Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Resolved Question

Dell Inspiron i15R-2105sLV "DNS Server" issue

Apr 17, 2013 2:37AM PDT

We have a problem with this laptop that no one, not even a professional, seems to be able to fix. Browser (IE and Firefox) work great on my WiFi connection at work. At home, very often pages won't load, and when I do the troubleshooting, I get the "computer trying to connect to a DNS server that doesn't exist" message. All our other computers at home are on the same wireless connection, work fine. Wireless will show connected with a strong signal. This is my laptop for school, I need it to work, HELP!!!

Discussion is locked

sara911rn has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer
- Collapse -
Clarification Request
Tell more about the DNS you selected.
Apr 17, 2013 2:40AM PDT

Even a pro can't offer much with so little detail. It's possible the DNS is only for the work place so let's start with you telling the forum what DNS you are using.
Bob

- Collapse -
Wireless B/G/N compatibility issue? ipconfig
Apr 17, 2013 12:17PM PDT

I have a Qualcomm Atheros AR9382 wireless adapter card in my laptop, and I'm connecting to my home router, which is a Motorola SBG901. My husband thinks it could be a compatibility issue. The AR9382 is a dual-band wireless g/n adapter, and the older router only uses the wireless b/g bands. Of course, neither of us are IT professionals and that is only a theory. This might explain why all the other devices in the house connect fine, since they are older and are only expecting to see a b/g connection. What do you all think?

Here is what I get when I type ipconfig /all... hopefully this answers your question?

Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Stewart-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Qualcomm Atheros AR938x Wireless Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0E-8E-3A-FA-F7
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::8441:635b:e79e:4663%17(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.14(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, April 17, 2013 12:17:19 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, April 17, 2013 9:57:52 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 419434126
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-17-A1-7E-03-D4-BE-D9-43-65-47
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.217.0.5
24.217.201.67
24.247.15.53
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

- Collapse -
I see the DNS as follows.
Apr 17, 2013 11:13PM PDT

Why not add/try the google DNS entries?

"DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.217.0.5
24.217.201.67
24.247.15.53 "

Someone has set the DNS to those 24.x.x.x entries so it's clear to me that you may have found the issue.
Bob

Best Answer

- Collapse -
We fixed it ourselves!
Apr 19, 2013 12:20PM PDT

We fixed it! So if anyone else has a similar problem, we thought we should post it here.
The fix has absolutely nothing to do with switching DNS entries. Our DNS entries are set to our ISP. Not to Google or anywhere else. Changing it would have made no difference.

The fix was actually our router. Previously we had a Motorola SBG901 Wireless Cable Modem. It is old just old enough to use the DOCSIS 2.0 protocols -- meaning it uses the wireless b and wireless g bands. The newer wireless routers utilize the wireless n band at a different frequency. Our laptop has a Qualcomm Atheros AR9382 adapter card, which is a dual-band wireless card (two antennas). The first antenna transmits on one band at 2.4 GHz, and the other band receives on the other band at 5.0 GHz. In other words, it has the capability to use BOTH the wireless g and wireless n bands simultaneously. Since our router didn't have wireless n capability, the dual-band wireless card was only operating at half duplex and was doggishly slow.

We upgraded our wireless cable modem to a Motorola SBG6820, and the problem was resolved.