Cannot access Apple servers

[nkendall]

Hi,

Since this morning none of my devices can access Apple servers. For example my desktop PC cannot browse to icloud.com (it eventually times out) and all my iOS devices cannot update apps, update Apple news, sync notes etc.

However if I switch to mobile data on the iOS devices everything works.

Interestingly on my PC if I turn on my VPN then I can access iCloud until I disconnect the VPN.

All other internet services on all devices work as normal.

I have restarted all clients. Restarted the router (Asus RT-AX68U) and turned off the optical ONT for 30 mins and then turned it back on. I have the Sky Gigafast service.

Does anyone have any ideas what could be wrong? I have never experienced anything like this before.

Thank you for any advice.

[nkendall]

UPDATE:

I have now tried using a VPN on the iOS devices which allows them to work again, but turning off the VPN causes all Apple services to be unreachable again.

[TomThumb5ive]

@nkendall  that sounds more like a dns or routing issue,

Depending on Asus dns configuration,  can you test on an alternative (Google dns 8.8.8.8 etc)

or by fetching a new public ip, by powering down the router & ont for 30 minutes.

Tom..

[nkendall]

@TomThumb5ive Thank you for your suggestion. I had already powered everything down for around 30 minutes to obtain a new IP, but this did not help. I have also restored the router to factory settings.

I was using Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.2/1.0.0.2). Following your suggestion I changed to Google, which made no difference. However if I change it to the default ISP DNS all my devices can once again access Apple servers.

I have experimented with all the DNS servers listed in the ASUS menu and I can confirm that every time I select Google or Cloudflare none of my devices can connect to Apple servers. Using the default ISP or any other service works fine.

This is very strange, and only started today after many months of using 1.1.1.2/1.0.0.2.

[TomThumb5ive]

@nkendall  Definitely a strange one,  

At least you're sorted for now 👍

Tom...

[nkendall]

Yes, all is okay for now, thank you.

I will try changing DNS again in the morning to see what happens and will report back here in due course.

Thanks again, much appreciated.

[nkendall]

Just to update ...

Today Cloudflare and Google DNS now allow devices to access Apple servers.

No idea what happened yesterday, but all seems fine now.