NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.

Forum Discussion

msinex's avatar
msinex
Apprentice
Jul 27, 2020

Intermittent DNS Errors and WiFi Issues

I have had the Orbi AX6000 for a few months now.  While there are many things I love about it (great wifi coverage, great speed, looks nice, software, ease of setup, etc.), there are two very frustra...
FURRYe38's avatar
FURRYe38
Guru
Jul 27, 2020

Some DNS issues come from the ISP side. I would make contact with the ISP to see if they are noticing anything. Make changes on the Orbi RBR for custom DNS addresses as well to see if this changes anything. 

 

I don't see any DNS issues with mine however I'm on a different ISP and use a different modem. 

arlomike's avatar
arlomike
Apprentice
Jul 27, 2020

Sound like you might have an IP conflict and should look into that.  I've noticed that the DHCP server is dumb and hands out conflicting IPs.  

  • msinex's avatar
    msinex
    Apprentice
    Jul 28, 2020

    Thanks arlomike , could the DHCP be causing the wifi dropping off for my mobile devices?

    • arlomike's avatar
      arlomike
      Apprentice
      Jul 28, 2020
      msinex wrote:

      Thanks arlomike , could the DHCP be causing the wifi dropping off for my mobile devices?

      If wifi is disconnecting, then it's not DHCP.  If you are connected to your wifi SSID and you have intermittent connectivity to sites, etc., it is possible there is a IP conflict possibily due to DHCP handing out a conflicting IP.  Best way to check is to login to the router and see if your IP assignment conflicts w/ other devices that has gotten a lease from the DHCP server.   I ran into this problem w/ my wife's phone.  Her phone and my iPad had the same IP address.  These devices got their IPs via DHCP.   A work around is to statically assign your device that is not within the DHCP range.

      • msinex's avatar
        msinex
        Apprentice
        Jul 28, 2020

        Thanks arlomike , next time I have a device that runs into that wifi issue (shows as connected but with no internet access), I will check the IP tables and see what it says.

  • FURRYe38's avatar
    FURRYe38
    Guru
    Jul 27, 2020

    DHCP wouldn't cause DNS errors. 

    • jimmyandrews's avatar
      jimmyandrews
      Aspirant
      Mar 19, 2021
      Yes it could actually. When netgear doesn't follow international technical guidelines for dchp, as they do in many of their products, for instance, not honoring dns settings and forwarding the router as the dns as netgear does. It's supposed to carry over the dns that is set. So, the dns resolver cache gets full, doesn't clear, and the arp tables routes to bad or stale addresses.
      • tak1313's avatar
        tak1313
        Luminary
        Mar 19, 2021

        This article also includes OpenWRT as specifically vulnerable (the other article mentions Netgear as a manufacturer.  I believe Netgear routers (among many) is based on OpenWRT?

         

        https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/01/19/dnsmasq-vulnerabilities/

         

        Note- I don't know if this is THE issue, especially since Netgear has the annoying habit of NOT stating what their updates address.  I'm just stating a possible source of the issue.

         

    • arlomike's avatar
      arlomike
      Apprentice
      Jul 28, 2020
      FURRYe38 wrote:

      DHCP wouldn't cause DNS errors. 

      Depends on how you define 'error'.  If you have an IP conflict (because DHCP gave you an IP that is currently in use), you have a potential that the DNS replies will not be sent back to you.