Your internet is out, and devices connected by WIFI and ethernet will not connect. You check several websites, and all your packets fail. You then ping a website with an IP address, and to your surpriso, it’s a success. Which would you do next?
A Open the DNS settings on your router and try using a different DNS
B Open the Port Forwarding settings on your router and try turning on UPnP
C Open the Network settings on your router and try adjusting the default gateway
D Open the DHCP settings on your router and try using a different pool of private IP addresses
E Open the Network settings on your router and try tuming off your firewall
The Correct Answer and Explanation is :
The correct answer is A: Open the DNS settings on your router and try using a different DNS.
Explanation:
In this scenario, you are able to ping a website by its IP address, which indicates that your devices can connect to the internet and access the destination using raw IP routing. However, the issue arises when trying to access websites using their domain names, which suggests a problem related to DNS (Domain Name System) resolution.
DNS is a system that translates human-readable domain names (like “www.google.com”) into IP addresses that computers can use to route traffic. If DNS settings on your router are misconfigured or if the DNS server is unavailable or unreliable, your devices will be unable to resolve domain names, even though they can still reach the internet by IP address.
Here’s why Option A is the correct choice:
- DNS Resolution Failure: Since your devices can ping websites using their IP addresses but fail to resolve domain names, the problem is clearly with DNS resolution. If your router’s DNS settings are faulty or the DNS provider is experiencing issues, the router won’t be able to properly translate domain names into IP addresses.
- Changing DNS Servers: The first troubleshooting step in this case would be to change the DNS server settings. You could try using a well-known and reliable public DNS provider, such as Google’s (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) or Cloudflare’s (1.1.1.1), to see if that resolves the issue.
Why other options are less likely:
- B. Open the Port Forwarding settings on your router and try turning on UPnP: Port forwarding and UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) are related to specific types of inbound/outbound traffic, like for gaming, remote access, or other applications. These settings would not affect basic DNS resolution.
- C. Open the Network settings on your router and try adjusting the default gateway: The default gateway is the router’s address on your local network, and it typically wouldn’t need adjustment if you are already able to ping websites by IP address. The gateway’s purpose is to route traffic from your local network to the internet, which seems to be working based on your test.
- D. Open the DHCP settings on your router and try using a different pool of private IP addresses: DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) assigns IP addresses to devices in your network. If you can ping external IP addresses, your IP addressing is likely correct. Changing the DHCP pool would not solve the DNS resolution problem.
- E. Open the Network settings on your router and try turning off your firewall: While a firewall could potentially block network traffic, it’s unlikely to cause DNS resolution issues unless specifically configured to block DNS requests. Since you are able to reach external websites via their IPs, the firewall is probably not the issue.
In summary, DNS misconfiguration is the most likely cause of the problem, and changing the DNS settings should be your next step.