Level 1

0 points

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

62 replies

Jun 22, 2008 4:50 PM in response to Barney-15E

Not necessarily. My AirPort uses just Ethernet, not PPPoE. Not sure what protocol is used....

BobHarris

Level 9

56,921 points

Jun 22, 2008 5:07 PM in response to Dornkirk

the only other one is the first in the list: 192.168.1.254

The problem is that the 1st DNS server address is ALWAYS used 1st. The 2nd is used if any only if the 1st times out (~30 seconds). And the 3rd is used if the 2nd times out (~30 more seconds).

So what you want to do it put the OpenDNS servers 1st in the list.

Jun 22, 2008 5:33 PM in response to BobHarris

O. That may help. Where is this list?

And yes, open DNS first.

Dornkirk Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2008 5:58 PM in response to Community User

The alternatives:

PPPoA
Dynamic IP (DHCP)
Static IP

If I select Dynamic IP, it wants me to put in "DHCP Hostname" and if I select Static IP, it was "IP Settings" (address, subnet mask, default gateway) and "DNS Settings" (primary DNS server, secondary dns server (optional), domain name (optional)), and PPPoA just wants the same info as PPPoE (username, password, confirm password).

Dornkirk Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2008 6:01 PM in response to Community User

Well the problem is, I can't put them first. The 192.168.1.254 appears first in the list, and it's also grayed out (so I can't select it or remove it, etc)

Jun 22, 2008 6:05 PM in response to Dornkirk

Yes. The router is the DNS server on your Mac because it is your default gateway (it forwards traffic to the DNS servers). Take off the OpenDNS servers on the Mac DNS list. See if that helps...

Tell me what happens.

Dornkirk Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2008 6:10 PM in response to Community User

No that didn't help. Actually the reason why I added those two DNS servers was because it was suggested after I viewed several different websites about this problem. After adding those two servers, I'm able to go to google.com (but none of google's sub-domains), but when I take them off, I can't access google anymore.

RodneyW

Level 4

3,041 points

Jun 22, 2008 6:11 PM in response to Dornkirk

Lets get to a working solution as quickly as possible. We can worry about the implications for other networks later.

The key problem is that seems to be that your Mac is not receiving assigned DNS services from your router. Adding OpenDNS to your Mac has not solved the problem, because your router (aka the gateway) has put itself as a DNS Server.

Go to your router and look at the DNS Servers it is using. What are they? Reconfigure the router to use the OpenDNS servers as Static DNS entries.

See if that makes a difference to your Mac.

Jun 22, 2008 6:12 PM in response to Dornkirk

Do you have any other Mac you can try your network on?

Jun 22, 2008 6:16 PM in response to RodneyW

The DNS listing is correct. The Mac uses the default gateway, the router, as the DNS server because all traffic is sent from the Mac to the default gateway. The default gateway than sends out the data to a DNS server. The DNS sends the data to the IP address that it just resolved. The data requested is then routed back to the router and forwarded to the correct host, in a few milliseconds I might add.

Dornkirk Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2008 6:20 PM in response to RodneyW

Well, I'm not too familiar with messing with my router. But I've looked around at the pages and on one of them I found:

Primary Domain Name Server: 68.94.156.1
Secondary Domain Name Server: 151.164.8.201

I'm really not sure if that's what you mean. Under the "Advanced Settings" section in the router config there's a "Broadband DNS" section that's currently set to "Obtain DNS information automatically", however I can select "Manually configure your DNS information:" in which I would have to input the "Primary Server", "Secondary Server" and "Domain Name".

(and I don't have another mac to test on)

Jun 22, 2008 6:24 PM in response to Dornkirk

The thing is that the Mac is not connected to the internet, the router is. You do not want the Mac forwarding DNS requests to the DNS server, you want it to forward requests to the router. The router than handles the DNS. If you set it on the Mac, you are telling your computer to bypass the router, which is impossible.

Second, DHCP provides the needed information, so setting anything should be unneeded.

Dornkirk Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 22, 2008 6:32 PM in response to Community User

So are you telling me that since I don't want the Mac forwarding DNS requests, I should then have the router configured to use the two DNS addresses from above?

Also, in my router's "Setup Wizard" I mentioned that PPPoE is selected by default as opposed to DHCP, would that make a difference? (DHCP wants a "DCHP Hostname" and PPPoE wants "Username" and "Password" which is what we currently have, I'm not sure what's meant by "DCHP Hostname")

RodneyW

Level 4

3,041 points

Jun 22, 2008 6:34 PM in response to Dornkirk

It does not harm to try the openDNS servers, and it has worked for others in recent times ( http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7370968&#7370968).

Plug these into the manual settings for your router, give it a kick in the guts, and see what happens. If worst comes to worst, then you might have to go back to automatic.

There is credible evidence to suggest that Leopard is fussy about DNS servers.

Also, in my configuration, the default DNS servers on the Mac are the same as those on the router. The gateway is not interposed as a DNS server, and does not need to be.

Jun 22, 2008 6:39 PM in response to RodneyW

They already are in the router. They work on the XP machine.

And Leopard is OK with OpenDNS. I use it.

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DNS issues with mac