DNS problems loading websites
In the past few weeks, I've been having endless problems with my internet connectivity and I'm at a loss about why this is happening. 
To be more specific, I seem to not be able to get DNS to resolve web addresses, while I can still ping the Google DNS servers such as 8.8.8.8 which confirms I am still connected to the internet. My broadband modem lights are always on and green and do not indicate any physical connection problem either.
But from time to time, I lose my ability to query web addresses and both Safari and Firefox will try unsuccessfully to load websites. Wait another 5-6 mins and then suddenly everything works again. Needless to say, this has become exceedingly frustrating.
Thinking the problem was with Plus.net's DNS servers, I switched over to using Google's 8.8.8.8 and 4.2.2.4 but I'm still having these intermittent problems. Worse still, sometimes the BBC news website will load, while other websites will hang interminably - and then suddenly all load after several minutes. Or sometimes the webpage itself will load but any images will NOT be loaded. I will still be able to ping those websites successfully though.
I no longer know whether the problem might be with my broadband or my Mac itself.
Can anyone tell me where to start looking?!
(yes, I've flushed my DNS cache on my computer and it hasn't changed things much).
Thanks for reading this far!
To be more specific, I seem to not be able to get DNS to resolve web addresses, while I can still ping the Google DNS servers such as 8.8.8.8 which confirms I am still connected to the internet. My broadband modem lights are always on and green and do not indicate any physical connection problem either.
But from time to time, I lose my ability to query web addresses and both Safari and Firefox will try unsuccessfully to load websites. Wait another 5-6 mins and then suddenly everything works again. Needless to say, this has become exceedingly frustrating.
Thinking the problem was with Plus.net's DNS servers, I switched over to using Google's 8.8.8.8 and 4.2.2.4 but I'm still having these intermittent problems. Worse still, sometimes the BBC news website will load, while other websites will hang interminably - and then suddenly all load after several minutes. Or sometimes the webpage itself will load but any images will NOT be loaded. I will still be able to ping those websites successfully though.
I no longer know whether the problem might be with my broadband or my Mac itself.
Can anyone tell me where to start looking?!
(yes, I've flushed my DNS cache on my computer and it hasn't changed things much).
Thanks for reading this far!
When you changed the DNS servers was that on the Mac or on the router?
Quote Do these settings override the DNS settings on the computer?
No, the servers specified on your MAC should take precedence over anything set on the router.
Have you/would you be able to try another router?
