How do I reset my dns servers to default?

[tfastg]

Hello,

A few weeks ago, the internet wasn't working on any of our home computers. I changed our dns server addresses to Google Public DNS and the internet began working again. However, ever since, pages have been very sluggish to load. I'd like to try going back to the default DNS servers.

I changed the DNS server addresses from our router's web-based set-up page. I also changed them on my desktop through Windows 7's Control Panel.

I'm getting tripped up when trying to change them back...how can I make sure I reset the whole house's dns server addresses back to default?

More info:

We have a linksys wrt54g. Here is a screenshot of the web-based set-up page:

We have Wow internet in the Metro-Detroit area.

Thanks for looking. I appreciate the help greatly.

 

[ss202sl]

Plug in the DNS servers from your provider. You have 3 spots for 3 different dns servers. It will default to DNS 1, and if it can't get to DNS 1, it will go to DNS 2, and then to DNS 3. You just need to put the ISP DNS in, and move the Google one down.

DNS shouldn't cause pages to load slowly. At most, it may take a while to resolve the web site to IP Address, but once it finds an IP address, any slowness isn't caused by DNS.

 

[boosted1g]

Default is 0.0.0.0 and it will then use your ISPs dns server.

Holly crap people are still using wrt54g!

 

[boosted1g]

Very true as stated ss202sl.

If the website takes a while before it gets ANY data then it could be DNS.
If it takes a while to load all the content then that is an internet connection problem.
Could be unstable connection with ISP, could be just that you have a really slow connection, or could be your equipment.

 

[Rookie_MIB]

Yup, change the DNS to 0.0.0.0 and it'll utilize the provided address when you reboot the router. And yes, the WRT54G is a great router, I still have one but with a different firmware (Tomato)

That outage a few weeks ago was from (I believe) the DNS servers for W.O.W. in the Detroit area being DDOS'D, my GF had her internet down and instead of calling me to find out why her Netflix wasn't working, she called Netflix, who told her to call Western Digital (uses a WD live hub for Netflix) because the Netflix guy had no clue.

I told her to 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4 the DNS in the Western Digital and it worked fine. Silly tech support guys. Her laptop is already set to 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4 for DNS so she didn't even notice the down time.

 

[boosted1g]

Yup, change the DNS to 0.0.0.0 and it'll utilize the provided address when you reboot the router. And yes, the WRT54G is a great router, I still have one but with a different firmware (Tomato)

It is a good router for its time, but any internet connection at 25 mbps or higher becomes bottlenecked by wireless G. And the wrt54g doesn't have the system specs to support modern gaming/video streaming needs.

 

[tfastg]

Yup, change the DNS to 0.0.0.0 and it'll utilize the provided address when you reboot the router. And yes, the WRT54G is a great router, I still have one but with a different firmware (Tomato)

That outage a few weeks ago was from (I believe) the DNS servers for W.O.W. in the Detroit area being DDOS'D, my GF had her internet down and instead of calling me to find out why her Netflix wasn't working, she called Netflix, who told her to call Western Digital (uses a WD live hub for Netflix) because the Netflix guy had no clue.

I told her to 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4 the DNS in the Western Digital and it worked fine. Silly tech support guys. Her laptop is already set to 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4 for DNS so she didn't even notice the down time.

Yeah, I just looked up more about that DDOS attack, and that's definitely when our internet problems began. July 12th we were streaming a pay per view event on YouTube and started getting trouble. I don't know how I missed the coverage about that.

 

[tfastg]

Yup, change the DNS to 0.0.0.0 and it'll utilize the provided address when you reboot the router. And yes, the WRT54G is a great router, I still have one but with a different firmware (Tomato)

It is a good router for its time, but any internet connection at 25 mbps or higher becomes bottlenecked by wireless G. And the wrt54g doesn't have the system specs to support modern gaming/video streaming needs.

Yeah I've thought about upgrading it, but we are only paying for 15 mbps, and the router seems to be working still, so I figured why mess with it. But are you saying its system specs could still be holding our speeds down?

 

[tfastg]

Plug in the DNS servers from your provider. You have 3 spots for 3 different dns servers. It will default to DNS 1, and if it can't get to DNS 1, it will go to DNS 2, and then to DNS 3. You just need to put the ISP DNS in, and move the Google one down.

DNS shouldn't cause pages to load slowly. At most, it may take a while to resolve the web site to IP Address, but once it finds an IP address, any slowness isn't caused by DNS.

Thanks, it's good to know how it works with the back-up DNS 2 and 3 addresses. I've set Google Public DNS as the back-up, and it seems to be helping to be back on ISP's default address. As you guessed, it was taking a while to initially load the pages, but then they would load quickly after that. I appreciate the help.

 

[Rookie_MIB]

Thanks, it's good to know how it works with the back-up DNS 2 and 3 addresses. I've set Google Public DNS as the back-up, and it seems to be helping to be back on ISP's default address. As you guessed, it was taking a while to initially load the pages, but then they would load quickly after that. I appreciate the help.

Yeah - I received an email about the issue a few days after the attack ended. There wasn't 'news coverage' about it beyond that.

As for the initial loading of the pages, that's expected. As for why subsequent page loads go faster, the way it works is:

Windows looks in local DNS cache to see if it recently looked it up.
Not in cache? Check listed DNS server. Wait for response <- here is where the delay is...
Get response from DNS server, head out to IP address returned.
Get no response from server, check backup DNS servers. <- more delays.
Head out to IP address returned.
Server responds, save IP in local DNS cache. <- this is why we store DNS in local cache
Get info from server.