Cannot connect to primary DNS server

samfau2 · Feb 19, 2009

Im having trouble connecting to the internet on my desktop pc. I have a wireless network and connect to it by PCI network card on my desktop and built in wireless on several laptops that are in the house. The internet on the laptops works fine and is fairly speedy.

However, for the past day the internet on my desktop has been incredibly slow and keeps timing out, i.e. not loading webpages, now its not connected at all, it just says local only. I tried to "diagnose and repair" and it gave me this error "cannot connect to primary DNS server (192.168.1.1)" which it could not repair automatically

Anyone got any idea how i can fix this?

DC187 · Feb 19, 2009

I'm going to assume the 192.168.1.1 is the IP Address of your router and that is set to distribute DHCP.

Apart from the DNS Server are you successfully getting an IP Address?

Have you tried power cycling the router? It's amazing how many issues a power cycle can fix.

Also what is the router, it maybe a known issue that's possibly fixed by updated firmware.

Have you tried manually assigning the DNS Servers?

You could try an external DNS server such as -:
154.32.105.18

Good luck

samfau2 · Feb 19, 2009

yep 192.168.1.1 is my router address, vista reports that i do have an ip address 192.168.1.34 and typing ipconfig into command prompt confirms this.

By power cycle i assume you mean turning it off and on again, which i have tried a few times.

I actually am apparently connected to the internet at the moment but other than my google homepage everything just times out, if i search for something in google or click one of my bookmark links it just hangs on a white page for ages and the times out.

Ill try manually setting the DNS and using the external one you provided.

Thanks for the quick response

samfau2 · Feb 19, 2009

using that dns address its slightly better, i can sort of surf the internet but its very very slow and it still times out sometimes when loading pages and pinging websites with command prompt

DC187 · Feb 19, 2009

No problem.

You could also test DNS resolution of your router by entering a command prompt (Start > Run > cmd) and running nslookup

Then type the following:

server 192.168.1.1
set type=all

Then type the DNS name you're trying to resolve.

If it works you'll get a bunch of replies, if not it'll tell ya!

DC187 · Feb 19, 2009

Just saw your reply as I posted my other.

Since the address I provided you seems to work better, it maybe worth finding out what your ISP's DNS servers are and using them since they'll be closer to you.

Usually you can find this information from support pages of your ISP's website.

Let us know how you get on

samfau2 · Feb 19, 2009

cheers for the replies, i really appreciate it, ill try the stuff in command prompt and try and find the DNS for my ISP (Orange)

searching for "dns" in their help & support all i get is one page with dns addresses for dial up connections.

http://help.orange.co.uk/orangeuk/support/selfservice/index.jsp

ill see if google can shed any light.

DC187 · Feb 19, 2009

I found this from the Orange Broadband support (I'd post the link but it just takes you to the support front page), you can find it using the search term "DNS Server"

The last article "the Orange settings" is the one you want.

Anyway to quote that page:

"
DNS
Domain name service is dynamic.
If connecting to a router, and need DNS settings for home networking, use the IP address or your router, i.e.

192.168.1.1

If Orange domain name server (DNS) addresses are required, you should use:
195.92.195.94 and 195.92.195.95
Or, if you experience problems with the above, use:
193.36.79.101 and 193.36.79.100"

Might be worth logging into your router (if you can) to find out what DNS Servers that is picking up from Orange.

samfau2 · Feb 19, 2009

ok, i can get onto my router config so ill try and see if its using those,

as for the command prompt stuff, can you talk me through that.

am i just to type in the cmd window: nslookup, server 192.168.1.1, set type=all one after each other?

"Then type the DNS name you're trying to resolve." - is that the address e.g. 192.168.1.1?

DC187 · Feb 19, 2009

In cmd window type:

nslookup [enter]
server 192.168.1.1 [enter] (this sets the DNS Server you want to use for name resolution)
set type=all [enter]

then the DNS name e.g. Google or just google.co.uk

When you've finished in nslookup just type exit which will take you back to the cmd prompt.

Some other thoughts worth checking/trying:

In cmd prompt type: ipconfig /flushdns
In cmd prompt type: ipconfig /registerdns

samfau2 · Feb 19, 2009

yeah, thats what i was trying to do, but it just times out after entering nslookup. This is what i get:

nslookup [enter]:

Server: [192.168.1.1]
Address 192.168.1.1

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds
*** Request to [192.168.1.1] timed-out.

------------------

As for my router config, ive found this:

other than that i can't see anywhere else to input addresses etc.

samfau2 · Feb 19, 2009

other commands:

ipconfig /flushdns:

Windows IP Configuration

Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.

ipconfig /registerdns

Registeration of the dns resource records for all adapters of this computer has been initiated. Any errors will be reported in the Event Viewer in 15 minutes

DC187 · Feb 19, 2009

That page is your LAN DHCP configuration.

What we want to have a look at is an overview of the addresses Orange are assigning you, which you may find on the "My Services" tab or "System Information"

If possible can you use another machine to perform the nslookup tests to 192.168.1.1, if they were to work it looks like a communication problem between your desktop and the router.

Do you have any firewalls running?

Have you tried inputting those Orange DNS Servers manually on your network connection?

samfau2 · Feb 19, 2009

ahh didnt see system information, here we go.

Primary DNS server : 193.36.79.100 Secondary DNS server : 193.36.79.101

Im on my laptop at the moment which is working fine so ill do nslookup on this and post results. Also, no firewalls running apart from the standard windows one which ive left to do its own thing.

Haven't tried those orange dns servers yet, will do that too.

I am using a new pci network adapter in the desktop but its been working perfectly for over a week until now so i thought i could rule that out as being the source of the problem.

EDIT: just to check, the right place to enter the dns addresses on my desktop is network properties --> internet protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) --> properties --> use the following dns server addresses.

DC187 · Feb 19, 2009

Ok good luck.

It would be worth considering the network card which is new being at fault, I've seen funnier things. Does that mean you have another network card or an on-board network card you could plug in to test and prove that?

Yep thats the correct place to add DNS servers

samfau2 · Feb 19, 2009

sadly not, i did a previous cheapo pci network card that id been using but ive since thrown that away.

Exactly the same thing with both sets of dns addresses you posted from that orange support page.

as for nslookup, this is what i get:

DC187 · Feb 19, 2009

Well that proves your router can successfully respond to DNS requests (which we already knew but good to prove that).

samfau2 said:
Exactly the same thing with both sets of dns addresses you posted from that orange support page.

I take it you mean when you apply the DNS addresses manually to your desktop.

If thats the case you've either got some piece of software that's preventing DNS queries which will be sent to port 53.
Or it's possible your new NIC has become flakey and no longer correctly functioning. Might be worth re-seating it in the PCI slot to ensure good connectivity.
Have you looked for any updated drivers for the NIC?

I'm off from work in a bit so may not be able to reply again until tomorrow.

Good luck

samfau2 · Feb 19, 2009

yeah, applying dns manually gave me the same probs

yeah i took it out and plugged it back in and reinstalled the drivers off the disc, will try
and look for some newer ones on the internet and possibly test it in my other desktop pc.

might also try running in safe mode with networking to see if theres something stopping it.

Thanks very much for all your help, i appreciate it.

If the above fails to work it looks like ill be emailing D-link for a replacement NIC

samfau2 · Feb 19, 2009

swapped the NIC to another PCI slot and its working ok, still a bit slow which is odd. can do the nslookup stuff without problems apart from a couple of times to start of with.

Im gonna look for some newer drivers to see if that improves things. Hopefully the card isnt faulty after all.

Dwarf · Feb 19, 2009

Try the OpenDNS servers 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220

Cannot connect to primary DNS server

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