Problems with DNS lookups on the local network

[raderarn]

I just got a huawei b683 with my subscription from Telenor (Sweden). It works really well except for one thing.

I have several computers locally, and on one I have shared a printer. I obviously wanto to be able to print from other computers.

The problem is local dns lookup . When I try to ping the computer that we can call "example", I get a stupid answer.

"Sending ping signal to exampel.setup.com [216.38.192.130] with 32 bytes of data:"

instead of finding the correct IP address for example, 192.168.1.100.

I don't want fixed IP addresses, because I want to be able bring my laptop to other locations.

I have tried to cave a bit in the router via telnet and tried to make some changes in the files of dns and dhcp, but with no luck. Unfortunately, I cant change defaultconfig.xml, because it is write protected.

Does anyone have any tips?

[fM1DRKbzkFqwA]

Where is 'example' configured, and is it 'example' or 'example.setup.com'? Linux? Windows? Droid? Do you own 'setup.com', and where is it hosted?

Assuming 'example':

DNS will append your domain. So if you ping 'example', and your domain is 'setup.com', it will automatically look for 'example.setup.com'. This happens on your PC, and not your router. To avoid that, you should tell your PC that you mean 'example' and not 'example.setup.com', and you do that by appending a full stop, as in 'ping example.' (with the full stop)

Assuming 'example.setup.com':

Fix your DNS. If you want it to remain dynamic, you probably want a DynDNS server hooked up to your DHCP server. Other than that, you want to add it to your hosts file, and distribute your hosts file on network login, but that requires a domain controller.

[raderarn]

I'll try to explain a bit more.

Say I have three computers on my network, all three are windows machines.
I want to have DHCP on all three because they are portable and I want to use them in other places without having to switch ipaddresses.

I want to connect from one computer to another with windows file share and printer sharing.

We pretend that computers called "COMPUTER1", "COMPUTER1" and "COMPUTER3".

If I run "ipconfig / all" I see that the router has assigned me the domain name "setup.com" which is stupid and I can´t change it ..... there is no option for it in the router.

If I try to ping COMPUTER1 from COMPUTER2 i get the response
"Sending ping signal to COMPUTER1.setup.com [216.38.192.130] with 32 bytes of data:"

I get the response from an external DNS server, wich of course knows nothing about my local network.

I think it must be the router that does´t register my computer's name in it´s DNS in the DHCP lease.

[bekdik]

Your problem is that you do not have a dns server, so none of your pc's names can be translated to an ip address. Google for a dns server running on your platform.

Another solution is to use manually set ip addresses and to place a host file on each pc.

[raderarn]

Your problem is that you do not have a dns server, so none of your pc's names can be translated to an ip address. Google for a dns server running on your platform.

But all other routers I have had has built in funtction for DNS, for example my old WAG325N ADSL-router.

Another solution is to use manually set ip addresses and to place a host file on each pc.

That is not a solution, since I want to be able to easaly connect to other networks.

[ginggs]

"Sending ping signal to COMPUTER1.setup.com [216.38.192.130] with 32 bytes of data:"

It looks like your router is incorrect appending the domain 'setup.com'to your hostnames.
See if you can turn this off somewhere.

When your router is asked to resolve the hostname COMPUTER1, it should reply that it has no records and then your computer should try broadcasting.

[sajunky]

It looks like your router is incorrect appending the domain 'setup.com'to your hostnames.
See if you can turn this off somewhere.

When your router is asked to resolve the hostname COMPUTER1, it should reply that it has no records and then your computer should try broadcasting.

+1. It could be very simple like wrong NETMASK or using public IP addresses on local network instead of public one. I suggest reset router to defaults and start over.

[seanachim]

The problem is that you are hoping that the router will also act as a decent local DNS server. The router is communicating with an upstream DNS server (216.38.192.130), it's not a DNS server in its own right.

From a security perspective it is bad practice to let your router inform the upstream public DNS server of your internal infrastructure, which is what you are doing.

When you do an ipconfig /all you will see that the gateway to the world for your local 3 laptops is the router and the DNS server will also be the local router. In fact what the router is doing is referring to the upstream router and simply sending the packets to that server for resolution.

To help find the solution first tell us what version of OS you are running on the machines and what machines you've got.

[seanachim]

Option#1
I own a Lenovo laptop that comes with a product called ThinkVantage Access Connections. This allows me to configure different environments and it automatically remembers all of the settings required at a given network as soon as I join it. Maybe this is something that you can search and find an alternative to. That way all of your machines can have a fixed IP address when at your location and a dynamic IP address elsewhere.

Then you edit your host files on the 3 machines and let them know about each other.

Option #2
Also, Windows 7 has a feature called HomeGroup which will automatically find other machines in your neighbourhood using something called Network Discovery Protocol. Just ensure that you have also installed your IPv6 stack and set this to dynamically getting its address details. When the machines don't get a DHCPv6 machine they will set up their own IP addresses and find out where they are - no longer a need for a DNS server internally.

[seanachim]

Option#1
... ThinkVantage Access Connections. This allows me to configure different environments and it automatically remembers all of the settings required at a given network as soon as I join it...

Some good alternatives to the ThinkVantage product can be found here:

http://www.netsetman.com/index.php?s=nsm
http://www.tyxsoft.com/
http://smartipprofiler.wordpress.com/
http://intelloware.com/QuickConfig.aspx
http://code.google.com/p/netprofiles/
http://oomphalot.com/sidekick/

I'm sure that between enabling IPv6 and these links you will find your solution

[bekdik]

Have a look at http://sourceforge.net/projects/dhcp-dns-server/

Description
DHCP plus DNS Server Open Source Freeware Windows/Linux. Works as DHCP or DNS Server or both. Using both services adds DHCP allotted hosts automatically to DNS Server. Support Relay Agent, PXEBOOT, BOOTP, Zone Trasfer, DHCP Range Filters. Download.

Features:

Either DHCP or DNS or Both Services can be used.
DHCP hosts automatically added to DNS, If both services used
DHCP Supports 125 ranges, all options, range specific options
DNS Supports Zone Transfer and Zone Replication.
DHCP Supports BOOTP Relay Agents, PXE Boot, BOOTP.
Dynamically Detects Listening Interfaces, can listen on 125 interfaces
HTTP Interface for Lease Status.
Filtering of Ranges by Mac Range, Vendor Class and User Class
Very easy configuration, no Zone files required.
Allows Replicated operations for DHCP and DNS
Very Low Memory and CPU use
Can be installed and used by person not having DNS/DHCP Concepts