[AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors agai Page 3

[AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors agai Page 3
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Forums » US Cable Support » Cox HSI » [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors agai
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khobar @ 3rd Nov 01:34PM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

Okay - thank you for the clarification.

Now, perhaps you can shed light on my and others' issue in a general sense?

Basically - what would cause the net to be fast one moment and then connection resets, resolving host, cannot connect, waiting for..., page load error, page not found error all randomly happening followed by normal operation?

What would cause such behavior to magically vanish?

I've been with Cox for a decade now. This behavior is not new - I've had it happen from time to time in the past and have been told the same thing - there is no problem. Within a very short time everything was back to normal, and it stayed that way for months, sometimes years at a time.

This time, however, is very different - the problem did not go away. I replaced my modem as instructed and the problem is the same and has been now for over a month. Sometimes the network is good for a few minutes before bogging down, and sometimes it's good for several hours or even as much as a day. I don't understand why it is so intermittent.

Can you answer me this - when I call the automated tech thing, I'm told a signal is being sent and "let's see what we get back" or something to that effect. Shortly thereafter I'm told the signal didn't come back right - words to that effect, afterwhich the modem is reset. When I eventually get to a real person they say something like "let's check the modem" and then report all is fine. My question is: what exactly is being checked and what is the difference between the automated "thing" and the live person? Is the live person simply checking the signals page in the modem?
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CoxTech1 @ 3rd Nov 01:38PM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

Do you have a Motorola SB5100 by any chance?
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CoxTOC1 @ 3rd Nov 02:42PM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

said by khobar :

Can you answer me this - when I call the automated tech thing, I'm told a signal is being sent and "let's see what we get back" or something to that effect. Shortly thereafter I'm told the signal didn't come back right - words to that effect, afterwhich the modem is reset. When I eventually get to a real person they say something like "let's check the modem" and then report all is fine. My question is: what exactly is being checked and what is the difference between the automated "thing" and the live person? Is the live person simply checking the signals page in the modem?

Well I am not 100% certain how the automated system looks that stuff up. But I suspect that it's using some server/process as a middle man to our poling tools. It more than likely has three "messages" that it's looking for. Good, Bad and Time Out. If it gets a answer of "Good" it will proceed to the next step. If it gets a answer of "Bad" or "Time Out" it runs the reset script. This of course is my speculation as I have no knowledge of how it works.

The difference being of course that the automated system can only deal with for lack of a better word "normal" conditions. If you get out of that it can't handle that. A real live person would be better equipped to handle things that are out of the ordinary (Like when something takes longer than expected to load).

Now to help you with your connection issue I need to understand how you are set up as well as get some basic information.

Can you gather the info in »[ALL] what to post before complaining about slow speeds...? and start a new thread so we can troubleshoot your connection?
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Radardan @ 4th Nov 10:47AM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

jsmiddleton4 said:
I just don't get that kind of posture towards it customers.

A similar issue reflecting management's customer viewpoint is the return of an old issue on cable TV: insertion of local ads with wrong timing. It's been going on again about two months now.

It astonishes me that these timing issues can occur for months at a time, several times an hour, each and every hour on multiple channels.

I've tackled them twice before in prior years. Once I contacted the TV network and they got some executive to contact Cox about it. The last time I posted about it here and it still took several weeks to get someone on the problem.

When it occurs for weeks at a time and so frequently daily, it appears that not even Cox Media watches it's own revenue stream for quality.
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khobar @ 4th Nov 07:15PM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

I started a new thread on this. I don't think I put it in AZ though - sorry.

»Intermittent web clogging
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dvd536 @ 5th Nov 12:27AM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

said by Radardan :

jsmiddleton4 said:
I just don't get that kind of posture towards it customers.

Still going on here. mainly on discovery owned channels however I could care less[its an ad after all]
--
When I gez aju zavateh na nalechoo more new yonooz tonigh molinigh - Ken Lee
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khobar @ 5th Nov 09:50AM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

No. I had an SB3100 that served me well for many years.

I replaced it with an SB6120.

Today, for the very first time since I got the new modem, I noticed that after waiting for 10 minutes for the modem to reboot it came back and showed the downstream as being "bonded". That's new.

Unfortunately, my problem remains - I'm getting very good download speeds, according to DSL Reports speedtest and speedtest.net, but crapola upload speeds of anywhere from nothing at all to 100 or so Kbps.

The only thing that seems to be consistent is the upload speed drops off the map when I'm experiencing the slowdown. I've seen upload speeds all over the place, from 100Kbps (and the overall speed seemed okay) to 4-5Mbps. I dunno what to make of that.

Speedtest.net just came back (after about 10 minutes) with an upload speed >2Mbps. For a split instant the net became unclogged - I pulled one webpage up (facebook) instantly. Went to cnn.com and it came up but much more slowly. Checked speedtest.net and my download speed is reported as 14.60Mbps, upload speed has failed to report. We'll see if it takes another 10 minutes to get through.

Weird.
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khobar @ 5th Nov 10:00AM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

Okay, speedtest.net just came back with 0.34Mbps. But cnn.com came up quicker, so I reran the speedtest.net test. It came back quickly with the following:

download 17.67Mbps
upload 5.24Mbps

The upload speed has to be an indicator, a symptom of what's going on.
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jsmiddleton4 @ 5th Nov 02:29PM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

Thanks for the additional IM Chris but as noted I am done investing in this dns issue. I have demonstrated with enough information that Cox has a problem. The idea that I have to go to the nth degree to convince Cox that there is a problem in hopes that after all of my trouble shooting they MAY address it is lousy customer service.

Cox apparently thinks that if customers aren't willing to go to the nth degree then Cox is off the hook.

Sad.

Your dns servers need help. Invest in fixing them or not, that is Cox's business not mine.

And as others here have pointed out when having similar issues with Cox's DNS servers, they too could not get anyone at Cox to do anything about it nor take the problem seriously.

At least Cox is consistent regarding this matter.
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No_Strings @ 5th Nov 03:06PM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

The perennially half-empty view of things.

What if it's something more like this?

Millions of subscribers are experiencing no such symptoms, and in spite of having some smart people with decent tools it's not immediately apparent where the problem lies. Cox works with cooperative customers who are having this problem in an effort to gather additional data which may help them track down the gremlin. It's in their own interest to do so if they can and are willing since a lack of adequate information might mean a longer fix time.

Of course those customers are under no obligation to help Cox with their troubleshooting any more than a patient in a doctor's office is obligated to provide the physician with details which might aid in the diagnosis. After all, the doctor has x-rays and blood tests and education. Let him figure it out.

I guess it's all in one's perspective.
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AZHSISUPPRT2 @ 6th Nov 08:03AM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

No_Strings is quite right. Cox is not off the hook, but unfortunately, I still have not gotten the tests from you that I asked for to be able to determine where the issue may lie.

At this time all I have received are the screen shots of the errors and I thank you for those. The screen shots that you have provided does indicate that there is an issue, however without an IP address of the DNS servers you were using when you encountered the issue is like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles.

The other descriptions of one set of servers being fast and snappy and Cox's not fast and snappy is not quantifiable information that our engineers can use to troubleshoot which is why I had asked for ping tests, traceroutes, tests with and without a firewall enabled, etc. This is essential information that our engineers need.

DNS issues are not easy to troubleshoot. I am more than willing to assist anyone having issues with DNS lookups. There are tests that I have to have the end user run in order to isolate the problem. I have to bring un-refuted information to our engineers and I know that you do not want to do any further tests and I don't blame you. It is a lot of work to track these things down.

So I ask if there is anyone else experiencing these issues that is willing to help to please PM me so I can get the information that I need to get this to our engineers.

Thanks,
--
Chris@Cox Communications Arizona
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jsmiddleton4 @ 11th Nov 08:27AM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

Since its been several days thought I'd try Cox's DNS servers again. Same result as already reported. Stalls, lags, dns lookup errors, etc.

Back to 4.x.x.x, snappy, fast, etc.
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anon @ 11th Nov 07:11PM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

Thankfully I found this forum.

For over 6 months I've had problems with Cox LV. First, Vonage kept dropping calls and VOIP tests showed Cox dropping packets at such a high rate that it could not be used for VOIP. This despite speed tests showing 6Mbps and higher. So I switched to an Embark hardline when Cox claimed "nothing was wrong."

Over the summer I used DSL in a rural area. Despite only 1.5Mbps, internet performance was 100% reliable.

Now back in Vegas, Cox measures 10Mbps, BUT about 25% of the time pages either never load (NYT, Apple, etc.) or never finish loading. This on both PCs and Macs.

My guess was that Cox has problems connecting to the "rest of the internet" although I can't quite explain why non-Cox speed tests work fine. (Actually the ping/litter test never finishes.)

If its the Cox DNS services -- I can add the OpenDNS servers but I can't delete the Cox DNS crap that is tried first. Any OS X users know how to delete Cox "lv.cox.net" from Network prefs? They are grayed-out. How did Cox get these stuff into my computer?
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Ikyuao @ 11th Nov 11:01PM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

Don't erase Cox lv.cox.net from your network preference settings that may be necessary for searching the domain to spot be found to querying the DNS lists in the resolv.conf and however - I'd stored the foreign DNS proviers lists in my linux resolv.conf like that:

domain ks.cox.net
search ks.cox.net
nameserver 127.0.0.1
nameserver 4.2.2.1
nameserver 4.2.2.2
nameserver 4.2.2.3
nameserver 4.2.2.4
nameserver 4.2.2.5
nameserver 4.2.2.6
nameserver 156.154.70.1
nameserver 156.154.71.1
nameserver 208.67.222.222
nameserver 208.67.220.220
nameserver 68.105.28.11
nameserver 68.105.29.11
nameserver 68.105.28.12

my cable internet remains be more stable and having an zero problem that I ever experienced.
--
Professional Linux environmental blows microsoft windows out of the water.
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zipturtle @ 12th Nov 04:44AM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

Most Unix platforms will only use the first 3 nameserver entries you have in your resolv.conf file.

You might want to check you Linux version to see if what you have is even valid. Check the man pages on resolv.conf(5).

Number of nameserver entires is typically defined by a value that is compiled into the binary (ie not changeable without recompiling).

Even if more than 3 were valid, you should lookup how these are used and I think you will find that having more is not a good idea. There are specified amounts of time that must elapse before the resolver moves to the next entry and having a known bad entry can make lookups very slow.

Some systems can define what the timing is, but few ever set that. I seem to recall that is is typically 5-10 seconds wait x 2 tries before the next entry. If this is the case, it would take 10-20 seconds between each name server tried. Again, refer to the man page for your machine on what that might be if it is defined.

You are much better off using 2 solid entries rather than a long list of name servers.

For my residential boxes, I use OpenDNS (I like the reports)... for my business servers I run my own bind servers with hints from root zones, using typically two designated servers for that purpose.
--
Kevin

Both Business and Residential Cox Customer.
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Ikyuao @ 12th Nov 07:11AM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

said by zipturtle :

Even if more than 3 were valid, you should lookup how these are used and I think you will find that having more is not a good idea. There are specified amounts of time that must elapse before the resolver moves to the next entry and having a known bad entry can make lookups very slow.

More than three nameserver entries are remains be valid and it is accessible under my Linux box of resolv.conf, that doesn't making lookups very slow so you make no sense to me, DNS querying lookups which uses UDP packet traffics.

Linux is open source, it can be added more lookup querying than three DNS lookups is not a problem issues.

I use dnsmasq as lighter weight dns caching server.
--
Professional Linux environmental blows microsoft windows out of the water.
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round_toit @ 12th Nov 07:50PM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

I rarely post and do not care if anyone replies. I have several people on ignore and I invite anyone who does not like this post to put me on ignore.

I just changed my router to the 4.2.x.x and I am astounded. This is the fastest cox has ever been. I appreciate madden2k5 posting the dns numbers.

I have been really frustrated with cox,even after having them out many times.

To me this is amazing.
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zipturtle @ 13th Nov 03:59AM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

Ikyuao,

May I suggest a good book.... DNS and BIND Published by O'Reilly Media. I think you would learn a lot from the information presented there. For the resolv.conf stuff we are talking about any edition of the book will do.

As for how many nameservers your resolver will accept, you could always test it... it's really simple... You can do it live right on your Debian box.

Copy your current resolv.conf file to a safe place, then create a new one with 3 bogus nameserver entries that don't point to any real name servers and then make the fourth entry a real one.

For example:
nameserver 123.123.123.123 nameserver 124.124.124.124 nameserver 125.125.125.125 nameserver 4.2.2.1

Make sure you remove all the other nameserver entries and you really don't need the domain or search lines or any of the other stuff you have in yours.

As soon as you save it, you can then use dig to lookup hostnames on your box and see what happens...

# dig -d somehostname

If you include the -d option like above, you can get some debug info showing what is actually happening as the resolver works through each of the nameserver entries and then gives you an answer .... or as I have suggested, not give you an answer as I suspect your response will be.

Then you will know for sure how many nameserver entries are actually used... Make sure to restore some real name servers when you are done so that you have working DNS on your box again.

There are a lot of good resources on the net about DNS and how it works, including some good forums where you can ask DNS admins about your configuration like on dnsstuff, though they tend to deal with authoritative nameserver like questions mostly.
--
Kevin - Both Business and Residential Cox Customer.
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jsmiddleton4 @ 13th Nov 09:16AM:
Re: [AZ] DNS lookup errors, stalls, lags, page not found errors

round....

The speed difference is a stark contrast isn't it? Cox does not seem to be interested in addressing it unless we go way beyond what is reasonable to prove to them they have an issue.

Given the considerable amount of difference in performance it is obvious that Cox needs to address something. Not sure what but there is something amiss with their DNS servers.
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