DNS forwarding fails on hub

[#1]

Hi everyone, been with Plusnet for a couple of weeks now and seem have a persistent issue with connectivity dropping out. The odd thing is the internet is reachable (I can ping 8.8.8.8 for example) but I can't browse ay sites etc., I think due to DNS resolution dropping out on the hub. It seems to happen randomly but feels like it's more often in the past couple of days. I saw this post already that describe similar issues and tried an nslookup last time it happened which resulted in this:

nslookup bbc.co.uk

Server:  dsldevice.lan

Address:  192.168.1.254

DNS request timed out.

    timeout was 2 seconds.

DNS request timed out.

    timeout was 2 seconds.

DNS request timed out.

    timeout was 2 seconds.

DNS request timed out.

    timeout was 2 seconds.

*** Request to dsldevice.lan timed-out

My work laptop (connected to VPN) was unaffected, but my personal laptop (no VPN) couldn't connect to anything. Restarting the router seems to clear it, but I'm on a couple of restarts already today.

Anyone know if it's possible to change the DHCP options in the hub to set DNS servers explicitly? I had a poke about in the hub admin page and couldn't see anything obvious.   

EDIT ** Sorry this is in the ADSL board but I have fibre. Mods please move if required.

[#2]

You cannot change the DNS on the Hub1.

I have asked the mods to move this to 'My Router', where it should get some attention, but to me it sounds like a machine problem. Can you try the works laptop without the VPN?

[#3]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from ADSL Broadband to My Router 

[#4]

Cheers, sorry didn't see the router board.

Ok, thanks for confirming that.

Yep just tried and it works fine off VPN (at the moment). The only reason I brought up VPN was I noticed yesterday that while my personal laptop and phone lost connection the work laptop stayed connected - I assume (maybe wrongly) that this was because the VPN changes the DNS and so bypasses the router's forwarding. 

After restarting the hub, everything (personal, work laptops and phone) was connected fine. When it happened again today I tried the nslookup on the personal laptop and got that result, then restarted the router.

[#5]

I assume (maybe wrongly) that this was because the VPN changes the DNS and so bypasses the router's forwarding. 

@Woodsy It does, and your assumption is correct. There have been some reports of the DNS proxy failing on the Hub One.

Next time it happens can you:

If you have access to a laptop/computer it affects? If so, can you try running a lookup from a command line to both the router and the Plusnet DNS servers, e.g:

nslookup bbc.co.uk 192.168.1.254
nslookup bbc.co.uk 212.169.6.10

If the first fails but the second succeeds, then it's the issue with the DNS proxy on the router.

[#6]

Great, thanks for the info. Yep, will do.

[#7]

Well, after a couple of days without any apparent drop outs it happened again today. I ran the nslookups on my personal laptop (no VPN):

>nslookup bbc.co.uk
Server: dsldevice.lan
Address: 192.168.1.254

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to dsldevice.lan timed-out

>nslookup bbc.co.uk
Server: dsldevice.lan
Address: 192.168.1.254

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to dsldevice.lan timed-out

>nslookup bbc.co.uk 212.159.6.10
Server: cdns02.plus.net
Address: 212.159.6.10

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: bbc.co.uk
Addresses: 2a04:4e42::81
2a04:4e42:200::81
2a04:4e42:400::81
2a04:4e42:600::81
151.101.0.81
151.101.64.81
151.101.128.81
151.101.192.81

>nslookup bbc.co.uk 212.159.6.9
Server: cdns01.plus.net
Address: 212.159.6.9

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: bbc.co.uk
Addresses: 2a04:4e42::81
2a04:4e42:200::81
2a04:4e42:400::81
2a04:4e42:600::81
151.101.0.81
151.101.64.81
151.101.128.81
151.101.192.81

Interestingly enough I didn't have to restart today, it came back itself after a couple of minutes. I presume now that it is related to the hub DNS, but is there anything I can do about it without manually re-configuring all my devices to use PlusNet DNS rather than the hub's DNS? I did notice another thread where people are asking for firmware updates but I'm pretty sure when I checked mine from the hub's admin page it said it was the latest available.  

[#8]

@Woodsy try rebooting your hub. I've pushed a software update to it that should help.

[#9]

Thanks very much @bobpullen! I have restarted and hub is up again, will keep an eye on it for a few days.