[Hidden-tech] Verizon blockage problem (long post)

[Marcia Yudkin]

Hi techies!

Since last Saturday, I've had a weird problem with Verizon DSL and have finally narrowed down the possibilities.  It appears that Verizon is blocking me from accessing certain web sites - including at times my Pair.com mail server, sometimes my own web sites hosted by Pair, and almost all the time my shopping cart site.  Everything else appears to be working.

Here's what we have eliminated:

1)The problem occurs identically on all three computers hooked up to our home network.

2)We thought it was a faulty modem, ordered a new modem and that didn't seem to change the results.

3)We went to the library and confirmed that all the unreachable sites were reachable there on their computer.

4)We brought a laptop to the library and were able to access everything by connecting through the library's network.

5)If I try a proxy server, I'm able to reach all the problematic sites.

When my husband tried to trace the route between our computer and the sites we can't get, it appears that the signal gets stuck at the hop just beyond our modem.  

I have three questions:

1)Has anyone else had this problem with Verizon DSL?

2)What can I tell them that will get them to fix the problem for me?  Or is there a way to escalate the problem to someone who can fix it?

3)If I can't get Verizon to solve the problem (their ability/willingness to help is limited and oh so time-consuming!), then is there a safe workaround involving some kind of proxy server?  Since one of the sites I can't reach is my shopping cart site, and that is a service I can't afford to open up to hackers, any workaround needs to be secure.  I read a little about proxy servers and it looks like I would need some kind of paid service, which I don't mind as long as it's not expensive and is trustworthy.  But this is over my head, technically.

I'm grateful for any pointers in the direction of a solution.  Please be mindful, though, that if you get really technical in your answer I may not understand what you're talking about!'

Thanks,
Marcia Yudkin
Goshen