although IE seems to release it when you refresh other browsers don't seem to be so forgiving. i'm using Opera and it gets stuck each time it happens. would be interesting to see if Mozilla does it too or not.

so, i'll keep you posted.

edit: fixed pic upload

Frank Grimes

Why don't you just sign up to IOL Anytime?
You get more hours per month for same cost and it's a very good service (at least for me it is). Or else UTV flat rate if you don't mind changing your phone calls too.
BTW, in relation to the Eircom ads, I'm sure they're well covered in their terms and conditions to do stuff like that.

eth0_

Originally posted by BrianD
You are an Eircom customer and your home page is probably the Eircom page.

It doesn't sound to me like it is his home page. It's simple for ISP's to force pop up ads through that you have to click on in order to go on to the site you want to go to.

BrianD

Perhaps Moo can advise whether it is or not. Unless you have some malware on your PC aren't pop-ups normally associated with a particular page or site?

LFCFan

Originally posted by Moojuice
I cannot stand eircom and their rip-off ****ty products so this is the last straw.

Hi Moojuice. Don't want to sound like I'm getting at you but if you hate €ircon so much, why in the name of all things sane are you using their flatrate service which is more expensive and has less hours than all their competitors?

ElNino

I use the Google toolbar which has a pop-up blocker built in

http://toolbar.google.com/

Service Pack 2 for Windows XP is going to have a pop-up blocker for Internet Explorer included. However this is still in the Beta stage and hasn't been released yet.

vorbis

don't remember ever getting that kind of behaviour. and I'm an eircom flat rate customer. The only ads I get off eircom are from their web site.

seamus

Moved.

And for the record, eircom do attempt to force pop-ups through, even for customer who aren't using their homepage.
Afaik though, they try not to be overly intrusive about it, amazingly enough. The broadband popup may be coming from the eircom.net site for all visitors with 159.134.y.x IPs (i.e. those on flat-rate, where y and maybe x are specific ranges).

vibe666

it's still not on. i didn't sign up for stuff like that, and i doubt it's in their terms and conditions, it looks like someone just had the smart idea of doing the same thing they did with the walled garden when they were getting rid of the regional numbers.

i've not had a chance to call yet, but i'm going to do it when i get home.

eth0_

Originally posted by vibe666

i've not had a chance to call yet, but i'm going to do it when i get home.

Don't bother ringing them, support don't give a cr*p about customers' complaints.
I'd suggest you write to the top man in Eircom and also email theregister.co.uk because this kind of thing is just NOT on.

K!LL!@N

Actually, i think you'll find that it's in the terms and conditions when you sign up for eircom flatrate, that you agree to allow them contact you about promotions etc. relating to other eircom products.

You can't sign up for eircom flatrate without accepting this condition.
So eircom are within the terms and conditions of your contract to inform you of these promotions however they like.

Killian

mneylon

Are you using a proxy or something?
I'd be interested to know how they are forcing this on you.

Gavin

Easy enough to do via a transparent proxy, or as the man says, redirecting DNS requests. If that is what they are doing, its fairly dodgy alright, wonder what comreg would think of it.

Gav

vibe666

pop up blockers, opera, mozilla or the lord god himself can do nothing about it (not so sure about the last one tho) as it's not a pop up, it's a temporary walled garden type deal like they used when they changed to the 1892 number from the regional numbers.
the next bit is a slightly simplified version of what actually happens, so unless it really puts your nose out try and avoid correcting me, cos it only lowers the tone of the whole thread! thanks.
you type in an address in your browser (whatever it is) and it sends the address to the dns server which then looks up the IP address related to that http address, and sends it back to your browser which then contacts the server on that IP address and then recieves said page.

in this case though eircom's dns servers are redirecting those dns requests to their brand spanking new SPAM server, before it lets you anywhere else.

admittedly it's not every single request, but it's about 1 new browser window in 3 and with tabbed browsers like opera and mozilla it seems to not only be worse, but harder to get past as it keeps coming back to the same ad over and over unless you completely refresh the page.

it's a real pain in the hole.

you can complain to COMREG here or call them on this number: 1890 229 668 but they plainly tell you they'll do bugger all until you're blue in the face from complaining to the ISP in question.

Moojuice

seriously how stupid do you think I am Ok I go with Eircon, but I know how to set my home page (its google) so its not as simple as that. I go with Eircon because (without going into too much detail) at the time it was far too awkward to get broadband and I couldnt afford to pay the whole cost yet no one else would share it. I am moving soon (and can afford broadband) and will be getting broadband but not from Eircom.

And the flat rate isnt working now, I am using a backup pay as you go number that anyone can use. I emailed them asking them to stop spamming me everytime I open my browser but as of yet I still have to hear from them. I am going to take this further. And dont bother ringing Techsupport to complain they dont care, trust me I know this first hand (experience and all that).

Official letter of complaint to the main man and Comreg and CCd to anyone who I think might give a ****.

Nietzschean

Well if its not a transparent http proxy and they are tampering with dns requests then use different dns servers than the eircom ones? wouldn't be hard to find replacements......

for a transparent proxy ye tend to be fairly up **** creek unless u have an external box...

local proxy -> ssh tunnel -> extern box -> external proxy...that'll fairly guarantee u no more ad's

You could try just connecting to an external proxy but if they probally have that sussed and would input the ad's into those streams too

vibe666

would the mods be OK with me posting the email addresses of all the top management of eircom.net? that way if people wanted to complain directly they would be getting through to the people who count.

not to mention an email address that is forwarded to about half the company. anyone for spamming the spammers?

mickeyboymel

Although I am an Eircom Anytime Subscriber, I never use their site, ever, because of the amount of Popups,Tracing Cookies, Webcollecter Cookies, Ads etc etc etc.

The only time I go near them,is the eircom.ie site to check my phonebill.

I simply have compiled my own homepage on my computer with the logos from all my favourite search engines and most used sites, hyperlinked from a word webpage on my computer which my browser homepage points to.

I visited the eircomnet homepage on one occassion with no firewall enabled and was amazed by the number of ads plastered everywhere.

Noone needs to have eircom as their homepage, just cause they subscribe to a package.....get rid of it.

spongebob

Originally posted by vibe666
would the mods be OK with me posting the email addresses of all the top management of eircom.net? that way if people wanted to complain directly they would be getting through to the people who count.

not to mention an email address that is forwarded to about half the company. anyone for spamming the spammers?

I'd say you would be just grand there as long as you only post the senior managers names and what they ARE and ARE NOT responsible for (and PM me the rest lest they need to be deployed at some stage too Vibe, thanks )

Nobody likes a company that sells entry level products to consumers and refuses to support them or answer any questions save by 1550 number at 75c a minute.

M

BrianD

I never use their site, Popups,Tracing Cookies, Webcollecter Cookies, Ads etc etc etc.

Your web surfing must be pretty limited then!! Most web sites have some or all of the above.

Eircom.net is different to eircom.ie and yes you are right that you don't need to have your ISP home page as your start page but invariable must people do. To the best of my knowledge, a firewall will not prevent pop-ups from displaying, cookies etc etc.

Are you still getting the pop ups with your own start page?

Nobody likes a company that sells entry level products to consumers and refuses to support them or answer any questions save by 1550 number at 75c a minute.

Is this the still the case with flat rate products? I think the premium rate policy was justified in the days of "free" ISP's.

egan007

Originally posted by Moojuice
Hey Guys,

Forgive me if this is in the wrong forum, but everytime I load up my web browser I am presented with an advertisment for Eircom broadband and I have to click a button to continue to my desired site. I cannot stand eircom and their rip-off ****ty products so this is the last straw. Is there something on my machine causing this os is it something on their end? Either wayhow do I get rid of it?

Thanks guys,

hi just download spybot search and destroy
search for it in google and install
it will get rid of your problem - it's free

mickeyboymel

Your web surfing must be pretty limited then!! Most web sites have some or all of the above.

I only get popups on the eircom.net homepage, on the rare occassion I visit it,never any other site. I have cookies, popups etc blocked during normal web browsing, and only allow cookies from forums or shopping sites that require them to remember your basket, login details etc.

This only restricts my browising on a small amount of sites where every single image tries to load a cookie.

I use Norton Internet Security, which you can "train" by rejecting all cookies and then deciding which ones you want to allow.It can be a bit tedious when you first install it,trying to identify which cookies to allow, but once set up. it is great. I never allow site counter or advertising cookies through at all.It is also set to block all adverts on webpages, including google ads on this site which I found a little harder to get round. You can also specify restrictions on any webpage such as popups,adverts,information about your browser and last site visited, flash,java,animation etc etc

I also have Internet Explorer and Firefox configured in a similar way to only allow through thru cookies I want, or allow in the first place.

It rarely effects my browsing, and makes my Spybot and Adaware programs nearly obselete.

I find the pages load much quicker with no ads, especially as I am on dialup.

mickeyboymel

I found a way around it :

Set your eircomnet homepage to http://home.eircom.net/?refresh=1 and it will bypass the popup, and lead you directly to the normal homepage.

god's toy

Originally posted by ElNino
I use the Google toolbar which has a pop-up blocker built in

The Google toolbar is filled to the brim with spyware, it’s associated with Gater for god's sake!
I’d uninstall that one ASAP.

Moojuice

cheers for al your replies guys. My home page is not set to Eircom but to google and the pop ups still happen (te whole browser is taken over by an eircom advertisment) although they seem to have stopped now. I hope that is the end of it.

QBall

Originally posted by Moojuice
dont bother ringing Techsupport to complain they dont care, trust me I know this first hand (experience and all that).

I would say don't bother ringing technical support unless you have a technical problem. If you are ringing to complain, ring the customer service/complaints dept/whatever they call it these days.

Before you ring, it's a very good idea to read the terms and conditions that govern the service. If the popups are covered by it (which I suspect they would be) then you probably won't get anywhere. If you feel the need to vent your anger at them, a well written letter to someone senior will have more of an effect than an angry phone call. (Hint: If someone is junior enough to be answering the phone then they won't be able to do much for you.) If you feel you don't get an adequate response from them, go to ComReg, although I'd say ComReg will probably do nothing if the ads are covered in the T&Cs.

The bottom line is: Unless they're breaking the terms and conditions of the service, your best (only?) option is to move to another provider. Before you sign up with an[other] operator read the terms and conditions of their service. Then read them again. Only when you are completely sure you understand what the service entails should you actually sign up.

If you buy apples that come in a box saying "GREEN APPLES" on the outside you look very stupid saying "But I wanted red apples!".

Some day I'm going to write a Complaining HOWTO...

Disclosure: I did tech support for Indigo back in the day, and was assimilated by Eircom before I left.

Moojuice

Q, as did I, oh the shame

Nietzschean

Originally posted by god's toy
The Google toolbar is filled to the brim with spyware, it’s associated with Gater for god's sake!
I’d uninstall that one ASAP.

http://www.free-web-browsers.com/browser_extensions.shtml

hrmmmmm unless you select googlebar to send back data it wont...i don't see where your getting that info from.........

god's toy

Form a friend who works for Symantec.

Nietzschean

The spyware is optional, and as such like its yer own fault if u turn it on

BrianD

I didn't think that the notorious Gator product range and Google were connected? Is this true?

I emailed them asking them to stop spamming me everytime

I don't think you can class a pop-up as spam in the true meaning of the word. Spam generally refers to unsolicited e-mail.

vibe666

would the muppet's who keep telling people not to set their homepage to eircom's stop for one second and read some of the fvcking posts please. better yet I'll make it nice and simple.

this is not a pop-up, it's eircom re-directing DNS requests and it doesn't matter what spyware removing you do, it doesn't matter what your homepage is set to, what browser you use, what pop-up blockers you use and it doesn't matter how clever you think you are. if you use eircom's flatrate service and consequentially their DNS servers you will get these ads whether you like it or not.

FFS just read more than one damn post before you give everyone one of your little pearls of infinite wisdom.

on a slightly lighter note, I recieved this on friday afternoon:

Dear xxxxxxxxxxx,

I refer to your recent email dated May 26th 2004 on the eircom net customer
service announcement.

In line with Eircom net's contact policy as outlined in the Terms and
Conditions of our Flat Rate Internet Access product at paragraph 11 which
was made available to you when you registered for the service, Eircom net
reserves the right to contact all customers with information on subjects
such as service announcements and service enhancements on the products
provided to its customers.

This particular customer announcement relates to a specific free service
enhancement, which is available to you at no additional cost for a limited
time only.

Following your request we will be glad to remove this particular customer
announcement from your account. Please note however, that under our terms
and conditions of service, we may contact you in the future with service
announcements which we understand may be of relevance and interest to you.

For further information on our customer contact policy please click
http://home.eircom.net/products/flatrate/terms

Kind Regards,

eircom.net customer service

Abuse Department
eircom net

so at least if you give out to the right people about it you'll get somewhere.

send emails of complaint and requests to be removed to janet DOT hand AT eircom DOT net (wouldn't want her to get spammed would I?);)

mickeyboymel

What a lovely attitude vibe666,must be great to be God Almighty and know everything, did you take that attitude with Eircom in your Email?

I was responding to a queston regarding my internet browsing when I discussed firewalls and the like.

Yes,I realise now on further research that it is not related to the homepage,but there is a similar pop up advertising broadband,appearing there which happened to coincide with the DNS problem,and it is easy to confuse the two,however,I do not feel I deserve such an attack.

Abuse department of Eircom? I think I might contact the abuse department of boards.ie

stereo_steve

Mickeyboymel, its not vibe's fault your slow. Stop taking it out on him. He explained numerous times.

This eircom spamming really irritates me and I am off to write an email of complaint now as well. I'll let you know how it goes.

Gavin

Originally posted by vibe666
would the muppet's who keep telling people not to set their homepage to eircom's stop for one second and read some of the fvcking posts please. better yet I'll make it nice and simple.

You presented the information and the facts. You don't need to do any more, leave off the insults. I don't want any replies to this comment, or any other replies in the same vein.

Gav

Fabritzo

It seems to me that whoever put up the auto-refresh idea was on the right track.
For example if one has their homepage as www.boards.ie, change it to http://www.boards.ie/?refresh=1

It obviously takes a couple of seconds longer to load up the page but no more mr. annoying free broadband ad....who in their right mind would sign up for free broadband like :rolleyes:

The above will not work if you click a link that opens a new window or if you type in the url yourself. Perhaps try typing in the url hit enter and hit F5. For the noobs out there F5 will refresh the browser window.

Vibe's route seems more rewarding though.

Congratulations on getting some feedback from them.

Tenshot

While I haven't been plagued by these pop-ups yet (DSL user), a friend of mine was complaining about them two days ago. I didn't understand what they were on about until I came across this thread.

One misnomer though: people are describing it as DNS hijacking. This is pretty unlikely - Windows caches DNS entries locally, so if a DNS entry was temporarily hijacked, it would remain hijacked for the duration of the user's session, which would prevent the original web page ever loading at all.

More likely, it's being handled by Eircom's transparent web proxy. Incredibly obnoxious behaviour for a subscription service.

vibe666

Originally posted by Fabritzo
It seems to me that whoever put up the auto-refresh idea was on the right track.
For example if one has their homepage as www.boards.ie, change it to http://www.boards.ie/?refresh=1

That's not going to make a difference I'm afraid. it's not just when you open your browser, it can happen on any page you visit, and has been popping up in most new browser windows.

also, sorry for the earlier outburst, but it really gets on my nerves when people comment on something without reading what the thread is about in the first place, and this eircom thing has been getting on my tits.

apologies anyway.

Gavin

Originally posted by Tenshot

One misnomer though: people are describing it as DNS hijacking. This is pretty unlikely - Windows caches DNS entries locally, so if a DNS entry was temporarily hijacked, it would remain hijacked for the duration of the user's session, which would prevent the original web page ever loading at all.

That's not exactly correct, to be pedantic about it. By using a very low TTL on the DNS entry when returned to the client, the entry will not be stored long in the cache, if at all. The same method is used by load-balancing networks like Akamai, so as to shift traffic from server to server seamlessly.

I've heard from a mate on the connection that he was having troubles with different services, whilst on eircom, since they started advertising. Using ssh was one, which would be in keeping with DNS hi-jacking being used.

Mind you, it could still be a transparent proxy alright.

Either way, to all the confused folks as stated already, it is not dependant whatsoever on what software you may or may not have installed on your pc.

Is is not spyware, adware, eircom homepage or anything like that and it seems that the only way to get it to stop is to ask, eircom to stop. An alternative, if it is DNS hi-jacking, would be to use a different DNS server.

Gav

Tenshot

Hmm ... good point, Verb. I'm not sure that Windows XP respects the TTL for its local cache (see 'ipconfig /displaydns') but if it did, it could certainly work as you say.

Re problems with other local services, a friend was seeing issues with POP3 polling, around about the time this all started. More info in this thread.