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Forum Discussion
Getting DNS_PROBE_POSSIBLE error on R8000
In about the last month and a half, I have started noticing two things:
* pings spike every 5 minutes, from about 8-9ms, to over 1000ms, for 5-10 seconds (this messes up Remote Desktop)
* DNS_PROBE_POSSIBLE errors when initially hitting websites. This even when the website is cached, which I don't get
I have isolated it to the R8000. I connected directly to the modem. Problems goes away. And now, I have reverted to an ancient WRT54G running DD-WRT. These problems go away entirely and in fact, the whole network seems faster, although we'll need a couple days to really see if it keeps up. That's embarassing, the WRT54G is more than a decade older!
Anyway, I thought I'd ask if there's any possible solution. I haven't seen DNS_PROBE_POSSIBLE anywhere on the site, so I doubt it.
Likely, my way forward will be to see if I can put DD-WRT on the nighthawk and see if that's useful. Normally I wouldn't take that risk, but given that the thing is useless to me in its current state, I just might.
47 Replies
Have you tried a different dns provider?
Like googles at 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4
or cloudfare at 1.1.1.1
what modem/gateway are you connecting to?
This is probably a moot point, as I've installed FreshTomato and will be trying that out.
The modem is a "Smart/RG VDSL2 Modem". Not really relevant since it is the router that is the issue. I know this because:
- When I connect directly to the modem, there is no problem
- When I use a different router, there is no problem
I tried 3 different DNS providers and got the DNS problem when using all of them; OpenDNS, ISP, 9.9.9.9.
It is weird. It started doing this about a month ago.
Anyway, reverted back to a 2006 Linksys WRT54G running DD-WRT...which is working MUCH BETTER than the NetGear even before this problem. That's embarassing.
I have gotten FreshTomato installed (risked bricking!) and will give that a try. I have high hopes, but wouldn't have tried this unless I felt the router was otherwise a lost cause.
Rolled back to previous firmware version. Problem resolved.
Recently updated router to the latest Firmware Version: V1.0.4.74_10.1.80 and no I'm getting DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN errors. Is there a way to role back to the previous firmware? If not, what's the solution?
As promised, following up.
The FreshTomato firmware is awesome. It allows me to watch network traffic and drill in to where problems are so much better than any router firmware I've ever used before. Beautiful pie charts showing what IP address is using what.
I am still working my way in to the QOS. It is definitely an art and a "little bit at a time" kind of thing. But I've been able to set priorities for different things, usually by port. I've identified ports for MS Teams, Zoom, and Google Meetings. Identifying the Roku traffic is easy--its the whole device, so nope, sorry, you can have bandwidth when its available, but you're not a priority when I'm in a meeting.
I'm finding I turn QOS on, and when my son is in a meeting, I watch the traffic to try to make sure he's getting priority....and wait for him to squawk if there's a problem. At this point I'm kind of on stand by to make sure I can turn it off quickly if it has issues.
I've also been able to identify some things that can get a lower priority, like uploads and such. They can trickle out, it doesn't need to be right now.
So there's still some watching, learning, figuring out, but I feel like this is going to be fantastic. My audio and video in meetings seems to be pretty good, without disrupting other network users too much. Depending on what other network users are doing, disruption is appropriate.
As far as the NetGear stock firmware. I kind of get why they don't want to expose a lot of this functionality. If they did, they would get so many calls from people who are having all sorts of connection problems. I knew and accepted the risks. Great thing is, you can turn QOS off without losing your settings. But it must be frustrating to the hardware engineers who create this stuff when their features are hidden.
In a nutshell, I think I can say, if you don't have a problem to fix, you probably don't want to do this. From what I read, it's not that hard to brick your router. But if you have problems and want to try something different, are a bit technically savvy and willing to spend some time getting it right, it might be interesting to try.
I am also experiencing the same issue, I will get the "DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN" error over and over again intermittently. I have never experienced dns issues until these recent firmware updates: 1.0.4.74, and the most recent version 1.0.4.76. Sometimes the website will never load causing some chaos with my online college classes.
I will roll back to firmware 1.0.4.68 and see if that helps. My only concern are these vulnerabilities that have been recently exposed on older firmware. This is the whole reason I updated in the first place. See this article for an example of what made me update….
https://www.pcmag.com/news/thanks-to-disney-11-netgear-routers-need-to-be-patched-immediately
Is there a way to get this info directly to the dev team? This is a huge issue that needs to be fixed immediately. I know I am not the only person experiencing these issues, other forum users have expressed their concerns as well. From a security standpoint we can’t update our routers to old much more vulnerable software versions. This is completely unacceptable.
Note: Facebook and Instagram are both down right now due to other DNS issues?? What is going on?
Another vote for the firmware being the problem causing the DNS resolve errors. Switch to different DNS servers didn't work. A factory reset didn't work. I rolled back from 76 to 68 and the problems went away.
- The only other possible alternative to rolling back the firmware would be to set up and alternate dns server on the computers you use. Setting the alternative dns server to Google DNS servers seemed to get rid of the problem for me. Kinda weird.
- Or using an alternative firmware like fresh tomato. As other users have suggested. Changing the alternate dns server to your default gateway and Google DNS servers seemed to get rid of the problem for me.
I have the same issue with you and try everything I though. It's 100% R8000 router's problem when I go directly connect ISP.
After I change other Router, the problem is gone. No matter what I change R8000's DNS to any Publics/Reset/Reflash Firmware(NEW& OLD)/Clean all set, but the issue still there.
More interesting is when I put "the same" DNS sever name in Windows IPV4 by "Manual", the problem is solved.
It is highly recommended that Netgear can face up to and solve this problem.
I too am having this issue and it's frustrating to do anything when you have to refresh your web pages or applications most of the time, Especially now that I and many others work remote from home. I know a lot more people must be getting this issue but won't know the root of the issue since everything online points people to just release, refresh and renew DNS. The common user usually does not know toubleshooting with process of elimination to pinpoint it to the router.
Is there anyone from the customer support or dev team seeing this?
I just hate having to get a new router and to review Netgear routers badly becasue of something simple as a firmware issue.
"I rolled back from 76 to 68 and the problems went away."
Carcathian wrote:
I too am having this issue and it's frustrating to do anything when you have to refresh your web pages or applications most of the time, Especially now that I and many others work remote from home. I know a lot more people must be getting this issue but won't know the root of the issue since everything online points people to just release, refresh and renew DNS. The common user usually does not know toubleshooting with process of elimination to pinpoint it to the router.
Is there anyone from the customer support or dev team seeing this?
I just hate having to get a new router and to review Netgear routers badly becasue of something simple as a firmware issue.
I agree, it seems not okay that this is still an issue after all this time. FreshTomato is working well for me, but it's not trivial and the product should work without having to do that. I will caution that FreshTomato once rebooted and reverted back to factory settings. Should you go that route, back up your config, particularly if you use QOS. Which, btw, QOS is awesome, but takes some tweaking. Very useful.
Final Solution
- Rolled back the router firmware from .76 to .68 and everything works perfectly again. Upgrade to .76 and everything fails again. Back to .68, everything good again. One post this chain mentioned that it had been fixed in a beta version but never made the final released version. Come on Netgear! Get this solved so I can get back to current firmware.
- Old version (working) = V1.0.4.68_10.1.75
- New version (not working) = 1.0.4.76_10.1.82
Scenario
I browse to a website, a valid functioning and available website, and I get the "Hmmm…can't reach this page" in MS-Edge browser, similar kind of thing in chrome. It says "DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN".
Evidence
- Error Message
- F12 Browser Dev tools shows no "request" or "response". Clearly a DNS issue of some sort.
- The odd thing is that it could be a site I just went to and is theorically cached.
- Also, I just keep hitting refresh and eventually the URL loads successfully.
- The refresh workaround is only good on "whole page" situations. When a page loads and then does client side calls to get REST api data it just fails and I can't make it retry so SPA apps are a real problem. Oddly, keep trying and eventually it might get through. F5 refresh, click SPA button to retrieve data #FAIL, F5 refresh, click button again, might work.
- DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN
References
- Key Article - helped me jump back to older firmware which solved this problem
- Getting DNS_PROBE_POSSIBLE error on R8000 - NETGEAR Communities - see icecat5055 comments from 2021-10-04 03:16.
- Router Firmware Downloads Site
Work Log
- 1/24/2022
- Get DNS IP dynamically
- Set DNS manually to OpenDNS server addresses
- Set DNS manually to Google 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.8.4 addresses
- No love
- For some time now, perhaps 6 months, I've been receiving the above error on many simple browse attempts on many different sites.
- Tried changing my DNS settings, no success
- Tried turning off VPN on my router
- Tried turning off DynDNS on my router
- Tried resetting my router
- Browsed (between errors) and found the rollback solution.
I have the same problem with the Nighthawk X6 R8000. Firmware was recently upgraded to V1.0.4.76_10.1.82 and immediately got DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN errors in Google Chrome on multiple computers connected to the same network.
Just created an account to say thanks to the forum members for the only sane solution right now for me: to downgrade to V1.0.4.68_10.1.75. Obviously, I will NEVER get any NetGear product. Wasting my time waiting for a new firmware after suffering daily since 2 months ago when I THOUGHT I was doing the right thing by upgrading firmware (security etc)...and this crap isn't fixed on the next firmware either???
My log:
1/11/2022: Updated firmware to V1.0.4.76_10.1.82 - broke the router!
3/30/2022: Updated firmware to V1.0.4.84_10.1.84 - router still broken! Been having an issue with bad DNS server (no websites found on first try but works after refresh).
3/30/2022: Downgraded firmware to V1.0.4.68_10.1.75
3/30/2022: Revert to factory default settings (just to be on safe side). ... Setup | Wireless Setup | Smart connect: Off -> On ... Administration | NTP Settings | Automatically adjust for daylight savings time: Off -> On (time was off) ... Router Auto Firmware Update: MUST KEEP TURNED OFF FOR A FEW MONTHS
**Had to physically power cycle router after changing QoS setting (disabled QoS later, for now), and also after reverting to default settings...**Also v.62 works as well. NG is aware of this issue.
Thanks.
It's hard to understand how NetGear could leave it in this state for so long. I posted this a LONG time ago Have been happily using FreshTomato ever sense.
But as someone said, not sure I'd buy a NetGear product again given the lack of responsiveness.
Finally a new R8000 firmware available.
https://kb.netgear.com/000064738/R8000-Firmware-Version-1-0-4-84
Anyone tried yet?
Ok i tested. DNS problem still there with this latest firmware. Hopeless...
I don't get things like this. Maybe they don't want to maintain it because they think people will give up and buy a newer router FROM THEM? I think more likely people will move on to another brand. And you know they CAN fix it, since previous versions of the firmware didn't have the problem.
Very odd to me. Its great hardware--FreshTomato firmware proves that. Why have crap firmware, not fix it, and tarnish your reputation? Strange.
I created an account just to add my voice to the choir here as well. Thought I was going nuts and tried everything short of re-imaging my PCs. Was googling for months now trying to find any other common denominator (ISP, Network Card, Browser) and finally remembered today that around the new year I had updated the router firmware. Thank you all for your previous posts and I can again confirm that downgrading from .76 to .68 fixed all the issues I was having.
Please Netgear, get the fix in place for future updates.
Been running v.84 on my R8000 with IPv6 enabled. No DNS issues.
hashpocalypse wrote:
I created an account just to add my voice to the choir here as well. Thought I was going nuts and tried everything short of re-imaging my PCs. Was googling for months now trying to find any other common denominator (ISP, Network Card, Browser) and finally remembered today that around the new year I had updated the router firmware. Thank you all for your previous posts and I can again confirm that downgrading from .76 to .68 fixed all the issues I was having.
Please Netgear, get the fix in place for future updates.
It's amazing to me that with all this feedback proving that it's obviously a firmware problem, they seem to have done nothing. It's firmware--it can be fixed, which is proven by the fact that I've been using Fresh Tomato for months now and it works great! It seems really short sighted--I mean, I'm sure they want to focus on selling new products, but this router isn't that old. I certainly wouldn't ever buy a netgear router again just because of this.
