ORBI RBR50 DNS Issues

---

hjawad wrote:

The only thing that remedies this issue is going in to my router and changing my DNS from ISP assigned to static "8.8.8.8" or "8.8.4.4" or vice versa, depending on which was put in last. This is almost a daily thing. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

---

The RBR50 router allows users to specify up to three DNS servers.  Each time a device sends a request to resolve a URL into an IP address, the router either answers from a cache of recent queries, or sends a request to every DNS server listed. Personally, I use CloudFlare 1.1.1.1 and Google 8.8.8.8.  Depending on what part of the globe the user is located, there may be DNS servers that respond more quickly.  When the router receives a response from any of the DNS queries, it will relay the response to the user device.

Once the DNS server entries have been set, they remain indefinitely. (They do not get set back to the ISP suggested entries.)

If specifying DNS servers solves the problem, it should remain solved.  If the problem comes back, there is something else going on.

DNS queries are based on UDP packets, which do not guarantee delivery.  Unlike TCP, which works by establishing "connections" and keeps track of individual packets so that they can be resent, UDP just fires it off and forgets about it.  The underlying application may set a timer and decide to resend if a response is not received.

What this sounds like is the ISP has excessive packet loss and the router is having to keep sending requests.