No DNS connectivity

[#1]

OK, this is a weird one.
Since I joined Plusnet I noticed some sites I used to visit were unavailable (eHow, WikiHow etc.).
I thought the sites had been taken down. A couple of weeks ago I visited eHow on a friends PC, so why can't I get to it?
I thought is might be a temporary issue at my end.
My initial connection to most web pages takes so long that I get a 'Website Unresponsive' error most times.
As soon as the site is loaded, everything works fine.
I went into my thomson router settings and ran the Internet Connectivity Check.
This is what I get:
Connectivity to Gateway (195.166.130.34)  ✔
Connectivity to DNS Server 1 (212.159.6.9)  ✖
Connectivity to DNS Server 2 (212.159.6.10)  ✖
I've checked it a few times now, tried reboots and disconnecting and reconnecting, I tried changing filters and cables but the problem doesn't seem to be at my end.
I've read the guides here on how to change the DNS Servers from an XP machine but is there any way to manually change the DNS choices with a mac, or do I have to go out and buy another router?

[#2]

If you open terminal and run: traceroute <ehow website URL>
What happens?
You won't have to buy a new router as you can change your dns settings in that.
There are a few mac users on forum (incl me) so we should be able to get you sorted

[#3]

Quote from: feroluce

Connectivity to DNS Server 1 (212.159.6.9)  ✖ Connectivity to DNS Server 2 (212.159.6.10)  ✖

If you really had no connectivity to the DNS servers you wouldn't be able to use internet at all really.
Your issues with eHow are probably unrelated to what your router is telling you.

[#4]

adieblue, I get 'no route to server'.
fourfourdevon, That was my thinking too.
I now think it may be intermittent or too slow for the router test to register it.
I regularly get a page unresponsive error, this can happen at any website.
I also regularly get 'Error 105 (net::ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED): The server could not be found'.
For both of these errors, refreshing a few times fixes it (except ehow).
Like I said, a weird one.
When I traceroute to plusnet I get:
traceroute to portal.plus.net (212.159.8.2), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
1  dsldevice (192.168.1.254)  4235.591 ms  92.602 ms  100.028 ms
2  lo0-central2.pcl-ag03.plus.net (195.166.128.239)  31.339 ms  35.282 ms  30.912 ms
3  gi1-9-321.pcl-gw01.plus.net (84.92.6.72)  31.716 ms  30.392 ms  30.593 ms
4  gi5-8.ptp-cr01.plus.net (84.93.224.48)  40.547 ms  39.880 ms  42.153 ms
5  vlan400.pih-gw3.plus.net (84.93.224.51)  39.167 ms  39.123 ms  39.975 ms
6  if25.pih-lb03.plus.net (212.159.0.17)  39.728 ms  40.520 ms  39.740 ms
7  if25.pih-lb03.plus.net (212.159.0.17)  40.355 ms  47.435 ms  40.440 ms
The time values in number 1 look a little high to me.

[#5]

Given those ping times for a local device, the transience of the errors not being experienced by other Plusnet customers, I'm thinking your router is failing.
If you can swap in a new router, also give OpenDNS a see if either makes any difference.

[#6]

Here's where I'm going to need mac help.
How do I change the DNS addresses from a mac.
Alternatively, can I get non-plusnet firmware for the thomson router? (purely to make it more mac friendly)
I want to try everything else before I buy a new router as this would be router number three.
My original netgear router didn't like plusnet, or vice versa.

[#7]

Quote from: feroluce

My original netgear router didn't like plusnet, or vice versa.

Then it's an exception.  I have a Netgear router and so do many other who post here.  Was it perhaps tied to your previous ISP?

[#8]

Quote from: feroluce

Here's where I'm going to need mac help. How do I change the DNS addresses from a mac.

You need to change the DNS settings on your router, not the Mac, and if you go to the OpenDNS site you will see plenty of guidelines about how to do that.

[#9]

Nope, all their guides are for windows.
The only guides on here on how to alter the routers DNS settings are for windows too.
The only way I can alter the DNS settings on the router with a mac seems to be to activate dynamic DNS in the router toolbox.
It keeps asking me for a hostname, OpenDNS have no answer to this (so far).
They 're telling me that they can't help because it's custom firmware, but they're looking into it.
Even if I do change to dynamic DNS, will it still look to Plusnets DNS servers first?
I've tried a couple of other DNS providers but come up against the same 'hostname' issue.

[#10]

Quote from: ReedRichards

Then it's an exception.  I have a Netgear router and so do many other who post here.  Was it perhaps tied to your previous ISP?

I was told it's a known issue with the particular model : Netgear DG834V3
It saw me faithfully through two previous ISPs
My mother is using it now with no problems.

[#11]

Quote from: feroluce

Nope, all their guides are for windows. The only guides on here on how to alter the routers DNS settings are for windows too.

Erm, a router is a router, you change its settings in the same way regardless of what operating system your personal system uses.
Go back and try again.
There is no such things as Mac/Windows instruction about how to change your routers settings.

[#12]

OK,
I managed to telnet into the router firmware, some of the commands are different (Unix/MSDOS differences) but I found a list of the different commands and translated the guide so I could use it.
I changed the DNS to OpenDNS, still get the two Xs on the connectivity check.
I changed it again to Google Public DNS, still get the two Xs but the internet is proper speed now.
No more 'Page Unresponsive' error on Yahoo.
It's early days, but fingers crossed it's fixed.
Still no idea why it's failing the Connectivity Check.

[#13]

OK, that great.
But I am confused.
1. Once you've telnetted in, the command are the routers commands, nothing to do with Windows or Mac
2. Why didn't you just use a browser?!

[#14]

Because the only way you can change them in that router is the Command Line Interface - web interface just doesn't support it

[#15]

Personally, I got fed up with the DNS and DHCP handling in these baby routers and left a small fedora box on the lan running dnsmasq. 
-- gyre --