Basic Internet Connectivity And Modem Help

[anon86290]

I switched to OpenDNS IPs, and lookups seem to be faster.

[highlander]

OpenDNS has worked for me here in Eastern Mass.  Every so often I switch back to dynamic mode on the router and see if it works better.  As recently as yesterday, OpenDNS was much faster in accessing web sites.  Sites which load in 1 or 2 seconds on OpenDNS were taking 10 to 15 sec in dynamic mode.  Some sites had not loaded even after 1 minute, but would load in less than 10 sec on OpenDNS.  I don't know if the problem relates to overloaded servers or some quirk in my computer/router configuration (I'm not a super-techie).  I recall many posts from a year or 2 ago that tried to tie the problem to a particular brand of router but I haven't seen anything since (no brand seemed immune from the problem).  Perhaps one of the experts has some suggestions - they're always appreciated. 

[uribarri]

I hope I can "shed some light" on the whole DNS thingy....

I tried this at home, and sure enough, was able to get my internet connection to slow to a crawl, and not get it back "the way it was" untill I did some serious tweeking on my router... So here is my story.....

Note....  This is on a linksys router.. so I don't know if it happens on other routers as well.....but probably does.....

I have Comcast High speed in PA, so it should be the same, or "almost the same" for the folkes in MA..

So here was my experement....

1. Bought brand new "out of the box" linksys router..Plughed it in.... No configuration..Worked great......

2. Started messing around with the settings.... Put in differnt DNS servers like "OpenDNS" still worked... No problems....

3. "Really" started messing around with the settings started to "statically assign" IP's on the router, Change the DHCP "scope" etc...As expected... things broke

4. So I reconfigured everything to "dynamic" and sure enough... My internet conection was.. almost unusable.... like you said it took 10 sec to load a page.....

5. "reset" the router.... with a paerclip.... and now the router is totally hosed....could not connect at all....

6. Conected the PC back to the modem directly, rebooted... Copied the "ipconfig /all" informaiton to find out what my "DNS servers" were supposeed to be....

7. Put those DNS servers into the router config as part of the "DHCP settings"..Fixed it...

8. Switched back and forth between the "open DNS" servers and the "standard" DNS servers... i.e. the ones I copied when then I did ipconfig/all, didn't notice any differance....tried to switch back to "Dynamic" and it all went bad again....

From what I can tell... once you "change" the DNS servers on a linksys router... it does not work very will when you try to "change back" to "dynamic" you actually have to find out what your ISPs' DNS server are put them in manually in the "DHCP settings"... Even "reseting" the router does not fix the problem...

Or.. do what I did and  just buy another router.... and do not touch the config......

Anybody have any similar experiances.......

I guess if you want to use OpenDNS you can... but "switching back" seams to be not as easy unless you already know you "standard" DNS settings ahead of time...and even then there is no guarentee because the "standard" DNS servers may change....

Again this is what I tested on a Linksys, I'm goint to try it on a Netgear next and see if I can get it to do the same thing....

But from what I can tell it may be something "buggy" with the routers.....

[Baric]

I can't say what happened with your specific router, but I can say that on the whole, this is total nonsense.  My router (a Linksys WRT54G) is tweaked 10 ways to Sunday including custom local DHCP ranges, statically assigned IP's, MAC filters, and port forwarding, and it works just fine getting the default Comcast assigned DNS servers, even after I'd had it set to use specific ones in the past.  And a reset of the router is all that's required to get it back to out of the box configuration.  That it didn't work for you is an indication of ahardware issue, or you didn't do it properly.


Message Edited by Baric on 02-18-2008 09:31 PM

[uribarri]

"And a reset of the router is all that's required to get it back to out of the box configuration. "

Totally disagree!!!!!

I have about 7 of these pieces of junk..... And on 3 of them that "trick" worked.. the other 4 got completely hosed.....

In fact, one of them "lost" 3 of the 4 "user ports" i.e. Only Port number "2" would get a link to the PC... The other 3 ports would not..

Once you you start "messing around" with those things they are "very easy" to break, that's all I'm saying.

And using "statically assigned DNS" severs like Open DNS may help, but "statically assigning"  is always going to help because you no longer use the linksys router address as your DNS server, (The DNS server your PC will see.)

If you place the "DNS servers" in the "DHCP settings", your PC gets those servers as part of the config, rather than the IP of the "linksys" itself....and that seams to be where the problem is... using the "linksys router's IP" as the DNS server (causes issues) vs. the actuall IP's of the DNS server(s)....(works better) (and it does not even matter if you use Open DNS , the Comcast DNS, or even "Brand X" DNS. Of course, here at Comcast we will 'recommend' that if you wish to "statically assign" DNS servers, you use the servers that are "assigned" by comcast....but we are not stopping you from using "Open DNS"...I'm just trying to clarify to the folkes why "statically assigning" the DNS servers in the DHCP settings of the router seams to "fix" the problems... especially after the DNS settings have already been changed before.....

But no "a reset of the router is all that's required to get it back to out of the box configuration." is false..... perhaps it will work on some routers depending on the firmware etc... but I've "broken" way too many of these "high quality" products to agree with that....

Either way, this thread is supposed to be about "Open DNS" specifically....  Any questions on that....

[EarlyOut]

Oh, my.  A new, inexperienced moderator, arguing with one of the most knowledgable people in the forums, and spouting a lot of anecdotal nonsense.

And stop using all the quote marks.

[uribarri]

I'm only here to try answer questions regarding DNS, this thread is specific to "OpenDNS"... Do you have any questions?

[FishMan]

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EarlyOut wrote:
Oh, my.  A new, inexperienced moderator, arguing with one of the most knowledgable people in the forums, and spouting a lot of anecdotal nonsense.

And stop using all the quote marks.

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FWIW, I've worked with many brands and configurations of routers, DNS servers, and network configurations and have never experienced router behavior like the Mod posted. That is not to say it can't happen, but I agree with Baric and EarlyOut on this one.

[uribarri]

Perhaps I've just had more exposure (or bad luck) with those Linkys routers....

Just letting you know what I've seen... "Statically assigning your DNS in your routers' DHCP Settings"... seams to help.....

Then again, if you want to use OpenDNS, you MUST do that, so the point is kinda mute.....

It's the 'swithcing back' part, where the complaints are....So my suggestion was to statically assign your DNS...

[FishMan]

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uribarri wrote:

Perhaps I've just had more exposure (or bad luck) with those Linkys routers....

Just letting you know what I've seen... "Statically assigning your DNS in your routers' DHCP Settings"... seams to help.....

Then again, if you want to use OpenDNS, you MUST do that, so the point is kinda mute.....

It's the 'swithcing back' part, where the complaints are....So my suggestion was to statically assign your DNS...

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Welcome to the forums uribarri. Nothing like initiation under fire.

[EG]

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uribarri wrote:

And using "statically assigned DNS" severs like Open DNS may help, but "statically assigning"  is always going to help because you no longer use the linksys router address as your DNS server, (The DNS server your PC will see.)

F.W.I.W, technically, in that state, the router acts as a DNS *forwarder*, not a "server"

What happenned to DNSGuy1 ??

Message Edited by EG on 02-19-2008 05:46 PM

[ctalcott]

I truly hope you are kidding, because if you're not, it shows a complete lack of understanding DNS, routers, and computers in general.

[Barmar]

Who are you referring to, ctalcott?

[ctalcott]

Uribarri.  He is statements about configuring routers and "bricking" them and DNS in general are incorrect at best.

[EG]

Post withdrawn.

Message Edited by EG on 03-26-2008 07:25 PM

[Barmar]

I have a feeling his posting privileges were withdrawn, as that was the last time we saw him in the forum.

[jlivingood]

Via a PM on BBR, I was referred to this thread about how OpenDNS resolves at least one domain. This is an FYI for any of you that utilize OpenDNS.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r21284386-GoogleCom-Hijacked-by-OpenDNS

Jason

[Bartleby]

Interesting info, even for those that don't use OpenDNS.

[Joe361]

I live in Minnesota and now that OpenDNS has opened a Chicago data center I have switched to their DNS servers.  I've noticed a slight perforance increase.

[jlivingood]

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Joe361 wrote:

I live in Minnesota and now that OpenDNS has opened a Chicago data center I have switched to their DNS servers.  I've noticed a slight perforance increase.

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Interesting qualitative assessment.  Would love to see some stats on query times posted, to put some numbers behind it.

 

Jason 

[EG]

Four year old thread closed.