Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

ive been attempting to fix this problem for about 2 days now and i cant seem to get anywhere at all. ive tried quite a lot of things and now im not even sure if ive just changed so much its not going to work anyway haha

Ok so i was using a virgin G router they supplied us and we were all on the network fine but then they called us up saying we should have been given the N router (DIR-615) so we accepted (seeing as N is supposed to be much better)
and now we have that installed.

This laptop is on the network and internet all good fine (Vista)
my bros laptop fine and on the internet (Vista Basic)
my bros PC is also fine and on the internet (XP SP2)

however mine has a problem. (vista ultimate)
im on the network, but i cant... well... communicate with the DNS server lol.

its almost as if my pc is responding but the router isnt sending... if that makes sence.

currently the IP settings are on auto but ive tried using openDNS and using 4.2.2.2 and such and using other DNS's that try to resolve but none have been successful

if i let vista try to resolve the problem it says "cannot communicate with Primary DNS Server" then i click it again and it just goes back to "cannot communicate with DNS server" and round in circles.

ive ran a virus scanner, removed IPv6, manually set up a IP, flushed the dns, typed several NETSH commands in, disabled and re-enabled my wireless card and the ethernet card... and no luck as of yet.

Im pretty sure its not the drivers. i was on the pc like 3 days ago and it was all fine with the old router and ive only had it for about a week.
also my pc is brand new. ive had it about 3 weeks.

im open to suggestions, before i phone up Virgin and ask them if they know what to suggest (the thing is i cant be asked to listen 2 a guy read out some simple stuff off a paper before i get put through to a proper technician and i know thats whats gna happen lol)

thanks in advance

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

uh... does any1 have a clue? :(

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

Try

Windows key + R

ipconfig /release press enter
ipconfig /renew press enter

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

yea ive tried that, thats just refreshing my ip details it doesnt actually correct the problem, just pretty much restarts the connection :(

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

I assume you have everything set to "Automatically find my IP"

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

i do atm, i can change it if needs be, i might reconfigure my router again from that pc, and try to solo set it up with the router however im worried i wont be able to connect at all with any other the machines :S

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

I assume you've tried wierd?

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

i havnt atm because i cant. the things upstairs and the router is nowhere near a monitor. im doing that now. however when i had the problem first (the day i had it) it was hardwired in (the router was in a different place) and same problem when i took the cable out but that time it corrected itself. now its failed again

i will post results.

---------- Post added at 23:27 ---------- Previous post was at 22:42 ----------

i took the pc downstairs and its working downstairs.... for some reason. right next to it but not actually plugged in. but when it was upstairs next to my laptop my laptop was getting connection and a DNS lookup however my pc would fail to communicate with the dns.

sounds stupid but... would the wireless signal from my WLAN card in my pc get scrambled by my laptop signal?

its probably unrelated.
anything else like... situated in a cabinate? or anything...

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

or the Wifi card is on it's way out or something else.

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

Can you access local shares?

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

Also got to start >> run

services.msc

find "dns" stop and restart it. Try the Wifi again..

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

no computers are on the network currently as i just wanted to try it out on its own and the only thing i can test this out is by using itunes home sharing which is on my bros laptop and hes out 2nyt.... however ill update tomorrow.

and Wifi card best not be out! i brought it 1 weeks ago!!!

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

Take it back, get a swap

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

it works now... like... im wireless. now.

however when it was upstairs it dont... so i dno.

its a N card

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

Could be a variety of issues. Distance. Thickness of walls.. Interferance

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

yes but i place my laptop right next to my computer which has a 54m connection which is G i think.. and thats always fine.

my bro has a G+ router and he gets low signal like the rest of us do but surely having no signal will effect the dns server.
i mean the dns server is a converter between addresses essentially from the router, if the DNS has a problem the whole network should fail, not just one pc...

seems a very odd problem with no real solution...

as ive already mentioned ive already spent £450 on it... i dont want to go out of my way to spending any more, thats it lol

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

I've a fairly similar problem to you but it effects the laptops we have - randomly cannot communicate DNS server. There are five laptops in the house most already have a wireless N card and all run Vista. Had the engineer out yesterday who couldn't explain the number of timeouts on the 50MB modem (as many as 17 or more everyday) but said it was fine. He did say that there is more than likely a problem with the Netgear wireless N router that is giving us the problem of randomly disconnecting from the internet (although local wireless is ok when this happens) the upshot is that I had to phone the 50MB broadband support line to get them to send a new router, hopefully one that works this time! Could this be your problem also?

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

Hi,

Can i just point out that the "can not connect to DNS server" message can be windows way of saying it has no internet connection, as when windows resolves an ip address it needs the DNS server and as it has no internet connection it says the old "can not connect to DNS server" so its likely you do not have a DNS issue, just no connection to the internet at the time.

The only reason i state this is i used to get customers thinking they had a DNS issue alot when infact they had no connection at all.

Just a little pointer.

Thx

Lucifer


PS: doing start then run and typing cmd to open command prompt and trying to ping the virgin dns servers is always a good test.

ping 194.168.4.100 <-- primary dns server
ping 194.168.8.100 <-- secondary dns server

Although in all honesty i dont use virgins dns servers.

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

NEONKNIGHT!

almost 100% exactly! wat router u got? DIR-615 by any chance? lol

and Lucifer there is no internet connection and yes thats the problem..
i cant ping any outbound services at all.
the router the dns another pc on the network nothing.

i know its a problem with the router set up now as it works when the pc is right next to it.
there is nothing else at all that has changed, so its the router. the DNS resolves on the other 3 pc's so no matter how many fails from the pc i get, the dns has to work for me to view any thing!

any1 else have the DIR-615? if so whats ur opinions on "supposed to be" one of the best types of routers?

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

So basically, what you're saying is that the PC has no network connection.

Does the little network icon down by the clock reflect this? If it is connected to the internet it should say "Local and Internet" on a mouseover and the icon should be two screens with a globe. If the globe is missing it will say "local only" on mouseover, and if there is no connection to a network, then there should be a red X.

If your PC is dropping signal with the router then that could be down to several things not just the router. What wireless card are you using?

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

the little icon at the bottom says LOCAL ONLY and the globe sign isnt there.... its connected to the router tho, in the network.

the NIC card i have is a Linksys N card. its about a week old and worked with the older router which was a G router. it now works next to the router... so unless im mistaken the only thing i can think thats the problem is the NIC card and the router.

as ive said the NIC card could pick up the older router and held a strong stable connection days on end. its just happened with this new router..

by deduction i stated that it was the router... i didnt blind guessed it was the routers fault

the problem lies within that connection as other pcs on the network are fine...

my bro is using a 128 G+ reciever... and his is fine and does not drop connection at all either

Re: Cannot Communicate with DNS server
 

ok... now.... BREAKTHROUGH.

its def the router connection lol.

my bro got home and put his pc in his cabinate and it didnt work.... so we moved the router from behind the tv and now its below the tv and quite a lot more forward.

better connection. problem solved :)

thanks a lot for all your help!