Random DNS dropouts

[#1]

Afternoon All,
I have been with plus net for a couple of months now and have been experiencing what Windows 7 and Google Chrome report are DNS drop-outs.  The symptoms are always the same, the internet just stops responding on any connected device.
You can always connect to the gateway which shows (see the first screenshot) that everything is working perfectly.  However, browsers will not connect to any website and will just sit there with a loading bar in OSX (see second attachment).  While Chrome on my Windows 7 box will advise that the DNS severs have stopped responding.
This is happening more and more frequently and while on some occasions it will just come back on by itself others will require a system reset.
Any ideas?
Andy

[#2]

This could be a carbon copy of my problem. Contacted Plusnet technical on two occasions, last time  was told to borrow a neighbors\friends router and see if problem persists. They already sent a new router which did not resolve the problem, so basically washed their hands of the problem. When I posted the details here then I had one contact from Andy (Plusnet) who asked basic details, to which I replied to and no further contact was forthcoming,  Have followed advice from the community but no permanent solution has been found, but at least they tried, which is much better than Plusnet`s  response. Was using my works laptop this morning (Win 7 pro) wireless and lost connection, tried wired Win XP pc and Ipad, nothing would  connect until I disconnected\connected through the settings on the Plusnet router. All I can offer is "good luck".
Gaz

[#3]

More   

[#4]

From what I have read the problem is that the router cannot handle heavy load (we have seven devices attached)... So... Apple Airport extreme ordered and now I just need a decent standalone ADSL 2+ Modem to pair it with.

[#5]

I just dug up an old BT Business Hub and connected it up to replace the 582N.  A bit fiddly but there are a few guides out there to help you connect up using it.
The broadband speed just jumped 200Kb/s (which when you are on 3Mb/s is a big improvement) and we will see if any of those DNS errors crop up again.
Andy

[#6]

Good Luck  Andy, i'm crossing my fingers for you.

[#7]

Find the IP address of a web site by doing an nslookup in a CMD window whilst the internet is working.  Then enter that IP addressin the address bar of your browser when you are told you have a DNS error.  If you can load the site from its IP address but not otherwise then you have a DNS error.  If it will not load then you have simply lost internet access (or it has slowed to a crawl). 

[#8]

@andyleemeuk
Are you on 20CN or 21CN ADSL?

[#9]

Quote from: Anotherone

@andyleemeuk Are you on 20CN or 21CN ADSL?

I'm on 21CN ADSL.  Connected to the Warrington Exchange and impatiently waiting for Fibre!! 

[#10]

Hi,
As you've had two routers we'd like to find out if the router's DNS relay is broken or if something else is going on.
To do this we'd like you to try setting your DNS servers manually in your operating system. You can do this by following these instructions. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows7/change-tcp-ip-settings This will bypass the router's DNS servers.
You should change the DNS servers to Primary: 212.159.6.9 & Secondary: 212.159.6.10
If you keep seeing problems then the router DNS relay probably isn't at fault and the problem lies somewhere else, if the problem goes away then the DNS relay is probably at fault and we can concentrate our efforts.

An alternative is to run these commands from the command line when the problem occurs (these will perform DNS lookups against the router's DNS server and against our public DNS server and allow us to compare the results to see if one is working and the other not, or if both are not working).
nslookup bbc.co.uk 192.168.1.254
&
nslookup bbc.co.uk 212.159.6.9
Either of these tests will give us useful information.
Thanks, Matt

[#11]

Quote from: andyleemeuk

From what I have read the problem is that the router cannot handle heavy load (we have seven devices attached)... So... Apple Airport extreme ordered and now I just need a decent standalone ADSL 2+ Modem to pair it with.

I'm very happy with a NetGear DM111P+ on 20CN, just whack it in bridged mode and let the airport do the rest.

[#12]

A quick update... I have not had any issues since switching to the BT Business Hub with no drop outs and actually an increase in line speed.
The DNS issue reminded me of an old security now episode and inspired me to run a DNS Benchmark (http://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm)... Plus.net's servers came bottom and forth from bottom on the 52 on test, with cached performance of 0.047 (212.159.6.10) and 0.037 (212.159.6.9) compared to OpenDNS performance of 0.029 for both servers.
As a result of this I have switched all my devices manually over to the OpenDNS servers and will see how that goes over the next few days.