Airport Extreme - No DNS Servers

Question

Level 1

9 points

Airport Extreme - No DNS Servers

I have an AirPort Extreme 802.11n (2nd Generation) and have had no problems with it for a couple years. But over the past week, I'm starting to get the following message on a pretty regular basis.

Problem 1 of 3: No DNS Servers

This Apple Wi-Fi base station doesn't have any DNS server addresses and might have trouble connecting to the Internet.

At first I thought maybe it was the cable modem, or the ISP itself that was having issues. (TIme Warner cable has had DNS issues in the past). But I've found if I bypass the Airport router and just plug an ethernet cable directly into the cable modem, I don't have any issues losing Internet.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Should I take the Airport into an Apple store and see if they can test it?

Thanks for your help.

Posted on Aug 21, 2011 1:35 PM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

157,896 points

Aug 21, 2011 3:10 PM in response to walkingstick

Before taking the AirPort to the store to have it tested, I would suggest that you try a simple power recycle of all of your network components just to be sure that the modem & AirPort are communicating together properly.

Please try the following as a minimum:

Power-down the modem, AirPort base station, and computer(s).
(OPTIONAL) While all of the devices are powered-down, perform a "factory default" reset on the base station. This will get it back to its "out-of-the-box" configuration and make setting it up much easier, especially if you use the "Assist me" process within the AirPort Utility. (ref: Resetting an AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule)
After the base station resets, go ahead and power it back down.
Power-up the modem; wait at least 10-15 minutes.
Power-up the base station; wait at least 5-10 minutes.
Power-up your computer(s).

In this basic configuration, computers connected to the base station, either by wire or wireless (as appropriate for the base station type), should now be able to access the Internet through the ISP's modem. Once Internet connectivity has been verified, you can use the AirPort Utility to configure the base station for wireless security and any other desired options.

Please post back your results.

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Answer 2

walkingstick Author

Level 1

9 points

Aug 22, 2011 5:14 PM in response to Tesserax

Well, I followed all the steps you suggested. Completely resetting the router, and for a day everything seemed to work great. Then I went in and set up some port mappings I had in place to allow access to a file server I have on the network, and a game server I allow some friends to play on (minecraft) and now it is dropping like crazy again. Worse than before it seems.

The only changes I made between when it worked was, restarting the Minecraft Server, and File Server (Windows Homeserver) and then setting up the port mapping for them.

Any ideas?

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Answer 3

Tesserax

Level 10

157,896 points

Aug 22, 2011 8:20 PM in response to walkingstick

I can't imagine reconfiguring the AirPort for Port Mapping would, in itself, cause this type of problem. I would suggest trying the power recycle one more time. After it completes, please do not make any port mapping changes for at least 1-2 days. Double-check to see that it is still operating properly after this time period. If it is, then go ahead and set up the port mapping for the File Server; wait at least a day. If everything is still working, then set up port mapping for the Minecraft Server.

If at any point, the issue returns, I would go with your recommendation to have the AirPort checked out at your local Apple Store.

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Answer 4

walkingstick Author

Level 1

9 points

Aug 23, 2011 6:59 PM in response to Tesserax

It looks like it was the cable modem afterall. I tried again connecting directly to the modem, bypassing the router, and had the same issue with the DNS server being dropped. So I took the modem in and got a new one, and it has been working fine for the past 12 hours or so. Thanks for your help.

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