I have recently noticed (as of last Sunday) that their is long pause when switching between websites (for example going from the BBC website to Youtube). Sometimes that pages successfully loads after a while or occasionally it will say it is unavailable, normally the page will load after a while if it is refreshed. This happens intermittently and on random website, sometimes a site will work and sometimes it won't. During the pause the status bar in Firefox displays the message 'Looking up..., and Safari displays the message 'Contacting...' The internet isn't slow when you are on a website (for example a Youtube video will load quickly, it is only when switching between sites.
I have found this issue happens both on a Windows Vista desktop (with Firefox) and a Mac OS X (10.5.2) in Firefox and Safari. Both computers are connected to a Netgear DG834PN router via ethernet. I have tried leaving my router off for an hour, resetting it to factory defaults and re setting it up, emptying the history, cookies etc. from all browsers and am still having the problem. A speed test run on Speetest.net at the time I wrote this post shows I have a ping rate of 43ms, a down speed of 6041 KBS and a up speed of 377 KBS, which seems quite good to me.
I am considering getting my phone company to test my line (TalkTalk), other than that I can't think of anything. Is anyone else having/had this problem or know what might be going on? All replies appreciated.
Strange one - almost like your connection keeps dropping intermittently. When sites time out, can you still ping them?
Hi and welcome to the forum. :welc: :karma:
On the Windows machine, try switching to the OpenDNS servers, that will leave the Mac on IDNet's DNS. If the problem goes away on Windows but not Mac, then we know there's a DNS issue with IDNet, though I haven't seen any other reports recently. Do you have the router set to pick up your IP address and DNS automatically?
Do you know when your exchange is converting to 21CN?
I don't use Vista, so the following instructions might not be 100% accurate, but right-click on the network connection, select Properties, then scroll down to TCP/IP and select properties again. On the general tab, de-select obtain DNS automatically, and insert the OpenDNS server IPs, 208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220.
Hopefully, someone will correct me if that's wildly wrong for Vista.
Quote from: Rik on May 27, 2008, 18:55:28
I don't use Vista, so the following instructions might not be 100% accurate, but right-click on the network connection, select Properties, then scroll down to TCP/IP and select properties again. On the general tab, de-select obtain DNS automatically, and insert the OpenDNS server IPs, 208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220.
Hopefully, someone will correct me if that's wildly wrong for Vista.
Am at work at the moment on XP so can't double check, but that sounds right to me Rik - don't think they changed that in Vista :)
Thanks, Mad. :)
Sorry how would you ping a website?
Not quite as easy. right click, network and sharing,view status, properties. Well it would need that little bit extra. ;D
I will try changing my DNS on the windows machine and post here to let you know the results. Thank you for help.
(I don't know what 21CN is, I will try to find out when my exchange is switching though.)
:welc: :karma:
It could be DNS, so as Rik suggests, trying OpenDNS is a good start. :)
Quote from: net91 on May 27, 2008, 19:10:41
(I don't know what 21CN is, I will try to find out when my exchange is switching though.)
It's BT's new network infrastructure and is causing a lot of disruption as they convert exchanges.
... and will probably cause a lot more when it's finished! :whistle:
:welc: :karma:
I am on the Windows Vista machine in Firefox and as of yet have not encountered the problem. I will continue to browse around to see if it starts to affect me. (I encountered the problem earlier but it was only on one website and I didn't test any others because I put the problem down to being what was happening on the other computer.) Is it possible that this issue could be down to the setting on one machine rather than the router? Again thanks for everyone's replies.
Quote from: net91 on May 27, 2008, 20:18:54
I am on the Windows Vista machine in Firefox and as of yet have not encountered the problem. I will continue to browse around to see if it starts to affect me. (I encountered the problem earlier but it was only on one website and I didn't test any others because I put the problem down to being what was happening on the other computer.) Is it possible that this issue could be down to the setting on one machine rather than the router? Again thanks for everyone's replies.
Ok never mind I just encountered the problem, going to try the DNS thing.
I wouldn't have thought it's down to a setting on Windows. Let us know if the DNS change improves things. :)
I have changed to Open DNS on the Windows Vista machine and after sitting flicking between pages for about an hour I have encountered no problems so far. I will test it further tomorrow to check it has really resolved the problem and see what things are like on the mac that is not using Open DNS. Thanks for everyone's help.
Quote from: stevethegas on May 27, 2008, 19:07:31
Not quite as easy. right click, network and sharing,view status, properties. Well it would need that little bit extra. ;D
D'oh! :blush:
Quote from: net91 on May 27, 2008, 22:30:09
I have changed to Open DNS on the Windows Vista machine and after sitting flicking between pages for about an hour I have encountered no problems so far. I will test it further tomorrow to check it has really resolved the problem and see what things are like on the mac that is not using Open DNS. Thanks for everyone's help.
Good stuff. It could be a problem with IDNet's DNS', or perhaps it's coincidence. May changing the DNS' has flushed the resolve cache. Who knows? To be honest, I use OpenDNS permanently anyway. As well as being very fast, reliable, and up-to-date, it's highly customisable (just sign up for an account and you can do various things). :thumb:
I've just switched to OpenDNS and 10 minutes of surfing has shown a marked improvement in the speed that pages are found.
However, the tech of OpenDNS versus IDNet DNS is beyond me and I'm not that happy having to leave it configured away from IDNet's default, so is this something that IDNet may be able to solve? After all, surely their DNS (or whatever it's called) should work properly in the first place.
Hi all.
I am getting very similar problems,ie slow web pages etc.and my connection speed has dropped significantly over the last few weeks >:((see attach).
I am using a Netgear router. Any suggestions TIA Alan
[attachment deleted by admin]
I've also noticed the same problems particularly during Monday and Tuesday evenings.
My connection speed also dropped over the bank holiday weekend as has my profile, the connection is now back to normal, waiting for my profile to catch up.
Hi Alan
Follow the instructions to switch to OpenDNS, see if that improves things. If it does, then it's probably an issue with IDNet's DNS servers. The more people affected, the quicker IDNet will be able to find the cause.
Quote from: lozcart on May 28, 2008, 09:41:18
I've also noticed the same problems particularly during Monday and Tuesday evenings.
My connection speed also dropped over the bank holiday weekend as has my profile, the connection is now back to normal, waiting for my profile to catch up.
Can you also try OpenDNS and see if it helps.
Rik
Is it best to change the DNS setting on the router, computer or both.
Thanks.
If you change them on the router, you'll force a new PPP session. If you change it in Windows, you won't, so for comparative purposes, it's probably best to change it in Windows, so that only one variable changes.
Hi Rik,
thanks for help,I have tried doing the dns thingy but can't get a connection if I do that :(
Alan
Mmm. It should work just fine, Alan, what error message do you get.
"Can't find server" >:(
Alan
Can you grab me a screen shot of the Windows server setup, please Alan?
where will I find that Rick :blush:
Alan
When you're on the window where you put in the OpenDNS servers, Alan, press Alt-Scr, then paste the results into an image processing program or Paint. Save it to file, then post and use the additional options to add it to your post.
I have spent about another hour just flicking through pages on the Windows Vista machine that is now set up to use Open DNS and it has been fine. I have also just tried doing the same on the mac machine which is not using Open DNS and it is still encountering the problem. Is this something I now need to contact IDNET about?
If IDNET doesn't resolve the problem could I just configure my router to use Open DNS all the time?
Yes, let IDNet know (I've already pointed them to this thread), and yes, you could change the router to use OpenDNS and have both machines operating on its servers (change your Windows settings back to automatic).
Thanks for your help. I will contact then now, and I'll post here what they say.
Is this it Rik?
Alan
[attachment deleted by admin]
IDNET have recomended I specify their DNS servers, I have been given the addresses to try. So I will see what they are like. I'll do it on the windows machine first and if that works I will enter them into my router. I guess if this doesn't work I will just stick with OpenDNS.
Quote from: alcav on May 28, 2008, 12:36:21
Is this it Rik?
That's the one, Alan. Did it look the same when you were using OpenDNS?
Quote from: net91 on May 28, 2008, 12:39:41
IDNET have recomended I specify their DNS servers, I have been given the addresses to try. So I will see what they are like. I'll do it on the windows machine first and if that works I will enter them into my router. I guess if this doesn't work I will just stick with OpenDNS.
They've always recommended allowing the router to pick them up automatically before, did they say why the advice has changed?
This is what it looked like Rik,but no connect on this cofig ::)
Alan
[attachment deleted by admin]
I've been having the same problem over the last few days. Switched to Open DNS servers seems to have solved it for me.
--
Paul
Quote from: net91 on May 28, 2008, 12:39:41
IDNET have recomended I specify their DNS servers, I have been given the addresses to try.
Sorry if I'm being stupid here, but if the fault
is with IDnets DNS servers, as it would appear is looking more likely, then what good what this do? :conf:
Quote from: Rik on May 28, 2008, 12:41:57
They've always recommended allowing the router to pick them up automatically before, did they say why the advice has changed?
No they didn't. They just asked wheather I had specified their dns server's before I used Open DNS and when I said it was set to automatic before they suggested I tried manually specifying theirs. If it is of any relevance the addresses they gave me where; (primary 212.69.40.3) and (secondary 212.69.36.3).
I will post here if the problems occur with the settings they gave. I will post here later as I have to go out now.
Quote from: alcav on May 28, 2008, 12:48:25
This is what it looked like Rik,but no connect on this cofig ::)
You haven't got that set up right, Alan. The first entry should be to obtain an IP address automatically. The second entry should be to use the following DNS servers, 2ith 208.67.222.222 on the first line and 208.67.220.220 on the second.
Quote from: madasahatter on May 28, 2008, 12:54:44
Sorry if I'm being stupid here, but if the fault is with IDnets DNS servers, as it would appear is looking more likely, then what good what this do? :conf:
I am wondering the same thing. ???
Quote from: net91 on May 28, 2008, 12:56:44
No they didn't. They just asked wheather I had specified their dns server's before I used Open DNS and when I said it was set to automatic before they suggested I tried manually specifying theirs. If it is of any relevance the addresses they gave me where; (primary 212.69.40.3) and (secondary 212.69.36.3).
I will post here if the problems occur with the settings they gave. I will post here later as I have to go out now.
Curiously, that's the opposite of what I have, 40 is the secondary on my list.
Quote from: net91 on May 28, 2008, 12:58:04
I am wondering the same thing. ???
I'm just wondering whether there is an issue with the automatic pick up?
Quote from: Rik on May 28, 2008, 09:49:06
Can you also try OpenDNS and see if it helps.
I've checked my computer (Apple Mac) and there was no DNS servers entered on the computer.
My router is showing the correct Idnet DNS servers and it is set to obtain them automatically.
I will enter the OpenDNS servers onto the computer and see what happens.
OK, I've had a word with Tim. The reason they are asking for us to switch to manual DNS and reverse the two servers is that it will show if there's an issue with the primary server. Meantime, they have put extra monitoring on the servers.
I now have this Rik,am I getting close?
Alan
[attachment deleted by admin]
That should be working just fine, Alan.
Many thanks Rik,I will see how things go then :)
best wishes.......Alan
:( Last night had same problems even rebooted my router it would take forever to resolve pages will try open DNS settings tonight.
Quote from: Rik on May 28, 2008, 13:05:57
OK, I've had a word with Tim. The reason they are asking for us to switch to manual DNS and reverse the two servers is that it will show if there's an issue with the primary server. Meantime, they have put extra monitoring on the servers.
Aha - a method to their madness - excellent :thumb:
Quote from: alcav on May 28, 2008, 13:23:13
Many thanks Rik,I will see how things go then :)
If that improves things, Alan, switch to the IDNet servers in the same way, but use 212.69.40.3 as the primary and 212.69.36.3 as the secondary.
Quote from: DeViTTo on May 28, 2008, 13:23:46
:( Last night had same problems even rebooted my router it would take forever to resolve pages will try open DNS settings tonight.
Or the manual IDNet settings as above, Dev.
Quote from: Rik on May 28, 2008, 13:26:48
Or the manual IDNet settings as above, Dev.
hi Rik allready using the idnet settings set in router and pc
Strange thing, I have witnessed any problems at all.
Quote from: DeViTTo on May 28, 2008, 13:30:41
hi Rik allready using the idnet settings set in router and pc
But have you reversed the primary and secondary server IPs?
Quote from: DeViTTo on May 28, 2008, 13:30:41
hi Rik allready using the idnet settings set in router and pc
We need the primary and secondary servers swapped as a diagnostic, Dev. Thanks.
Quote from: Inactive on May 28, 2008, 14:02:36
Strange thing, I have witnessed any problems at all.
You're the one hogging the primary and causing the problem then, In. :)
:blush: I knew it would be my fault.. ;D
Have to blame someone, In. ;)
I can take it... ;D
Quote from: Rik on May 28, 2008, 16:23:51
Have to blame someone, In. ;)
you have to admit, it makes a change from blaming us hoobs anyway ;)
Quote from: madasahatter on May 28, 2008, 16:29:30
you have to admit, it makes a change from blaming us hoobs anyway ;)
You Hoobs are always up to no good, me, a picture of innocence.. ;)
Quote from: Rik on May 28, 2008, 13:25:20
If that improves things, Alan, switch to the IDNet servers in the same way, but use 212.69.40.3 as the primary and 212.69.36.3 as the secondary.
Hi Rik,
well I feel it has improved on some sites but not all ???.The above numbers,are they typed into the same place or?sorry I'm a bit thick about these things :blush:
Alan
Quote from: Inactive on May 28, 2008, 17:12:52
You Hoobs are always up to no good, me, a picture of innocence.. ;)
:lol:
yeah - right >:D
I think it must be IDNet's DNS'. :(
Have you tried the primary/secondary swap, Sebby.
I'm using OpenDNS myself, Rik, and have no problems, so it just seems that this is probably what is causing the problem for others. The primary/secondary swap is a good idea.
I have been browsing the internet using the Windows Vista machine with the DNS addresses from IDNET (primary and secondary swapped round and manually entered.) I didn't encounter any problems. (apart from a slight pause where I could see the 'looking up' message for one site, but I don't think it is significant as the site loaded as normal after a few seconds).
I am now on my mac, to which I have made no alteration to the DNS settings and am encountering the problem. I now plan on entering the DNS addresses given to me by IDNET on my router to see if that improves things on all the machines connected to it.
Again thanks for all the help in this forum.
Thanks, it sounds like the primary DNS server may be the issue. :thumb:
Quote from: Rik on May 28, 2008, 19:32:07
Thanks, it sounds like the primary DNS server may be the issue. :thumb:
Am I correct in thinking this is now something IDNET will look into?
They already are. They've put added monitoring on the servers since this morning, and by getting as many people as possible to switch primary/secondary, they'll have a good measure of what's going on.
I'll have another word with them in the morning and post back here.
Thanks, Rik. :thumb:
Quote from: Rik on May 28, 2008, 19:36:30
They already are. They've put added monitoring on the servers since this morning, and by getting as many people as possible to switch primary/secondary, they'll have a good measure of what's going on.
I'll have another word with them in the morning and post back here.
sounds good, cheers
Let me know how your Mac goes with the switch, will you?
if you are using vista, and recently changed to AVG version 8, this will introduce a 15 second delay on web pages ,
the problem is in vista ,and the patch for it is KB929547, although looking at other forums ,this patch is difficult to install, it certainly wants microsoft validation first.
it seem most people with this situation have gone back to AVG 7.5
suggest you google KB929547, it will explain it better than i.
Thanks for that, Bob. :thumb: :karma:
Quote from: merlin on May 28, 2008, 19:54:29
if you are using vista, and recently changed to AVG version 8, this will introduce a 15 second delay on web pages ,
the problem is in vista ,and the patch for it is KB929547, although looking at other forums ,this patch is difficult to install, it certainly wants microsoft validation first.
it seem most people with this situation have gone back to AVG 7.5
suggest you google KB929547, it will explain it better than i.
The Windows Vista machine I have been using still has AVG 7.5 installed on it.
Quote from: Rik on May 28, 2008, 19:52:36
Let me know how your Mac goes with the switch, will you?
I have changed the DNS setting on my router to the ones IDNET suggested I use. I have been browsing the web on my mac machine since I have done this and have not came across the problem so far. I will test it tomorrow some more to ensure the connection is ok with these settings.
Thanks
net91
Quote from: merlin on May 28, 2008, 19:54:29
if you are using vista, and recently changed to AVG version 8, this will introduce a 15 second delay on web pages ,
the problem is in vista ,and the patch for it is KB929547, although looking at other forums ,this patch is difficult to install, it certainly wants microsoft validation first.
it seem most people with this situation have gone back to AVG 7.5
suggest you google KB929547, it will explain it better than i.
that's strange - I've updated to AVG 8 on both my desktop and lappy - both run Vista, and neither have such a problem ???
Would seem that this issue only affects in certain circumstances.
Quote from: madasahatter on May 29, 2008, 03:05:13
that's strange - I've updated to AVG 8 on both my desktop and lappy - both run Vista, and neither have such a problem ???
Would seem that this issue only affects in certain circumstances.
HOOBS GET ALL THE LUCK !!!
I've had the results of IDNet's testing through, the graph can be seen at:
http://www.idnet.net/misc/resolvertimes/stats.html
The first graph (resolver0.idnet.net) is 212.69.36.3 and the second graph is 212.69.40.3. The last two graphs are OpenDNS.
The tests were run from a personal linux box over a regular max premium ADSL line, ie not within the IDNet infrastructure.
From IDNet:
"If changing details has improved things for people I would guess its either their windows dns cache has got messed up and
changing has forced it to rebuild or there are other reasons they are having problems. Manually specifying dns details on individual machines will always help anyway. resolver1.idnet.net as mentioned is in same rack as our ADSL connections terminate so is always going to be very slightly quicker to respond.
Also it depends on how they were doing their testing, the testing we have done is done on scientific principles i.e. all the variables are the same, the client is a raw client (does no fancy graphics or anything else that could affect the results) and there is no local caching anywhere (dns resolvers are, by design, caches of the dns of the whole internet).
If anyone with a linux box wants to duplicate my tests Hobbit can be downloaded and installed easily and the config needed to add to the bb-hosts file is as follows:
212.69.36.3 resolver0.idnet.net # conn dns ssh
212.69.40.3 resolver1.idnet.net # conn dns ssh
212.69.36.2 ns0.idnet.net # conn dns ssh
212.69.40.2 ns1.idnet.net # conn dns ssh
208.67.222.222 resolver1.opendns.com # conn dns
208.67.220.220 resolver0.opendns.com # conn dns
Mandriva - urpmi hobbit
Ubuntu - http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy/net/hobbit
General - http://hobbitmon.sourceforge.net/docs/install.html"
So are we supposed to use 40.3 as the primary or 36.3 on the local machine? It confirms the relative sluggish ness of open dns
The suggestion is that 36.3, the primary, is showing as consistently faster in testing (which is ongoing, btw), and that it should be used in the normal order given.
Thanks Rik,
Quote from: merlin on May 29, 2008, 08:54:54
HOOBS GET ALL THE LUCK !!!
:lol:
Want to come join us then? ;)
Quote from: Rik on May 29, 2008, 10:51:50
The suggestion is that 36.3, the primary, is showing as consistently faster in testing (which is ongoing, btw), and that it should be used in the normal order given.
Does this mean that this problem is not caused by IDNET's dns servers?
They can't see a problem with them, based on the testing so far.
Ok, so do we just see how things go with the dns servers swapped?
For the time being, or contact support with specific examples if you continue to have problems.
Ok thanks.
I don't know if this has been mentioned, but perhaps a DNS resolver cache flush will work. From a command prompt in Windows, type ipconfig /flushdns and hit enter. :)
Certainly worth a try, Sebby. :thumb:
Just to add to this slowness conversation, I too have experience a real drop in web responses over the last couple of days. An example is Digital Spy (www.digitalspy.co.uk) gets timed out, some sites do response but MUCH slower than normally. Weird thing is a few sites are responding completely fine.
Clearly this problem is affecting certain 'internet routes' (correct term?) rather than everything.
I am connected to the Sheerness exchange in Kent.
Looking at Rik's advice from earlier on, I have changed the DNS on my router from auto to 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. However I haven't noticed any difference.
PS I'm on a Intel iMac running Leopard with an Netgear ADSL router.
Cheers in advance for any advice.
Mark
Quote from: Mark_Mac on May 29, 2008, 20:28:22
Just to add to this slowness conversation, I too have experience a real drop in web responses over the last couple of days. An example is Digital Spy (www.digitalspy.co.uk) gets timed out, some sites do response but MUCH slower than normally. Weird thing is a few sites are responding completely fine.
Clearly this problem is affecting certain 'internet routes' (correct term?) rather than everything.
I am connected to the Sheerness exchange in Kent.
Looking at Rik's advice from earlier on, I have changed the DNS on my router from auto to 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. However I haven't noticed any difference.
PS I'm on a Intel iMac running Leopard with an Netgear ADSL router.
Cheers in advance for any advice.
Mark
That problem does sound exactly like mine. It also sounds like we have very similar set ups; I also have a Intel iMac running Leopard with a Netgear ADSL router. Altough I am in Lincolnshire so I doubt we are going through the same exchange (I'm not sure what one I'm on).
Those DNS addresses are Open DNS's which I am running on my mac machine at the moment and they seem to be fine. Are you also running ok with these?
This is very odd. I visit Digital Spy almost daily and haven't noticed any slowness. I'm using OpenDNS, by the way. The only slowness I've noticed is on this forum, but that's believed to be something else.
Perhaps it's a Mac thing? Can you flush the DNS cache? (No idea how to do it on a Mac!)
Hi
Thanks for quick replies.
Yep I am using OpenDNS (although I'm not sure which way the values go in - Primary and Secondary). However I have tried both ways and the result is the same, no response from Digital Spy, slowness on some sites, absolutely fine on other sites.
Not sure how to flush DNS on Mac, I'm guessing via Terminal.
PS - just found this (http://www.tech-faq.com/flush-dns.shtml) that includes Mac support. Didn't work on my Terminal even when using 'sudo' command (root/super user). Got a 'dnscacheutil: command not found' response. If anyone reading this and is an network expect on Mac, please help.
Cheers
Mark
To clear the cache on your Mac running Leopard launch Terminal (in your utilities folder) type
dscacheutil -flushcache and hit return.
Mark, it might also be worth you entering the OpenDNS servers into your network settings on the computer.
Hi Mark, seems we missed your welcome Karma point, so :welc: :karma:
Quote from: lozcart on May 29, 2008, 21:37:03
To clear the cache on your Mac running Leopard launch Terminal (in your utilities folder) type
dscacheutil -flushcache and hit return.
Mark, it might also be worth you entering the OpenDNS servers into your network settings on the computer.
Thank you!! It worked, me thinking straight away that clearing the cache would require the sudo command. Guess I should have tried from the very beginning.
I switched off the OpenDNS to check everything is back to normal as auto and it is. ;D ;D ;D
So there we have it, the problem for me was DNS cache on my own Mac. Funny though yesterday I updated my Leopard to 10.5.3 but this can't have been the cause since the problem started BEFORE the update (i.e. whilst it was 10.5.2).
But anyway, I'm glad to have internet all back to normal.
Many thanks to all.
Net91 - did this solve it for you as well?
PS - thanks for the welcome, it's good to be here. Really impressed with the community support that exists for IDNet.
Mark
Welcome to the forum, Mark!
Quote from: Mark_Mac on May 29, 2008, 21:33:25
...no response from Digital Spy...
I have also been unable to access the Digital Spy website. A message from OpenDNS said 'the computers that are ruining the website seem to be having trouble', so I am guessing it is a fault at their end.
Quote from: net91 on May 29, 2008, 23:01:37
I have also been unable to access the Digital Spy website. A message from OpenDNS said 'the computers that are ruining the website seem to be having trouble', so I am guessing it is a fault at their end.
Had same message here, but when I did the Terminal thing everything was back to normal.
Have you tried that yet?
I'm off to sleep now, won't be back online until tomz evening.
I will try that, thanks.
Quote from: net91 on May 29, 2008, 23:01:37
I have also been unable to access the Digital Spy website. A message from OpenDNS said 'the computers that are ruining the website seem to be having trouble', so I am guessing it is a fault at their end.
That's really strange as I can access it on OpenDNS! ???
Welcome Mark, have a welcome Karma... :karma: :welc:
I don't have a problem with Digital Spy, it opens immediately, however I have read of other people having problems recently on other forums, so it probably/ possibly isn't down to IDNet.
Quote from: Mark_Mac on May 29, 2008, 21:33:25
Yep I am using OpenDNS (although I'm not sure which way the values go in - Primary and Secondary). However I have tried both ways and the result is the same, no response from Digital Spy, slowness on some sites, absolutely fine on other sites.
Welcome to the forum. :)
Have you tried the IDNet servers, Mark?
Welcome to the forum, Mark! :karma:
Quote from: Rik on May 30, 2008, 09:16:00
Welcome to the forum. :)
Have you tried the IDNet servers, Mark?
Hi Rik
I think I was using the IDNet servers since my DNS settings were automatic (meaning IDNet's DNS?).
But since I saw your recommendation of OpenDNS, I looked at their site and it looks really good. Especially that I can block types of sites for free. That will be very handy in my house.
Mark
OpenDNS is a useful service, Mark, though I find it slightly slower than IDNet's servers most of the time. OTOH, if you set up DNS at computer level, you can chop and change at any time without disturbing your connection.
Quote from: Rik on May 31, 2008, 01:09:39
OpenDNS is a useful service, Mark, though I find it slightly slower than IDNet's servers most of the time. OTOH, if you set up DNS at computer level, you can chop and change at any time without disturbing your connection.
Cheers for that.
I was doing it all on my ADSL router but your suggestion sounds better. So I'm doing it on the computers instead.
Of course once the kids realise this (not for quite a while yet thou) I will have to go back to doing on the router where the settings are secured.
Mmm. Administrator and User accounts?
Quote from: Rik on May 31, 2008, 01:21:27
Mmm. Administrator and User accounts?
They are always installing games (they swap games with their friends). It ended up being easier to just have their account as admin.
Bad practise I know, but they hate having to wait ages for me to come home and install it.
Well, hopefully, they won't learn too much about DNS too quickly. ;)
Hi All,
I've been experiencing similar problems for about the last week, my symptoms include:
1. Various sites loading very slowly i.e. minutes to load a page.
2. Some pages loading 95%, then taking a minute or so to finally load the page, most notable on things such as avatars on forum postings
3. Waiting for http://......etc
Hitting refresh seems to cure the problem most of the time.
Changing to the open DNS servers does not seem to have made any difference. Removing AVG and Windows Defender has made no difference.
Results at Speedtest.net are consistently 6+ mbps, so I don't think it's a line quality issue.
Any suggestions to help with diagnosis would be appreciated. Could this be an IDnet issue?
Thanks,
Chris
:welc: Chris :karma:
To be honest, I'm not sure what to suggest. I do think, though, it is unlikely to be a IDNet issue. One thing you could try is flushing your DNS cache (open a command prompt and type 'ipconfig /flushdns'). I'm sure other people will be along in the morning with more suggestions :)
Hi Chris, and :welc: :karma:
I have nothing to add to what Lance said. :)
:welc: :karma:
I'm noticing some of this unresponsiveness still (I posted a while back), but I'm putting it down to exchange work as not everyone seems to be affected.
After a few days of using the reversed DNS addresses given by IDNET I have not noticed any pages being as slow as when I first encountered this issue, although some seem a little slow. In comparison I have found when I set my machine to use Open DNS pages load slightly faster.
Have IDNET said anything else on this issue now?
Not to me.
Morning All & thanks for the welcome to the forums.
Flushing the DNS has not helped - time for a Sunday of experimenting and diagnosis, I think I'll try reversing the IDnet DNS servers.
Whilst typing this, I've had a Multimap page trying to load for about 3 minutes - clicking on refresh clears the problem - very odd.
Now my printer has just jammed up - the technology is ganging up on me this morning!
Chris
In need of karma!
Hi Chris
What router are you using, have you tried re-booting it (mains off, pause, back on)? :karma:
Morning Rik,
The router is a 3Com 3CRWD100A - 72. so far it's been 10o% reliable, it gets rebooted every morning. One of the things on my list is to try today, is reverting to a previous version of firmware in the router. I didn't immediately notice the problem after upgrading the firmware - but it's worth a try.
Chris
Hi Chris
Reverting the firmware is always worth a try, I've not met one yet that didn't introduce a new bug. :)
Failing that, some prolonged pinging might be called for.
I'd definitely suggest swapping the DNS' as this has worked for some people. :thumb:
It's really going to be a case of trying to rule various things out.
Quote from: net91 on May 29, 2008, 23:01:37
I have also been unable to access the Digital Spy website. A message from OpenDNS said 'the computers that are ruining the website seem to be having trouble', so I am guessing it is a fault at their end.
This has now proven to be a fault at Digital Spy.
Not unusual in my experience, between the ad servers and their own, those pages are pretty complex, not to mention having had a trojan in one of the ad images not so long ago.
Quote from: Rik on Jun 01, 2008, 10:10:07
Hi Chris
Reverting the firmware is always worth a try, I've not met one yet that didn't introduce a new bug. :)
Failing that, some prolonged pinging might be called for.
Hi Rik,
"Downgrading" the router firmware seems to have solved the problem.
More dodgy firmware it seems!
One more problem resolved, now if only I could get my Vista laptop to connect to the router using WPA-PSK - but that's another story.
Chris
A partial result at least, Chris. I tend to leave firmware upgrades along unless I have a problem, they never seem to fail to add a break along with all the fixes. :(
Indeed. It's common for firmwares to fix one thing and break two. :P
Glad you have it sorted, Chris.
This is something that has also been bothering me for the last week or so. Intermittent lapses where sites suddenly fail to load at all and painful 'waiting for http://...' status bar messages. Not even Google.co.uk will load when another site fails to load outright. Hitting refresh a few seconds later sorts out the problem, but some sites remain painfully slow for short periods.
A warm welcome Collie, I cannot help, but someone will answer your query ASAP.
:welc: :karma: :thumb:
As above, but :welcome: Collie.
Welcome Collie.
Have you tried using either the opendns servers or manually inputting the IDNet DNS servers in reverse order?
:welc: :karma:
It's worth switching the DNS' around, and/or trying OpenDNS to see if it's that. If not, post back and we'll see what we can do.
I have noticed it myself recently but just can't put my finger on it. :)
Simon D is back today and is going to be taking a long look at the issue.
Good to hear. Thanks, Rik. :thumb:
It's strange, as I haven't noticed anything whilst using the IDNet DNS servers :-\
I've seen issues in patches, eg yesterday fro 16:30-18:00. Nothing definitive.
Wish I'd seen this thread earlier... I've been faffing on for the last few days thinking it was something I'd D/L.
I even got an earlier edition of NOD thinking it was that.. Its still like treacle trying to get to some sites..
I've altered the DNS to those quoted and to me it seems just as slow..
.
Have you tried OpenDNS, Alan? 208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220
Hi Rik.. Thanks for reply..... If that comes under TCP/IP/Prop/General tab. I initially tried those IDnet figures quoted earlier.
Ive got the IP address (top box) on auto and the bottom ones with the the numbers you just give now.
Some sights still seem sluggish and are waiting to connect. Although, it does seem a little quicker than the auto settings.
.
Alan
If the problem still exists at all, Alan, it's not the IDNet servers. I'd suggest you drop support an email, letting them know you're affected and the fact that you have tried altering the DNS servers. The more information they have, the more quickly they should be able to track the problem.
Will do Rik. Thanks for help.
.
I have been using the swapped DNS addresses from IDNET for almost a week now and have only noticed a few occasional slight delays (with the message "looking up..." in Firefox) when loading web pages. The page often loads after a few seconds normally.
I have never really paid this much attention before I started to have the long delays, so would this be classed as normal?
Thanks for everyone's replies on this post. ;D
It's normally almost instantaneous, iow you don't normally see the 'looking up' message.
So would you say it's worth contacting IDNET about?
(As a comparison I have not need this while using the OPEN DNS servers.)
Definitely let them know. The more data the have, the easier it'll be for them to find the cause. :)
ok cheers
The last couple of days for me have been slow again. Initially OpenDNS showed a marked improvement, but now its speed is indistinguishable from IDNet DNS. Reversed IDNet DNS is the same. I've flushed the DNS cache, tried another PC, even borrowed a friend's laptop, but the problem persists. Around 50% of sites take approx 5 seconds to start loading, whereas when it's working properly it's less than a second.
And then, all of a sudden, everything works quickly again for a few hours. ???
I'll contact IDNet, but I wonder if there isn't something more widespread that's causing the problem.
It's always possible that there's a BT issue out there, maybe affecting the centrals, or possibly it's a peering issue - I'm just guessing. All I would ask is that anyone affected let's IDNet know, together with a note of what they have tried in the way of DNS switching, as the more data they have, the sooner they can isolate the cause.
This isn't a very scientific survey, but I've just spent the last 10 minutes clicking every one of my bookmarks, probably 200 or so different sites.
What I've noticed is that UK sites open immediately. Foreign sites, mainly USA based but some in France and Germany, all suffer the 5 second delay.
I don't know what light, if any, that may shed on the problem, but it does seem more than coincidental.
Let support know that, it may just help them. I've found a big delay to the SMF site (the forum software), so I've done a tracert and sent that in. However, El Reg has been running slow, and that's UK hosted. There's nothing that is glaringly wrong to point a finger at, so the more data we can give IDNet, the better.
I've also sent info to support.
[Example 1]
[root@localhost ~]# time nslookup jeffgreen.co.uk resolver1.idnet.net
Server: resolver1.idnet.net
Address: 212.69.40.3#53
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: jeffgreen.co.uk
Address: 217.160.182.120
real 0m8.308s
user 0m0.000s
sys 0m0.008s
[Example 2]
[root@localhost ~]# time nslookup jeffgreen.co.uk resolver0.idnet.net
Server: resolver0.idnet.net
Address: 212.69.36.3#53
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: jeffgreen.co.uk
Address: 217.160.182.120
real 0m8.406s
user 0m0.000s
sys 0m0.008s
[Example 3]
[root@localhost ~]# time nslookup jeffgreen.co.uk resolver0.idnet.net
Server: resolver0.idnet.net
Address: 212.69.36.3#53
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: jeffgreen.co.uk
Address: 217.160.182.120
real 0m0.173s
user 0m0.003s
sys 0m0.004s
[root@localhost ~]#
I'm not upto speed on DNS management, but some thoughts:
To me, it looks as if non cached queries are sometimes taking around 8 seconds [Examples 1,2], once cached they are fine.[Example 3]
This 8 seconds causes windows default setting of waiting for 2 seconds to timeout a few times.
[A guess] When using firefox/ie after it tries to resolve the address and timeout a couple of times, the page refuses load until you hit refresh and then the dns entry will now be in idnets cache and return properly.
Does this fit into others experiences?
It does for me. :thumb:
Welcome to the forum. :welc: :karma:
Thanks for the welcome, I've lurked on and off for a bit >:D
Welcome to the forum, trax! :)
Welcome trax... :welc: :karma: :thumb:
:welc: :karma:
Crikey, what a pleasant welcome I received upon posting for the first time in this forum. I feel rather ashamed that I am not wearing a hat so I could tip it in acknowledgment in your direction. Anyway, I have not been on the net much since I made my post about having the same problems as other people in connecting to websites, but right now the issue seems to be affecting many sites I'm visiting. There's a 5-10 pause to lookup the website, then about a 10% chance it fails. I haven't changed any settings yet, but I suppose that is the next step. Hopefully things can be resolved that doesn't require individual customers faffing about with settings most probably don't understand.
Regards.
Quote from: trax on Jun 03, 2008, 19:12:10
I've also sent info to support.
.
.
.
Does this fit into others experiences?
This fits my experiences exactly. I have tried accessing small less popular web sites and can also see this (approx) 8 second delay whilst they are being resolved. I am running with IDNet's DNS's and have tried swapping the order of the two servers. Currently running with 212.69.40.3 as first entry.
HTH.
JB.
It's certainly my experience, JB. My problems aren't DNS-related. :)
I have been using the swapped dns servers given by IDNET and is the last few days the performace has got quite bad. I keep seeing the "looking up..." message.
As of next Tuesday I will have some time to contact IDNET and sort this out so I will see how things go form there.
I think it's worth trying OpenDNS to see if it's IDNet's DNS', but if not, definitely get in touch with them. :)
I have just switched to open dns and it seems to have solved it.
Okay, so it looks like there are still problems with IDNet's DNS'. It's probably worth dropping them a quick email, and perhaps point them to this thread. :)
To be honest, I used OpenDNS permanently anyway; I find it faster, more reliable, and quicker to propagate than any ISP's servers.
For a non techie, openDNS, does that mean just putting those primary/secondary DNS numbers in under TCP/IP/Prop/General tab
or am I missing something? Simon gave me 36.3 and 40.3 which seemed a little better but not like it used to be.
Thanks
Open DNS is an alternative to using your ISP's (IDNET I assume) DNS servers. The ones you describe seem to be IDNET's, but primary and secondary swapped. They have suggested we try this so they can see wheather they have a problem with their primary DNS server.
I had them swapped like you and did notice an improvement for a while, but then found the performace drop. So far everything has been ok while I have been using Open DNS. I plan on contacting IDNET as soon as I can about this. (Tuesday)
For intructions on how to set up Open DNS click here (https://www.opendns.com/start) and choose your operating system.
Let us know how it goes with Open DNS.
Must admit I am not convinced about the switch to open DNS. I find them generally slower and indeed the recent idnet test of their own servers compared to open DNS suggested open DNS servers were overloaded with slower response times. I have returned to the idnet DNS servers in the preferred order.I am suffering the occasional slow load but that seems to be webpage specific. I have also flushed my DNS cache.I did not realise that firefox has its own DNS cache and should probably be closed down prior to a DNS cache flush. I also found this http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/simple-firefox-hacks-to-boost-performance/ (http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/simple-firefox-hacks-to-boost-performance/)
So I have done the suggested modifications, increased the expiry time to one hour and increased the cache size to 1000 and I will see if it makes any difference:)
Thanks, Steve. :thumb:
Nice find Steve. :thumb: :karma:
Quick show of hands please - how many people experiencing the problem are using Firefox?
Seem to recall a recent poll ,cant find it though;D
Indeed there was, but as polls are anonymous, we don't know which way people voted (plus there's some new members in this thread).
I am!
Me as well.. ;)
Moi aussi. (In my best Miss Piggy voice ;D).
Quote from: stevethegas on Jun 07, 2008, 09:34:36
I also found this http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/simple-firefox-hacks-to-boost-performance/ (http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/simple-firefox-hacks-to-boost-performance/)
Steve and all,
Just a small point. In the article that your link points to, the author uses a capital 'N' (Network) in his example for the network.dnsCacheExpiration entry. The first letter needs to be lower case or it won't work and will disappear from about:config after restarting Firefox.
Hope this helps.
JB.
How about the other uppercase letters, JB, ie C & E?
So it did, JB, thanks.
Rik, the other capitals are fine. :)
Thanks, Sebby. :thumb:
Pretty sure they are OK Rik.
If you take a look through the entries in about:config that were generated by Firefox itself, quite a few of them have capital letters throughout the string but none as the first letter.
JB.
Thanks, JB. :)
Quote from: Rik on Jun 07, 2008, 10:16:55
Quick show of hands please - how many people experiencing the problem are using Firefox?
I am using Firefox.
Thanks. :)
All the best people do, Mad. ;)
Quote from: Rik on Jun 07, 2008, 11:09:16
All the best people do, Mad. ;)
and hoobs :)
Thanks JB
Found a couple of other possibly useful items.
A firefox dns cache enabler/disabler addon
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5914 (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5914)
and this:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Error_loading_any_website (http://kb.mozillazine.org/Error_loading_any_website)
I note xp cache's unsuccessful lookup attempts until the cache expires in 5 mins.
I'm using SeaMonkey, and can't say I've noticed any such problems.
Quote from: stevethegas on Jun 07, 2008, 11:13:49
Thanks JB
Found a couple of other possibly useful items.
A firefox dns cache enabler/disabler addon
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5914 (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5914)
and this:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Error_loading_any_website (http://kb.mozillazine.org/Error_loading_any_website)
I note xp cache's unsuccessful lookup attempts until the cache expires in 5 mins.
I wonder if there's a way to disable it through about:config. The add-on doesn't support Firefox 3 RC2. :(
I've just found out how to do this. You need to create the entries per the link posted earlier, but set the value to 0. I've made the changes and I'll see how I get on. :thumb:
I'm also a FF user V2.0.0.14
It might be worth trying the above mod(s), in that case, Alan. After all, they can easily be undone. :)
I'm on the case thanks Sebby..
No problem, though credit goes to JB (6jb) for posting this originally. :thumb:
Thanks All.. Have made the above moves, shall see how I go.. One other quickie, do I leave the OpenDNS or Idnet DNS numbers or revert it back to auto..
I'm a bit confused now, I've lost the plot somewhere.
.
Revert to auto, Alan, if the problem is gone, it wasn't the IDNet DNS servers. If it continues, then try OpenDNS again.
Quote from: Sebby on Jun 07, 2008, 14:32:11
No problem, though credit goes to JB (6jb) for posting this originally. :thumb:
Can't take the credit for that Sebby. It was stevethegas who found the page with the info on it.
Cheers.
JB.
Woops, so it was. That'll teach me to look more carefully! Thanks to stevethegas! :)
Quote from: Rik on Jun 07, 2008, 15:33:18
Revert to auto, Alan, if the problem is gone, it wasn't the IDNet DNS servers. If it continues, then try OpenDNS again.
.
Thanks Rik... Will do...
Hi all
We think we have found a problem with BIND and IPv6. We have now disabled IPv6 support of both our DNS Resolvers (212.69.40.3 and 212.69.36.3) - we would welcome any feedback on performance as of now.
Thanks
Simon
Thanks for that, Simon. We'll keep an eye on things and let you know. :thumb:
Thanks, Stupid question, but does that mean if those of us who were having occasional problems had disabled IPv6 the problem would have gone away?
I'm guessing yes, Steve, but I don't know, there may have been translation at work.
WTF is BIND??
.....or is it bindingly obvious?
Quote from: Inactive on Jun 10, 2008, 15:31:01
WTF is BIND??
This? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIND)
BERKLEY INTERNET NAME DOMAIN I THINK
Sorry too slow
Both correct. Move to the top of the class. :)
Im steaming alone here really quick if that is of any help to you pages almost instant :thumb:
Thanks, David.
Thanks guys, I am now much wiser.. :thumb: ( I think ).
Seems OK here to me, but then, I never noticed any problems anyway.
Thanks for the update, Simon. I must just add, though, that I've had similar issues and I'm using OpenDNS. It could, of course, be OpenDNS, so I might switch back to IDNet's and see how I get on. :)
Would be good if you could, Sebby. The more of us testing this, the better.
Done some tests and it all seems much better, usually <300ms for a lookup :thumb:
Same here - gone are the 'looking up' messages.
Okay, now switched to IDNet's DNS' - will see how I get on. :)
Keep us posted. :)
Great stuff, thanks Simon!
So far so good. I must say it's noticeably quicker than OpenDNS. :)
That's what we like to hear. :)
Noticed a big difference tonight, much quicker. 8)
Absolutely, its happening so quickly Visualroute thinks the dns lookup may be cached :)
Everything is virtually instant here. ;D
Gone back to Auto and no more of this "looking up" for me either. Is it better to leave on auto or manually put IDNets numbers in them?
Thanks.
.
Regards
Quote from: Sebby on Jun 10, 2008, 21:45:57
Everything is virtually instant here. ;D
So on this basis is it now time to switch back to IDnets dns settings?
Quote from: DeViTTo on Jun 11, 2008, 07:09:31
So on this basis is it now time to switch back to IDnets dns settings?
Judging by the other responses, yes it is :)
Quote from: alan on Jun 11, 2008, 05:39:28
Gone back to Auto and no more of this "looking up" for me either. Is it better to leave on auto or manually put IDNets numbers in them?
Thanks.
.
Regards
It shouldn't make any difference, but you might as well leave them as manual :)
Thanks Lance.. Running smooth in Auto still.
Simon@idnet gave the DNS in the reverse order was that delibrate or were they just simply listed? :)
Probably just a typo as the advice has been to use them in reverse order.
I'm sorry to report that the problem has not disappeared for me. A link here on IDNetters just took about 10 seconds to display, whilst subsequent clicks are instant. I'm wondering if it's confined to this site? I'm not sure I've noticed it on others.
I've not noticed it at all... :-\
Quote from: Sebby on Jun 12, 2008, 23:06:08
I'm sorry to report that the problem has not disappeared for me. A link here on IDNetters just took about 10 seconds to display, whilst subsequent clicks are instant. I'm wondering if it's confined to this site? I'm not sure I've noticed it on others.
The forum has a little go-slow from time to time, with pages taking 3-10 seconds to load. The problem is that it's not showing on the server logs, and it doesn't relate to loading in the forum, eg I've seen it when just four members are present.
I'm not 100% it's the forum, Rik - I do spend a lot of my online time here, though, so it just dawned on me that it could be the forum, so I'm keeping an eye out now. :)
What I do, when I think the forum is on a go slow, is to open a separate tab on the BBC news site. If that's OK, the forum's having a moment. :) Unless it's lunchtime, of course.
Thanks, Rik. :)
Hmm, at the risk at sounding like someone never having used the internet or a PC before (which isn't the case honest!), after changing my DNS servers to look up Open DNS instead of the usual IDNET ones, I'm now unable to figure out how to check out my router status which I could previously do by typing in routerlogin.com . I have a Netgear router and that's the address it uses to mess around with my router settings. Now I merely get the Netgear site. Any idea how I can access my router control panel again? I apologise if it's obvious to all, only it's been a long night and I'm currently oblivious to obvious ideas. Cheers.
Hi Collie, this happens because you have assigned DNS' manually in Windows, so the router doesn't deal with the request to open routerlogin.com, OpenDNS does. Of course, because the router doesn't deal with it, it'll actually take you to the site, rather than the router's configuration page.
To get onto the router, therefore, you'll just need to type in its IP address instead of routerlogin.com, which is probably 192.168.0.1.
If you particularly want to get around this problem and continue to use routerlogin.com, you'll need to set Windows back to automatically get the DNS server address automatically from the router, then edit the DNS' on the router itself to use OpenDNS, rather than the ones it gets from the ISP.
I hope this helps. :)
Yea I knew the reasoning behind it, just couldn't find the address or setting I needed to get back to the router's control panel/page. That's done the job.
Cheers.
NP. :)
You could also add the following entry to the file C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
and after that it will resolve to you router.
192.168.0.1 routerlogin.com
Good point. :thumb: