DNS issues with mac

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Level 1

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DNS issues with mac

Hello everyone,

I'm new to macs, I just got my first one, it's a macbook and I got it two days ago. My problem is with connecting to certain websites. I'll get "Failed to Connect" in Firefox or "Safari can't find the server" in Safari. This only happens with certain websites.

I've been browsing the web for hours looking for a fix and I haven't found one that works. I even tried re-installing the OS from the discs. I'm using AirPort to connect wirelessly. I added the following addresses to the DNS Servers:

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

At the suggestion of several sites I saw reporting a similar issue. (These two addresses are also listed on opendns.com).

It's not my internet connection, because I have my desktop PC sitting right here (running windows) and it has no problems connecting to any of the sites. And I mentioned Firefox above, so I've tried a different browser too.

I was really looking forward to Macs being easier/less troublesome than Windows but so far I've just been banging my head against the wall (not literally) over this. 😟 If anyone can help me I'd greatly appreciate it.

Macbook, Mac OS X (10.5.3)

Posted on Jun 21, 2008 9:49 PM

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Answer 1

Tim Haigh

Level 7

24,198 points

Jun 22, 2008 3:48 AM in response to Dornkirk

When using alternative dns servers to the ones your isp provides it is best to configure your router to use the dns servers other than your mac.

This ensures that if your dhcp your mac is correctly configured.

If you are not familiar with configuring a router then 99& of them are configured in a webbrowser using its IP address e.g.

http://192.168.1.1

refer to the manual to get the username and password for the router.

most routers use admin and admin or admin and password etc.

Once you have reconfigured your router powercycle it.

Then flush your dns cache on your mac with the terminal command

dscacheutil -flushcache

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Answer 2

RodneyW

Level 4

3,041 points

Jun 22, 2008 6:14 AM in response to Dornkirk

Welcome to the forums....

Can you provide an example of a site that you can't connect to? When you get one of these errors, are you then able to immediately navigate to another site successfully? When you come back, does it fail again?

Don't worry, Macs generally are less troublesome than PC's. But that doesn't mean that they are trouble-free!

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Answer 3

Dornkirk Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2008 9:14 AM in response to Dornkirk

Thanks for the help guys.

One example of a site I can't connect to is yahoo, but there are plenty of others as well. Before I added the two addresses listed in my first post I couldn't connect to google. Now I can, but I still can't connect to any of google's sub-domains such as images.google.com or maps.google.com.

When it says that it failed to connect it's as if it didn't even try in the first place, it's rapid fast. I just click on Yahoo! on the Bookmarks Toolbar and right away in less than a second it comes up "Failed". (again, other sites too).

I tried running the dscacheutil -flushcache but it doesn't seem to have done anything. And as far as configuring my router goes, is that really necessary considering my windows PC (also runs by wireless) has no problems connecting to any websites? Doesn't that mean it's something specific to my mac? And my older brother also has a Windows laptop in the house and his doesn't have any problems with the sites that I can't access. So it seems weird to be configuring the router just for my computer.

On another note, I'm planning a trip cross country in the next week. I'll be in hotels, coffee shops, libraries, etc. along the way for internet access. Since that internet access will be wireless, if I had problems accessing websites then I clearly wouldn't be able to configure the library/store/whatever's router just to accommodate my mac. So I'm hoping it's a problem that I can resolve from within my mac and not by configuring any internet connection I happen to be wirelessly connected to.

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Answer 4

RodneyW

Level 4

3,041 points

Jun 22, 2008 9:33 AM in response to Dornkirk

Try connecting your MacBook to your router by Ethernet cable.

If that works, then the router is fine.

OS X 10.5 (Leopard) seems to be very sensitive with its wireless settings, and lots of people have experienced problems. There are some possible solutions, depending on the exact nature of the problem.

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Answer 5

Jun 22, 2008 10:11 AM in response to Dornkirk

If you are using DHCP, you need to set the DNS servers on the router, not the computer. DHCP will send out IP addresses and the default gateway. The router will handle the DNS from there.

Any questions?

-MacWiz1220

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Answer 6

Dornkirk Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2008 10:26 AM in response to Dornkirk

I connected my mac to the router via ethernet and I still couldn't connect to the same websites. But again, my desktop PC running windows connects to the router wirelessly, as does my brother's laptop running windows, neither has a problem accessing these websites. So how would it be a problem with the router? It seems like it's my mac.

And another thing I mentioned was that I'm planning a trip across the country and I'm going to be at random spots that have wireless internet access - so if the solution really was to configure the router, then what does that mean for me and my access to the internet on this trip? I obviously can't walk into a coffee shop or library and tell them I need to configure their router :P.

Anyways, thanks for your guys' continued assistance. Ever since I got my mac (two days ago), I've been doing nothing with it except for tending to this problem.

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Answer 7

Dornkirk Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2008 10:30 AM in response to Dornkirk

Macwiz:

I am using DHCP, what other option would I have to use?

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Answer 8

Jun 22, 2008 10:38 AM in response to Dornkirk

Is the Mac set up for DHCP?

Second, make sure not to configure anything on your Mac. Check your Firewall. It may have been set to block all connections.

Try a loopback. Go into terminal, and type +ping -c 5 127.0.0.1+

Your output should be something like this:

+64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.799 ms+
+64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.161 ms+
+64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.161 ms+
+64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.160 ms+
+64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.159 ms+

Send me your terminal output like that.

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Answer 9

Dornkirk Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2008 10:56 AM in response to Dornkirk

Terminal output:

PING 127.0.0.1 (127.0.0.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.067 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.059 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.118 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.108 ms
64 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.103 ms

--- 127.0.0.1 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 0.059/0.091/0.118/0.024 ms

The firewall is set to allow all incoming connections. And under Network Preferences, AirPort > Advanced > TCP/IP the setting "Configure IPv4" is set to "Using DHCP". This is the option it was set to by default. The only other options are "Using DHCP with manual address", "Using BootP", "Manually", and "Off".

I also don't have any idea what DHCP means, this is just what it was set to by default.

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Answer 10

Jun 22, 2008 11:01 AM in response to Dornkirk

OK. Good. Now try this, and give me the output again. +ping -c 5 64.233.187.99+

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. To make it simple, it automatically assigns IP addresses to hosts.

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Answer 11

Dornkirk Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2008 11:11 AM in response to Dornkirk

Well, that brought up something new:

PING 64.233.187.99 (64.233.187.99): 56 data bytes
ping: sendto: No route to host
ping: sendto: No route to host
ping: sendto: No route to host
ping: sendto: No route to host
ping: sendto: No route to host

--- 64.233.187.99 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss

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Answer 12

Jun 22, 2008 11:27 AM in response to Dornkirk

Hm... In your system prefs, under Network, click on the AirPort (or Ethernet, depending on wired or wireless) tab. Is it green and says connected? If so, click advanced, and then the TCP/IP tab.

What is the following information?

Configure IPv4:
IPv4 address:
Subnet Mask:
Router:

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Answer 13

Dornkirk Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2008 11:55 AM in response to Dornkirk

Alright here's what they say:

Configure IPv4: Using DHCP
IPv4 Address: 192.168.1.72
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Router: 192.168.1.254

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Answer 14

Jun 22, 2008 11:59 AM in response to Dornkirk

OK. Try to run ping to the router.

+ping -c 5 192.168.1.254+

Results?

(AirPort or Ethernet?)

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Answer 15

Dornkirk Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2008 12:02 PM in response to Dornkirk

Alright, here's the results, wireless (AirPort):

PING 192.168.1.254 (192.168.1.254): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=2.978 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=2.334 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=1.161 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_seq=3 ttl=255 time=1.981 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.254: icmp_seq=4 ttl=255 time=3.100 ms

--- 192.168.1.254 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 1.161/2.311/3.100/0.707 ms

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