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DNS faults - Thomason v8 router - at end of my tether

smudger
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎20-08-2011

DNS faults - Thomason v8 router - at end of my tether

Keep getting this message when searching opening new websites. Happened before and Plusnet issued a replacement router. Did improve, happened occasionally still but could live with it. Last few days it has been unbearable to point that broadband is pretty much inaccessible unless you are willing to spend 5 mins refreshing pages tp try and load a particular webpage:
This webpage is not available
The server at webcache.googleusercontent.com can't be found, because the DNS lookup failed. DNS is the web service that translates a website's name to its Internet address. This error is most often caused by having no connection to the Internet or a misconfigured network. It can also be caused by an unresponsive DNS server or a firewall preventing Google Chrome from accessing the network.
Here are some suggestions:
Reload this webpage later.
Check your Internet connection. Restart any router, modem, or other network devices you may be using.
Check your DNS settings. Contact your network administrator if you're not sure what this means.
Try disabling network prediction by following these steps: Go to the wrench menu > Options > Under the Hood and deselect "Predict network actions to improve page load performance." If this does not resolve the issue, we recommend selecting this option again for improved performance.
Add Google Chrome as a permitted program in your firewall's or antivirus software's settings. If it is already a permitted program, try deleting it from the list of permitted programs and adding it again.
If you use a proxy server, check your proxy settings or contact your network administrator to make sure the proxy server is working. If you don't believe you should be using a proxy server, adjust your proxy settings: Go to the wrench menu > Options > Under the Hood > Change proxy settings... > LAN Settings and deselect the "Use a proxy server for your LAN" checkbox.
Error 105 (net::ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED): Unable to resolve the server's DNS address.

I have set my laptop to use opendns after looking at other forums and moving bteween tabs already opened has significantly improved speed wise (also did one b/b speedcheck which didn't seem to say anything amiss with actual broadband speed) but the DNS fault for new searches keeps happening. I attempted to change the router using telnet client but the instructions were beyond my technical capabilities (http://community.plus.net/library/dns/how-to-change-the-default-dns-servers-in-a-thomson-speedtouch-router/ - got as far a pretty diagram, didn't know what to do next). 
What I did discover by going into msdos mode briefly is that  router dns is saying something different to my laptop (before  I reset to opendns) ie
212.159.13.49
212.159.13.50 (what my laptop said before changing to opendns)
as opposed to:
212.159.6.9
212.159.6.10 (think this is what router in telnet/msdos mode saying)
When I had the fault before, plusnet technical support did talk me through changing some settings on the router - I recall more to do with which wireless channel is selected (dns issue is definately more significant in wireless mode, but can't really work plugged in as main BT socket where router is plugged in is in the kitchen).
I did go on holiday and switch off router for 3 weeks, but been back 10 days and its only got critical in last 2 days.
Will leaving plusnet very shortly unless I can find a permanent solution.
Any help greatly appreciated.
9 REPLIES 9
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: DNS faults - Thomason v8 router - at end of my tether

Smudger, you set a fixed DNS on your laptop instead of getting the Plusnet DNS automatically from your router.  And you are somehow blaming Plusnet for this?  And now you have set a different fixed DNS on your laptop and everything works and you are still unhappy?
What should happen unless you tamper with it is that when your router authenticates with Plusnet then it is given the IP addresses of the Plusnet DNS servers, which are 212.159.6.9  and 212.159.6.10 - so your router is absolutely correct.  If you set the IPv4 settings for your network adaptor to get the DNS automatically from the server then those are the DNS addresses your computer will use.  Or you can set your network adaptor to use the DNS servers of your choice - but these have to actually work or you won't be able to do any web surfing.
The DNS servers you were trying to use belonged to Force9, an ISP that I think was subsumed into Plusnet.  But clearly they don't work at the moment, perhaps they have been discontinued?  I don't see that there is any point in trying to use a fixed DNS unless you are au fait with how this all works. 
spraxyt
Resting Legend
Posts: 10,063
Thanks: 674
Fixes: 75
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: DNS faults - Thomason v8 router - at end of my tether

Force9, Plusnet and Free Online users use the same DNS servers. I think for IP registration purposes they are probably "owned" by Force9.
The four caching DNS servers mentioned by smudger are all acceptable (and equivalent) alternatives. Load balancers will distribute requests to any of the family as they see fit.
DNS is getting the blame for smudger's problems but I suspect it could be something else - but don't know what. A Wireshark capture of a new page load might provide useful diagnostic information.
David
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: DNS faults - Thomason v8 router - at end of my tether

Spraxyt, are you saying that 212.159.13.49 & 212.159.6.9 are both the same physical machine (and the same for the other pair)?
spraxyt
Resting Legend
Posts: 10,063
Thanks: 674
Fixes: 75
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: DNS faults - Thomason v8 router - at end of my tether

No I'm not, but I don't think the machine that responds is necessarily the one you asked. And to improve resiliency I believe the servers are in two different data centres.
David
smudger
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎20-08-2011

Re: DNS faults - Thomason v8 router - at end of my tether

Did the moderator block my last Response? Forum not very open? Thanks for responses anyway.
ReedRichards, you didn't read my post correctly - the DNS issues occured before I changed DNS settings. Service has got better with OpenDNS but not solved problem.
Looks like I am looking for a new provider. Any suggestions?
Stumpy21
Rising Star
Posts: 156
Thanks: 6
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-06-2011

Re: DNS faults - Thomason v8 router - at end of my tether

Hi
I am using the 585v8 router, default settings, without any problems.
It may be worth going to the router configuration pages and reset the router, via Thomson Gateway, to its factory settings and see if that is any help.
You can save out your present configuration first, just in case you want to reload it.
Derek
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: DNS faults - Thomason v8 router - at end of my tether

Quote from: smudger
ReedRichards, you didn't read my post correctly - the DNS issues occured before I changed DNS settings. Service has got better with OpenDNS but not solved problem.

Yes, I think I read that correctly.  I couldn't and still cannot understand what you were doing with a fixed DNS (rather than automatic).  There is no point in doing this unless you want to "go elsewhere"  but you started out with some historic Plusnet (Force9) settings.
Quote from: smudger
Looks like I am looking for a new provider. Any suggestions?

I'm still not sure how you have concluded this is a Plusnet fault rather than a computer/router fault.  However if it is a "Plusnet fault", your best chance of escaping current problems would be to go with a LUU ISP who installs their own equipment in the telephone exchange.
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: DNS faults - Thomason v8 router - at end of my tether

Quote from: smudger
Did the moderator block my last Response? Forum not very open? Thanks for responses anyway.
That is totally incorrect.
If a post is removed we inform the poster giving a reason. We do not and cannot block a person from posting without banning them
smudger
Newbie
Posts: 3
Registered: ‎20-08-2011

Re: DNS faults - Thomason v8 router - at end of my tether

Fault seems to be sorted - it appears to be an IP address issue. When I went to various sites to confirm my IP address all said Plusnet 84 etc, but following a link on Plusnet help section (accidently found by searching for dns issues/problems on google, so someone somewhere knows they occur), I ran an IP check in the run command which indicated a different IP address (looked like old one in Ireland). Laptop did not have any IP settings at all, so no indication this was a problem. Went back to Opendns, did various things including clearing dns cache etc but also selected dynamic IP option and now have normal functioning broadband.
Might not technically be a Plusnet "issue" but it is frustrating as when I did raise a fault I asked about the potential issue of IP address being the source of the problem when first reported to Plusnet (I had similar issues when I went to Ireland, but then I could simply keep overriding the IP address manually until it settled down and "accepted" the IP address). Might be something for the help team to note for the future. Don't know how it works without opendns but happy with current performance/speed/response.
Hope it still works tomorrow am.