[Freeflyer]

Hi, I've been having problems with dns lookups not happening. I can ping the dns server fine, but a lot of web pages tell me server not found, and a minute to two later are fine.

I'd like to try using a dns server that isn't at my isp. Can anyone suggest a couple of reliable servers I can put into the network preferences instead to allow me to test whether it's the servers at my isp that are crap.

Also, shouldn't there be a file of recently used ip's on the mac that it references before trying a lookup. How can I check for this.

Cheers,

J.

[John Strung]

Not off hand, but one trick that often works is to find out the IP's of your ISP's primary and secondary DNS servers. Then open your TCP/IP control panel, set it to Advanced UserMode by typing command-u and manually enter the two IP numbers on separate lines of the Name Server Addr. box. Make sure you put the secondary server on the top line and the primary on the bottom.

This will solve your problem if the problem is that the primary server is overloaded and the delay you describe is your computer waiting for it to time out before trying the less busy secondary server.