Can't access Gmail or Play Store

Marhay70

Hope this is the right place to post, please move if it is not.
The story is. I recently changed the DNS on my router so I could access U.S. Netflix. Everything was fine for a while then suddenly I found I couldn't access Gmail or Play Store from any of my Android devices, no problems from Laptop.
If I restore my DNS settings to default, the problem goes away but, of course, I lose Netflix.
I've tried all the methods suggested on the net, i.e. deleting Google account, deleting cache, resetting devices etc. but nothing seems to work.
Surely there must be a simple solution to this which is staring me in the face.
Any ideas?
The router is the standard Vodafone HGS 556 but I've also tried a TP LinkTD-W8960n, with the same result.

Skalragg

While it shouldnt affect gmail, I can see why it would be a problem with your android devices. If your being sent to a US google play store with a registered Irish device.

One way to get around it, is use a proxy/vpn on devices you want to watch us netflix etc on. If you only use your laptop for it, then use a chrome / firefox extension called mediahint

There are plenty of VPN / Proxy services out there, if you want a good one try https://www.witopia.net/

degsie

Maybe have a look here..

http://www.techkhoji.com/android/no-connection-retry-google-play-store/

Marhay70

Skalragg wrote: »

While it shouldnt affect gmail, I can see why it would be a problem with your android devices. If your being sent to a US google play store with a registered Irish device.

One way to get around it, is use a proxy/vpn on devices you want to watch us netflix etc on. If you only use your laptop for it, then use a chrome / firefox extension called mediahint

There are plenty of VPN / Proxy services out there, if you want a good one try https://www.witopia.net/

While I haven't tried a VPN per se, I have tried unblockus and got the same result using their DNS. I contacted unblockus Customer Service (excellent CS by the way) and they duplicated the problem using their Android devices and were able to access Play Store and Gmail without problem.

Marhay70

degsie wrote: »

Maybe have a look here..

http://www.techkhoji.com/android/no-connection-retry-google-play-store/

I had already tried most of the solutions in that tutorial but tried them all again, no luck. I think that tutorial is based on problems with one Android device whereas I have the problem with all my devices.
If I go to my daughter's house I can access Play store and Gmail on my phone using her wifi and I can also access them via 3G, I just cant access them on my own LAN.

degsie

try restarting or even resetting the router

Marhay70

degsie wrote: »

try restarting or even resetting the router

Tried that, as I said in the op, I swapped out the router and got the same result. It's a real head wrecker.

degsie

You could try and leave the router DNS settings as default and then change the DNS setting on an android device to see if that at least gets you around the problem.

Are all google services affected? I mean the likes of 'keep' or 'google drive'?

Marhay70

degsie wrote: »

You could try and leave the router DNS settings as default and then change the DNS setting on an android device to see if that at least gets you around the problem.

Are all google services affected? I mean the likes of 'keep' or 'google drive'?

Yes, that would possibly work but it defeats the purpose IMO. I want to get to the bottom of why changing the router settings doesn't work.
I don't use any of the other Google services but I seem to be able to access Talk and Music and I use Maps.

Kencollins

Hi there,

check the time and date settings on the android device. The play store will not connect if the time is considerably wrong, and the dns settings might just be confusing the network update that the android uses to keep its time in sync.

Marhay70

Kencollins wrote: »

Hi there,

check the time and date settings on the android device. The play store will not connect if the time is considerably wrong, and the dns settings might just be confusing the network update that the android uses to keep its time in sync.

No, time and date are correct.

advertsfox

Marhay70 wrote: »

No, time and date are correct.

What DNS server are you using? I use 109.123.111.24 and it works perfectly. Make sure to set up your secondary DNS as your ISPs or Google's DNS (8.8.4.4).

Marhay70

advertsfox wrote: »

What DNS server are you using? I use 109.123.111.24 and it works perfectly. Make sure to set up your secondary DNS as your ISPs or Google's DNS (8.8.4.4).

Yes,that's one I use, the other is 190.14.36.90. If I use my ISP's or Google's DNS as either primary or secondary, Netflix defaults to the Irish site.
I'm convinced this is a LAN problem.