Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, Steel, notfred
cheesyking wrote:I haven't read your ISP's Ts&Cs but I wouldn't have thought they'd have a problem with you changing them. It's not like it's hard for you to change them back if there's a problem.
The only reason I can think of for changing your DNS servers causing problems is if your ISP has a crappy site blocking system that works through DNS. In that case they may even have blocked access to 3rd party DNS servers.
Common practice with home connections is to use the DNS provided by the ISP, however it's also fairly common practice for consumer ISPs to have slow and unreliable DNS servers! It's no uncommon to find that changing DNS providers to someone like google or opendns improves matters no end.
just brew it! wrote:I would be surprised if switching DNS providers is a violation of TOS. The recommendation to use the automatic DNS setting is probably just to reduce the number of tech support calls they get from people with incorrect DNS settings.
This does not sound like a DNS issue to me, it sounds like a general connectivity issue. The issue could be pretty much anywhere from your own firewall/router/modem up through the ISP's links to the Internet backbones.
Next time you're surfing, try leaving a couple of ping commands running: one to your own firewall/router (the IP address that is set as the default gateway in your PC), and one to your ISP's first hop router (the IP address that is set as the default gateway in your firewall/router). When an interruption occurs, see if either of the pings has dropped any packets. This will help narrow things down a bit; if both pings continue to run clean when you're having trouble surfing, then the problem is likely to be further upstream.
Arclight wrote:Btw i won't be regarded as spamming/flooding right? Again i ask noobish questions because networking is really my weak point. I never looked into it because for so long now my net connection worked flawlessly.
just brew it! wrote:Do you know if your broadband modem has a firewall/router in it? What is shown as the default gateway if you run "ipconfig /all" in a command prompt window?
Arclight wrote:just brew it! wrote:Do you know if your broadband modem has a firewall/router in it? What is shown as the default gateway if you run "ipconfig /all" in a command prompt window?
Broadband modem? I...don't have one, i think. PPoE connection means i only have a cable which i stick into the network card in the back on the PC case, then i configure the connection with username and password within windows....nothing else needed. Again, i'm a novice, so fell free to talk to me as if i was an idiot and explain step by step.
C:\Users\>ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . :
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . :
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . :
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . :
PPP adapter NET:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . :
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . :
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . :
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . :
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . :
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . :
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . :
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . :
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . :
Tunnel adapter isatap.{}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . :
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . :
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . :
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . :
Tunnel adapter:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . :
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . :
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . :
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : (Prefe
rred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : (Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . :
C:\Users\>
Flying Fox wrote:Under "PPP adapter NET" section, the Default Gateway IP address is what you are looking for. I believe you removed it.
Arclight wrote:The default gateway i found in Network and Sharing Center> Change Adapter Settings> Broadband Connection> Status> Details> ipv6 Default gateway (ipv4 Default Gateway is blank).
just brew it! wrote:Arclight wrote:The default gateway i found in Network and Sharing Center> Change Adapter Settings> Broadband Connection> Status> Details> ipv6 Default gateway (ipv4 Default Gateway is blank).
The IPv4 gateway is blank? That's surprising. If your connection to the 'net is IPv6-only then I'm afraid I'm in a bit over my head.
1. Does your ISP have a web site, and does it respond to pings? At the very least, you could do that to give some indication of whether the connectivity issue is between you and your ISP, or your ISP and the outside world.
2. What version of Windows are you running?
3. Also, if you're comfortable sending me the complete "ipconfig /all" output via PM (as opposed to posting it publicly) that might be helpful. TBH the information isn't that sensitive (and the most potentially sensitive piece -- your public IP address, if you're not behind a router -- I already have access to anyhow as a forum admin).
Arclight wrote:1. Yup, they have a website, i didn't try to ping it while the DNS was DOS-ing me but i know for certain that the local area connection was working, i could even play CS on LAN. Hopefully using Google's DNS will fix it. Since i switched DNS today i haven't experienced another disconnect but will have to test for at least a week to know for certain the issue is fixed.
Arclight wrote:2. I think i mentioned above, Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64 bit.
Arclight wrote:3. Thank you for the offer, but i'm not comfortable doing that. I hope you're not offended.
Arclight wrote:I'll just call them up tomorrow and see if they intend to do something about it. If the youtube errors will continue one month from now i'll probably try to switch to another ISP. I have tried everything to fix it, i reset my IE 9's settings, i deleted temp files and especially cookies as so many suggested, i reinsintalled flash, i changed DNS, i tried other browsers but nothing fixed it. Prior to a few months ago this error (the youtube i mean) NEVER happened so i'm inclined to believe that it's either the ISP's fault (most likely) or youtube's fault (highly unlikely since there are only a handfull of people suffering from this).
just brew it! wrote:[...]
Edit: If you're plugged directly into the wire that goes to your ISP, how did you play CS on LAN? Did you physically move the cable to connect it to the other PC?
Arclight wrote:Are there any other more realible/ trustworthy free DNS besides Google's? Knowing Google recent track record regarding privacy what risks would i be facing using their DNS?
Arclight wrote:Nope and i suppose you're insunuating that the box i mentionened to be located on my the street and stems cables to multiple homes is proof that that's the modem? I do not have a cable that goes directly into the ISP's servers.
Arclight wrote:Regardless the DNS issue is a non issue now that i know i can change it. The issue i have is with the error i get on youtube that seems to have no solution, on my end.
just brew it! wrote:Arclight wrote:Nope and i suppose you're insunuating that the box i mentionened to be located on my the street and stems cables to multiple homes is proof that that's the modem? I do not have a cable that goes directly into the ISP's servers.
I'm not saying it is proof of anything, since I don't know enough about how your connection is configured. But I am very confused about how you played CS on a LAN, given how you've said your connection is set up.
What is the other end of the cable from your PC plugged into?
just brew it! wrote:Arclight wrote:Regardless the DNS issue is a non issue now that i know i can change it. The issue i have is with the error i get on youtube that seems to have no solution, on my end.
Does the error happen only on YouTube, or have you had problems accessing other sites too?
lonleyppl wrote:(I think this is what JBI is trying to ask about when he asks about a modem, please ignore it if he says it's not...)
In most households in the US, we have some sort of cable coming into our house from the ISP. Typically this cable is fiber or coaxial, and runs into a small piece of hardware called the modem to convert the signal to Ethernet. The idea is that the modem connects your household network to the rest of the world. I think JBI wants you to constantly ping your modem and the ISP's router that the modem connects to. Doing this will allow you to see if your internet issues are due to packets being dropped by the ISP or not.
Arclight, you mention that one end of the cable is plugged into your computer and the other end goes out to a box on the street. Is the end that you plug into your computer an ethernet cable?
Arclight wrote:The other end of the cable goes outside my house and connets into a protection box on the street, which is locked and located quite high....idk what's inside and i have no way of checking inside of it.
Arclight wrote:The cable that connects to my PC is ethernet cable, correct. Frankly i don't loose packets. I got down right disconnected by the DNS but like i said, it works now. What i tried to fix though was the amazingly annoying youtube error which i'm moderately certain is dued to the ISP. I'm gonna talk to them and depending on what i find out i'll devide later what the next step i'll take. Still if you got any other suggestion i'm open to trying something else on my end.
just brew it! wrote:Arclight wrote:The other end of the cable goes outside my house and connets into a protection box on the street, which is locked and located quite high....idk what's inside and i have no way of checking inside of it.
OK, so what was the other PC connected to when you were playing a multiplayer game? Another cable to the box on the street? Or is there a box between the PCs and the wire that goes out to the street?
just brew it! wrote:Arclight wrote:The cable that connects to my PC is ethernet cable, correct. Frankly i don't loose packets. I got down right disconnected by the DNS but like i said, it works now. What i tried to fix though was the amazingly annoying youtube error which i'm moderately certain is dued to the ISP. I'm gonna talk to them and depending on what i find out i'll devide later what the next step i'll take. Still if you got any other suggestion i'm open to trying something else on my end.
Are you specifically having trouble with certain types of videos, or all YouTube videos? Maybe your ISP is censoring YouTube for some reason?
Arclight wrote:just brew it! wrote:Arclight wrote:The other end of the cable goes outside my house and connets into a protection box on the street, which is locked and located quite high....idk what's inside and i have no way of checking inside of it.
OK, so what was the other PC connected to when you were playing a multiplayer game? Another cable to the box on the street? Or is there a box between the PCs and the wire that goes out to the street?
I have no way of knowing. What i know was that the players were all using the same ISP and they were from my town. I don't know anything else......what's the point here? I don't get it.
absurdity wrote:Just to throw this out there, since you do seem to be at least somewhat concerned about privacy, I'd suggest buying some type of router for your home. If you really are directly connected, you could be using a public IP, and having your system alive on the public Internet is a bad thing. Getting behind a router, you'll be protected with NAT (not to mention the obvious benefit of being able to share your connection with other devices). It'd be good to get a listing of supported devices from your ISP (it sounded at one point like you may be using IPv6, so I'd certainly check in with them about it).
As others have shared, it's highly unlikely that there's anything bad about using some other DNS provider, it's normally just a tech support issue at most. Heck, if you're using another service, it means less load on their own systems.
Just to get some terminology straight, the connection is PPPoE, not PPoE. And DNS isn't DoS'ing you; while it's possible that your ISP's DNS service is under a DoS attack at times, it's likely just overloaded or broken somehow.
Ryu Connor wrote:NAT is nice and all, but I'd point out it's not technically security.
it does help mitigate any vulnerabilities which may exist in local network services running on his PC.
Wikipedia wrote:In the mid-1990s NAT became a popular tool for alleviating the consequences of IPv4 address exhaustion.[1] It has become a common, indispensable feature in routers for home and small-office Internet connections. Most systems using NAT do so in order to enable multiple hosts on a private network to access the Internet using a single public IP address.
Ryu Connor wrote:With the prevalence of UPnP, port triggering, and any default port forwarding, can't even guarantee that local network services aren't being exposed externally.
TheEmrys wrote:Arclight wrote:Are there any other more realible/ trustworthy free DNS besides Google's? Knowing Google recent track record regarding privacy what risks would i be facing using their DNS?
I'm a big fan of openDNS instead of Google, for the reasons you listed. Don't worry about signing up for it, just use the numbers.
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220