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Page Not Found Error and Open DNS

Discussion in 'Community Broadband & Computers' started by Villager, Feb 12, 2009.

  1. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    Hey, folks I have a question. I bought a new Linksys router and began having issues with getting Page Not Found errors. When I click the refresh button the page would be found but it kept happening on a regular basis. So I did some Googling and word on the 'net was that there was an issue with the firmware of my router. Some suggested downgrading the firmware, which I did and it locked up my router. Fortunately I found advice online for how to fix that (whew!!).

    Other people had said that they put in the Open DNS server addresses and it fixed their problem. So yesterday I changed to the Open DNS on the computers and the router and so far no Page Not Found errors.

    That's great but I'm curious as to why this fixed the problem. Does that mean that my Comcast ISP DNS addresses weren't functioning properly? I'm very happy that the error is gone but would like to know why that worked. Any answers from you PC experts?
     
    Villager, Feb 12, 2009
    #1
  2. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    Correction: that's "Address not Found" not Page.
     
    Villager, Feb 12, 2009
    #2
  3. Kaosdad

    Kaosdad Will work for Rum

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    It could be a case like what happened witht he OpenBand DNS servers - OB decided to upgrade to new servers w/new IPs and kinds forgot to tell a lot of folks. So for a day or two you got hit-and-miss results, then nada.
     
    Kaosdad, Feb 12, 2009
    #3
  4. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Villager, Kaosdad is most probably correct.

    For what it's worth, I ALWAYS use OpenDNS for all my DNS server needs instead of the ones issued by the ISP. OpenDNS is much more reliable, and a LOT faster.

    Also, if you're interested in implementing some parental controls, such as restricting what sites users in your household can go to, etc, OpenDNS has a nice set of tools to assist you in that regard, and they're all free.

    Enjoy!
     
    Mr. Linux, Feb 12, 2009
    #4
  5. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    Thanks. I opted out of the extra features because I don't think I need them right now. I don't need filters and have good options with the software I already have. Are any of their tools particularly useful in your opinion? I certainly could be missing out on something and you can't beat free.
     
    Villager, Feb 12, 2009
    #5
  6. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Well, while they're easy to circumvent by someone who understands rudimentary networking (such as a teen with some extra time), they're great to prevent getting to sites either by error or maliciously. In essence, if you try to get to a site called "www.iamgoingtohackyouhahaha.com", when your computer tries to convert this to it's IP address, OpenDNS can intercept that and send the user to a page indicating why access has been denied by you. There is also a feature which will intercept common mispellings of sites; for example, if you try to go to Google, but only type one 'o' instead of two, OpenDNS will correct that, knowing that the one 'o' version of the site is malicious, etc.

    There's nothing to stop someone from changing the DNS settings on their computer to another set of DNS servers, and thus circumventing the restrictions. But in my case, I feel much better knowing that if my 7 year old mis-spells a website address she just saw on Nickelodeon or Disney, she won't be subjected to material I don't want her to see.

    The old saying when it comes to security is that it's better in layers. The more layers you have, the higher the security. So maybe using your current security implementation, and one or two features from OpenDNS might be a possible solution that could keep you and your family safer while on the net. It all comes down to what rules you have in place for your kids/household, etc.
     
    Mr. Linux, Feb 12, 2009
    #6
  7. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    Thanks for the advice folks. I'm having a reappearance of the "Address Not Found" errors, even with the Open DNS servers listed on both computers and the router. Any ideas about why this might happen? Word on the 'net blames the router's firmware but I don't know if that is correct or not. I'll have to Google it some more and see what else I can find. So annoying.

    Just a quick follow up that some suggest it is a Firefox issue. I haven't tried using IE for any significant period of time to know if it works properly there or not. I might have to try that...
     
    Villager, Feb 23, 2009
    #7
  8. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    I'm thinking it might be a Firefox 3 issue. On a general test of IE I didn't have any problems.
     
    Villager, Feb 23, 2009
    #8
  9. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Check if you have any addons installed in Firefox. Try starting it up in Safe Mode and see if it works. If it does, you have an addon interfering with Firefox.
     
    Mr. Linux, Feb 24, 2009
    #9
  10. merky1

    merky1 Member

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    Random crazy thought...

    Using windows firewall? Try disabling it and see if that fixes the problem.
     
    merky1, Mar 3, 2009
    #10
  11. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    Stupid Linksys! Word on the Linksys forums was that it was caused by a firmware problem with version 11. Many people had success with rolling it back to the previous version (8). I tried that last month and it bricked my router. After finding advice elsewhere on the web I was able to fix that.

    Yesterday I decided to try it again and had the same brick result. Ran the fix but this time instead of using firmware version 11 I used the TFTP2 software to put version 8 on it and it worked like a charm! No more errors! I only used version 8 with the un-bricking TFTP2 software because I had forgotten to download the version 11 first and version 8 was right there on the desktop...

    So I'm happy to report that it is NOT a Firefox issue but a Linksys one. Linksys support had had reports of this issue for a year but refuses to acknowledge the problem. Bad Linksys! No cookie!

    So thanks to everyone for their ideas.
     
    Villager, Mar 18, 2009
    #11
  12. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Nice to hear you're back 'up and running'.

    As a side note, I've given up on Linksys firmware and now use Tomato Router firmware on all my compatible Linksys routers:

    http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato

    It's efficient, trouble-free, adds more features and runs like a charm.
     
    Mr. Linux, Mar 18, 2009
    #12
  13. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    I did take the plunge lately with my buffalo router and put dd-wrt on it. Was pretty cautious as I didn't want a brick.. but its been great for me. Also solved my long standing DHCP issue I had with our vista laptop where it would fail to renew leases randomly.

    Unforunately the router I picked up from you Villager can't take the alt firmware. Stupid 'change the internals, keep the product the same' situation. It's still my backup router if I kill something :)

    I also finally ran wiring to my xbox over the weekend so no more cable on the floor :)
     
    flynnibus, Mar 18, 2009
    #13
  14. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Steve, I used to use DD-WRT, then I realized I only used a fraction of it's features. Tomato does everything you'll probably need, with a simpler interface and less 'fluff'. Even does graphs! I would suggest giving it a shot if you can one weekend.
     
    Mr. Linux, Mar 18, 2009
    #14
  15. flynnibus

    flynnibus Well-Known Member Forum Staff

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    if it works and I never see it again - mission accomplished :)
     
    flynnibus, Mar 18, 2009
    #15
  16. Villager

    Villager Ashburn Village Resident

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    Thanks, guys. Actually, I found the solution to my "brick" on the DD-WRT forums. I didn't know they offer their own firmware, so to speak.

    I'll look into the Tomato Router thing in case mine has issues again. I've never heard of it.
     
    Villager, Mar 18, 2009
    #16
  17. Mr. Linux

    Mr. Linux Senior Member & Moderator Forum Staff

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    Yep, no problem Villager; we're all glad to help.

    Now, if we could only convince you to move to Broadlands... :happygrin:
     
    Mr. Linux, Mar 18, 2009
    #17

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