DNS Unable to Resolve

Delta3D

Delta3D

Delta3D

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Joined
16 Apr 2014
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1,345
Location
North East, UK
Hi All,

I've recently been encountering an issue with DNS on my Windows 10 Machine.

I'll be browsing the internet fine with no problems and then all of the sudden my connectivity goes pop and whenever I try to browse to a new page I get the generic Google Chrome page saying that the DNS was unable to resolve.

I try firing up a Cmd Prompt window and bash in ipconfig /flushdns however this sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. I'm currently using a Static IP however have tried with Dynamic and received the same. Everyone else on the home broadband is fine including mobiles.

Tried letting Windows automatically select DNS Servers on IPv4 and also tried using googles DNS servers
Primary: 8.8.8.8
Secondary: 8.8.4.4

Also flashed BIOS to the newest version and updated chipset/network drivers to no avail.

Any ideas/suggestions are much appreciated :)
 
What is your local network like? Which router do you have? Generally your router should be set up as a DHCP server and your PC as a DHCP client. All the settings like DNS should be set on the router. If you're picking a static IP address without excluding it on the router then you might be inducing an address conflict - the recommended way to assure an IP address is to set a DHCP reservation on the router.

You might also try setting your ISP's DNS server as the first option.
 
Right, you've got both a DHCP reservation and a manual IP address set. You want the former, not the latter. If you insist on the latter, ensure it is outside the DHCP range but inside the subnet. Ensure all the entries - including DNS servers - are set on the router. Clear out all the entries on the local PC. Does your Homehub act as a DNS server? If so it should broadcast that, not Google's IP addresses to clients as the first DNS server and in the Homehub set Google's DNS servers as the forwarders. At 1 day, your DHCP lease time is very short - try setting it to a week.

Something I forgot to mention: after running IPCONFIG /FLUSHDNS you should run NBTSTAT -RR (the -RR is case sensitive). The former clears the DNS cache; the latter the Netbios cache.
 
What happens if you do an nslookup during this time? Does that resolve names?

Can you ping your DNS when it goes down? DNS is one of the simplest things to get right in networking, it works or it doesn’t. You may be losing internet connection totally but just not aware of it and the only indicator is the DNS resolver not working.
 
Thanks for the replies,

I've made sure I'm outside of the DHCP range and I'm on a static IP fully. I'll give the nslookup a try when it next happens and also the NBTSTAT -RR.

I also noticed last night when I was watching a stream I lost connection to most things, however the weird thing is I could still send messages over Steam & the live stream I was watching was still giving me content? Skype dropped out and web browsing went with it.

Sometimes I can ping the Home Hub when it goes down but other times I can't - I'll give a try pinging DNS next.

*And to think I'm an IT Consultant doing 2nd Line Support and having touched the basics of 3rd line worries me:eek:*
 
What Quartz says is not wrong. But it doesnt look like you have made any DHCP reservation on your router, That's the DHCP table of IP's handed out by the router.

Just on your host NIC's with static IP's use DHCP instead. (Obtain an IP address automatically)

You can leave your DNS servers on the NIC pointing at Google DNS, but if your router allows it you can set it there too.

That should sort it.
 
Let's not forget the obvious: have you checked the ethernet cable? Is it securely plugged in at both ends? Has it got cut, perhaps by a door? Gnawed by a pet or mouse?

And from the pictures you posted, that static IP address is inside the router's DHCP range.
 
Last edited:
Yeah I meant that I've made sure they're outside by changing it :P
Now on 192.168.1.20

Ethernet cable is fully plugged in with no damage - Never gets touched/moved
 
Delta3D said:
Ethernet cable is fully plugged in with no damage - Never gets touched/moved
Click to expand...

Try changing it anyway. I had a very similar problem and found that my network cable had got nicked. Just enough to bare one copper wire, but that was enough. What made it difficult in my case was that I had two cables to check: the cable from my PC to the switch and the cable from the switch to the router. The latter cable, of course, never got touched or moved.
 
Changed it and got the same issue when I was on Reddit - Seems weird though as streams & steam can still use the internet fine?
 
Get this every other day on Virgin Media, only all the systems connected to the net get booted off. Only solution we've found is to hard reset the *super* hub, hours on the phone to CS and several mechanic visits later nothing changed.
 
99% Sure I shouldn't have any malware - I don't really download stuff at all and things I do download are from trusted sources - also stick to trusted sites, mainly just use Reddit, Facebook and YouTube.

Seems like such a weird issue.

Not sure if PIA VPN Could have anything to do with it - It seemed to happen after I installed that a bit more frequently - It has it's own network adapter however it is set to Disabled when the VPN isn't open/connected.
 
When it next goes off run these ping tests.

  1. Ping your machines IP
  2. Ping your routers IP (Gateway)
  3. Ping external IP e.g. 8.8.8.8
  4. Ping external DNS e.g. google.com
This will let us know if it is DNS, if the first three work but google.com doesn't resolve you can use nslookup, set a diff server and try to resolve using that as diags.
 
bledd said:
Are you connected directly to the router?

Or is it through powerline etc?
Click to expand...

We had this recently with someone having loads of dropouts but going through a Wi-fi extender.

Didn’t think to tell us about extender, swore blind they were into the router.
 
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