What to do if the DNS server is not responding and how to fix it? step by step guide

No truth is absolute and when we talk about the famous error “DNS server not responding” this concept applies perfectly. It has happened to all of us at some point that we are browsing our computer and suddenly or after a reboot the connection just doesn’t work, and the only explanation that the browser gives us is that message.

This little phrase is capable of filling us with dread, because nobody likes to be without their internet access, so we began to investigate what is happening with our connection, perhaps we restarted the Router without any apparent solution and that is when we feel a little desperate.

As we said at the beginning, no truth is absolute and To solve this problem there are many truths, but to find the correct solution we must first understand what is dns server and what function it has, to discover it read this post.

What is the DNS server?

The domain name system (DNS) is responsible for converting domain names into numerical addresses or IPs, this is a decentralized system distributed on servers all over the world.

We browse the internet and different web pages, because our computers have the ability to connect to the DNS server to see what address we are entering. The DNS server has the function of decoding IPs to deliver the domain to us in an accessible way.

In other words, is a monumental decoder because all the computers and devices that browse go to it to access the different sites in the form of a host and not IPs.

A small example would be instead of writing an IP like 70.304.899.100 we just write Google.com and press “Enter” to navigate. So our device sends a message in the form of a host or domain name, the message reaches the DNS server, decodes it into an IP address and responds to the message, generating the page we were looking for on the screen.

What are the reasons why the DNS failure occurs?

As we have already been mentioning, no truth is absolute, so we cannot know exactly why our DNS server stops working overnight. At the moment all we know is that if there is no good communication between the server and the device, there is no internet browsing, In any case, we are going to try to approach the answer with these possible causes.

It is possible that the servers are being attacked by various factors, among them we can mention that your browser has a large number of caches with malicious content, that the servers are simply saturated or are not being properly fed with a good internet connectionpossibly there are also software problems, with the Router, or they are simply very slow in responding.

But don’t worry then we will tell you what you can do from the comfort of your home to solve this problem.

Solution to the error message “DNS server is not responding”

As usual we connect to the Internet through a WiFi connection and without knowing why, from one day to the next when accessing it, a message may appear highlighting the following: “DNS server not responding“.

Consequently, we spent hours looking for the possible solution to this problem, but this will no longer be necessary because In this article you will find all the possible solutions and tricks to solve the problem.

Change browser

We are going to rule out all the problems in a very simple way and for that the first thing you have to do is change your browser, if it is as simple as that. If you are browsing in Google Chrome change to Mozilla or vice versa, And if you are in another browser, it is time for you to migrate to any of these 2 because they are the most recommended.

Restart the computer / Router devices

If the problem persists, it’s time to try restarting the device, it is a universal law that almost all problems are solved by restarting the computer. But If the DNS server is still not responding, then you will have to try turning off the Router and giving it a little rest. to turn it on again, if after this the problem is solved well for you.

clear the cache

The method that we are going to present to you now is a universal solution, with this you will achieve clear all cache of computer connections, because As we mentioned previously, it is possible that it is saturated with malicious files and this makes it completely difficult for the DNS server to respond.

To solve this we must do the following:

• Do a little search on your computer and open the program “Run”.

• going to write the letters “cmd” in the run program and you will click on “To accept”.

• In the system program that opened, you will type “ipconfig/release” and you will press “Enter”.

• It will output something similar to this.

• After this you will do the same again, but this time you will write “ipconfig/renew” followed by “Enter”.

• This will return the following. So the problem should be solved with the cache system renewed and fully operational.

This method has its ace up its sleeve, in case what you have done so far does not work, you can try writing “ipconfig/flushdns” and equally “ipconfig/registerdns”, These last two commands are used to restart the internal DNS of your computer, and in case the problem with this is there, it will end up being solved.

If at this point the problem is far from being solved, then It is very likely that we are facing a failure of your internet connection provider, so we recommend you contact that company to see what solutions they offer you, or perhaps call a technician to check your connection.

Other alternative methods to fix it when DNS servers are not working

It’s coming, don’t despair we still have other alternative methods that could give you the same result and also save you some money.

disable the firewall

It is possible that the Windows firewall is blocking some ports necessary for communication between the computer and the server. This is why by deactivating it we can restore the internet connection.

This method works, but we leave it to the alternatives because it can be said that we are leaving a little computer vulnerable, since the firewall takes care of a certain part of the protection of the equipment.

But it is not to alarm us either, because on occasions we have used this method and nothing has happened.

• Access the menu of “Setting” at home and enter where it says “Update and security”.

• Then in the menu you will click where it says “Windows Security” and then in “Firewall and network protection”.

• On the next screen something similar to this will appear and what you are going to do is disable the firewall of the “domino network” and the “Private Network”. You will leave the other active as a means of protection in case of connecting to an unknown network.

• With this we should solve the problem, in case it was because of the firewall that we were not browsing.

Change DNS manually

This method is very effective, for this there are two ways to obtain the DNS, one manually and the other automatically. By default our computers obtain the DNS automatically, and we can manually change it to a public DNSthat this case we are going to recommend the one of Google 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 How do we do this? Easy:

• open the “Network and internet settings” from the bottom right corner of the screen and right click on the connection icon that depends on the connection you use, in our case “WIFI”.

• Click where it says “Change adapter options”.

• Again you will right click where it says “Wireless network connection” if your connection is by “WIFI”, or where it says “Local Area Connection” if your connection is wired. There click on “Properties”.

• then you will enter “Properties” of “Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4)”.
• Change the DNS server address just like the image below, from automatic to manual. In “Preferred DNS server” will place “8.8.8.8” and in “Alternate DNS server” “8.8.4.4”.

• After this there is only “To accept”, with this new configuration if the problem was in this then It will be perfectly solved. In case the problem continues, there is still an ace up his sleeve.

Disable Microsoft Virtual Mini Port Adapter

This port is only for exclusive use of some Windows virtualization services, but when deactivated it does not cause any significant change, how do we deactivate it?

• Run as administrator “cmd” or command prompt, just as seen in the image.

• Type at the command prompt “netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=disallow” and press “Enter” and then close.

The last resource that we can use is to start the Windows in safe mode, because it is designed to detect imperfections in the system and only uses the necessary tools for the operation, dispensing with those that are not necessary.

We hope that all these methods have helped you and if this was not the case, we recommend you contact your internet provider or a technician again to see what solution they give you.