I keep getting DNS server not responding errors.
What do I do?
Hi everyone, Leo Notenbom here for
Askleo.com.
Here's another variation of that same question.
My ISPs DNS
servers are timing out frequently, DNS server not responding.
What can I do?
The DNS system, domain name system, is what turns an internet name like
www.google. Com into an internet IP address such as 142.250.217. 110.
That's how the computers actually communicate is using those numbers
rather than those names, but the DNA system has to convert those
names into numbers before the computers can actually do that.
Now, by default, your
ISP will provide your computer with the DNA servers it's supposed to use.
Unfortunately, ISPs have a mixed track
record on which DNA servers that they provide.
It's a running joke that sometimes the DNS
provided by some ISPs is some ancient computer sitting in a corner
that's there only because they have to provide something.
Well, that ancient computer is usually pretty slow, and that can actually
manifest as apparent slowness in your internet activity.
So let's find out if you're having a DNA problem.
So what I'm going to do first is run Windows Command Prompt.
And what I'm going to do is
type a command called ping and then I'll just say Google.
Com.
Now when I do that, a couple of different things are going to happen.
You'll notice that it actually responded very quickly.
That's good.
The very first thing that the ping command had to do was to actually convert
Google.com into the actual IP address of a Google service.
Had there been a delay,
that would have told us that perhaps our DNS service wasn't up to snuff.
What happens next is that the ping command just makes sure that it can connect
to that service and get a reply from it, which in this example it has.
But you'll notice that again,
that initial response from hitting return to getting that pinging Google.com
with an IP address was very, very fast.
That's really good.
Now, if you have a DNA problem, if there's a delay there of some sort, then
you end up looking at switching your DNA servers to something else.
There's nothing that says you have to use your ISP's provided DNA servers.
What DNA servers am I running?
Well, here's another command for you ipconfig all.
Now, in my case, I've got a few other things going on here,
but the most important thing is DHCP server.
In my case, the
10.1.10.1 means that this computer is using my router as its DNS server.
That's actually fairly common.
The next step would be to go to the router and see which DNS server it is configured
to use to get answers to questions for which it doesn't already have an answer.
That's where we would be making changes to the DNS server.
Now, you can make changes to the DNS on your computer only if you want to.
In my case, rather than having it use
10.1.10.1, I can configure it to use some other service.
My article, How Do I Change the DNS Used
by My Computer, discusses both how to change the DNA for your specific
Windows computer or how to change the DNA provided by your router.
What do you change it to?
Well, there are, as it turns out, several
different public DNA services that are often more private.
They're often more secure because they actually block known bad websites.
And bonus, they're often significantly
faster than that old PC in a corner your ISP might be using.
Some of the examples include Cloud Flares
1.1.1.1.1, perhaps the easiest DNA server to remember.
Google has its own public DNA you could use.
OpenDNS is another one that's been around for a very long time.
It's now owned by Cisco.
Again, there are many third party DNA servers that you can consider trying
to see if they resolve any perceived performance issues.
My recommendation is that you try it on one of your PCs
first, if you have more than one, just to see if it makes a difference.
And then if it does,
consider updating your router so that all of the PCs on your local
network, all of the phones, all of the other devices
on your local network end up using the same faster, safer third party DNA.
Hope that helps.
For updates, for comments, and especially for related links to some
of these third party services, visit
Askleo.com/1842.
I'm Leo Notenboom and this is Askleo.com.
Thanks for watching.