DNS redirections, how annoying

Apparently the fine folks at GCI aren’t making enough off their customers by selling bundled packages and burying the best Internet options deep inside the most expensive plans. They’ve gone and fiddled with the default DHCP/DNS settings that causes redirects to their branded Yahoo! search page when a user enters words in the URL path of their browser. Can they really be that desperate for a few click-through dollars? Did anyone really ask for this “feature”?

Gee thanks, I guess.


If you’re a GCI customer, try this. Enter the word “apple” into the URL path of your browser. The normal response from most browsers will be to attempt to automatically place the “www.” and “.com” around the word “apple” - which would take you directly to Apple’s website (www.apple.com). This is exactly how it works for me and it’s rather intuitive and direct.

For the GCI customer, you’ll get this lovely response.

Browser hijack brought to you by GCI and Yahoo

That doesn’t look like Apple.com to me.

While I am currently not a GCI customer, I have many friends who have complained about the change in behavior of their regular browsing experience while on the GCI consumer connection. I too have experienced it while on public WiFi access points carried by GCI and can attest that it is annoying.

Beyond the annoyance, does this move GCI into a gray area violation of Net Neutrality? It all depends on who you ask, but most (if not all) will agree that this feature is irritating.

Luckily, there are ways to avoid this unintended search.

How to remove the “Search Domains” from your connection:

Caution: These should serve only demonstrate how to remove the automatic DNS settings and assign them yourself. You should use the IP addresses for GCI, not those seen in these tutorials.

For Windows 2000 or XP
»www.earthnet.net/support/tcpip_d···K-xp.htm

For Windows 95, 98, or ME
»www.earthnet.net/support/tcpip_d···5-Me.htm

For Apple OSX
»www.earthnet.net/support/tcpip_d···_osx.htm

For Apple OS 9
»www.earthnet.net/support/tcpip_d···_os9.htm

Links courtesy of DSLReports.com forum.

Related DNS redirect articles:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071113/143009.shtml
http://www.betanews.com/article/EarthLink_Criticized_for_DNS_Redirects/1157575614

/kk