Domain Name Server error?
For about a month now I have been experiencing a DNS error. The internet will go from working properly to not working. For some reason though it still shows that I'm connected to the internet with an excellent signal but when I go to a webpage, it says offline. I'll then do a diagnose and repair to see if it can fix it, but I get a message that says their is a problem with the DNS and it can't automatically be fixed. A tech said it was my router, so I replaced it. The router went good for a week then it started up with the same DNS error. I tried resetting the modem and router, and tried doing ipreset and iprenew in the Command prompt. Still don't work. Is it a problem with the router or with the modem?
Comments
I don't get why it worked for about a week and then stopped working. That doesn't make sense. DNS is domain name server. It's basically a lookup for finding websites. All computers connected to the internet are assigned an IP Address that uniquely identifies the route the network needs to take to establish a connection between you and the computer. Domain names are the textual addresses that you type into the address bar. So for instance, when you go to www.google.com, that text is sent to the DNS, then DNS looks up what IP address is associated with that textual address and sends back the IP Address to your computer/network so that it can make a connection (well really your ISP is what's making the connection for you).
So if you are having DNS problems, then this is a problem with your ISP and that's who you should contact about it. My only guess is that the DNS address (which is a numerical, IP address) is incorrect in your router settings.
Have you tried to set up a static IP for your computer? If so you have to set the DNS address and if you do it incorrectly then you will not have internet access. If you want to see if it's the router or modem or whatever, then what I would do is completely disconnect the router and directly plug the modem (through ethernet) into your computer. If you still cannot get access then the problem is with the modem (or your network settings on your computer). If you do get internet access then this eliminates the modem as the problem.
Are you connecting through wireless or ethernet? Again, if it's wireless, then connect your computer directly to the router through ethernet--if this solves the problem then there is something wrong with the router's wireless network OR, again, your computer settings.
If you reset the router to factory setting, then the password for wireless connectivity changed and thus, you probably won't be able to connect to the router (but then you shouldn't see network connectivity and you said you could).
You can view your router settings by going to the router's address in a web browser. This will bring up a GUI which allows you to configure your router. Usually this address is 192.168.1.1, but it might be different depending on your brand of router, to find out run ipconfig from command prompt (for Windows/Mac) or ifconfig (for Linux or maybe Mac too) and look for the default gateway (or just gateway)--whatever address is there will be the address you should copy and paste into your address bar to access and configure the router.
Edit: When you disconnect things and reconnect through ethernet, make sure you restart the modem/router before trying to connect (you may also need to restart your computer). To be totally sure, I would disconnect everything (including any ethernet cables between the modem and router or computers), restart the modem, restart your computer, then connect the computer through ethernet (in that order)--it may not be necessary, but this will ensure that if it's gonna work it will work (as opposed to getting a false positive because of some of other weird thing going on).
Go to the properties of your network connection and open the TCP/IP / IP4 settings.
Manually set the DNS servers to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.
Tell me you operating system and I can give detailed instructions, should you need them.