Networking/DNS problem with Hughes satellite modem

[claz]

Greetings...hopefully someone can shed some light on this problem I'm having. I cannot seem to get internet connectivity with any of the 5+ Puppy versions or derivitives. I have no problems with 4+ version Puppies. It seems to me that the problem is related to DNS. I have tried both DHCP setups as well as static setups and used the variety of setup tools including Frisbee.
My setup is a Marvell 88E8056 PCI Ethernet card >>Linksys switch>>Hughes Network Services HN9000 Satellite Modem.
I have tried other DNS servers besides Hughes's, still to no avail.
All other Distro's I use on this computer as well as others in the house work fine. Puppy 5+ on other computers on the home network have the same problem, so it seems not computer related but network related.
Please help! Thanks in advance.

[rcrsn51]

What do you get if you type the command

Code: Select all

cat /etc/resolv.conf

[claz]

It returns the dns that I entered in the network setup.
Funny thing...it suddenly started working using the google dns 8.8.8.8/4
as well as my isp's.(google's is much faster though) I have tested with Racy 5.5.2 and Slacko 5.5 so far and it is working across reboots. I am still puzzled that I messed with this all day and nothing is different with my setup and it's now working. I'm wondering if it may have something to do with with the hard coding of the dns in the HN9000 modem as well as dns caching in the modem itself.
I guess this is still a work in progress...I'm not really satisfied 'till I know what's going on, LOL.
Thanks...any more comments will be appreciated.

[Monsie]

It returns the dns that I entered in the network setup.
Funny thing...it suddenly started working using the google dns 8.8.8.8/4
as well as my isp's.(google's is much faster though) I have tested with Racy 5.5.2 and Slacko 5.5 so far and it is working across reboots. I am still puzzled that I messed with this all day and nothing is different with my setup and it's now working. I'm wondering if it may have something to do with with the hard coding of the dns in the HN9000 modem as well as dns caching in the modem itself.
I guess this is still a work in progress...I'm not really satisfied 'till I know what's going on, LOL.
Thanks...any more comments will be appreciated.

See my post in this thread about how to clear the dns cache.

By the way, the dns cache is maintained by the operating system and not the modem or any other hardware. In fact, this information is normally kept in ram and not stored permanently on the drive. This then gives one almost instant access in terms of retrieving the necessary info when re-visiting a web page --thus it speeds up our user experience. A dns server will also cache it's IP configuration data, and sometimes when this data gets corrupted, one is unable to establish a connection with a website or service --often the cause of a 404 error.

Hope this helps,
Monsie

[claz]

Thanks for the info Monsie.

I do believe that in my case some caching is provided by the modem...my hardware is not the typical set up...I did verify that the Hughes HN90000 modem does perform dns caching. I ran a test where I made page requests with my wife's computer and those requests showed when I looked at the local dns cache in the modem's interface screen from my computer.

From the HN9000 spec sheet:

"HN9000 Broadband Satellite Modem

Implements Performance Enhancement Proxy (PEP) software to accelerate throughput by optimizing TCP transmission over the satellite, delivering superior user experience and link efficiency

Operates as a local router providing:

Static and dynamic addressing

DHCP server or relay

DNS caching

NAT/PAT"

I'm still trying to figure why I'm having these intermittant problems and it seems only to be Puppy related....I'm now thinking a combination of the network manager and my modem.

[Burn_IT]

I seem to remember there is a bug in Puppy 5+ and networking that it doesn't like WAP encoding. WEP is OK though.

[Monsie]

Thanks, claz

Well, that is the first I have heard of it... hardware providing a dns cache. I am assuming that it acts as a back-up to the hosts table. I would say that this feature must be considered an improvement. If there are internet connection problems, and you know that the configuration data is correct, this underscores the need to reset the router and/or modem if the dns cache has been corrupted somehow. Note also, that a re-boot will also clear the dns cache in the operating system.

Monsie

[claz]

Thanks Monsie...all information is helping me get the big picture here. The good thing is it's day 2 and everything is still working. I'm going to be testing more Puppy versions with my setup.
I figure that the Hughes hardware caching dns is to help speed up requests due to latency with the satellite. Funny though that setting the network manager to a dns different than the one in the hardware yields better performance...are they still working together or maybe just as a backup to the hosts table like you mentioned.
Why the 5+ Puppies suddenly started working...I have no idea...just keeping my fingers crossed.

[Monsie]

claz wrote:

Funny though that setting the network manager to a dns different than the one in the hardware yields better performance...

You do realize that setting your network to run with Google's domain name servers (as you indicated in your earlier post) will likely give you the best performance possible... See my thread here on how to test that assertion and find the fastest available dns servers.

Cheers,
Monsie

[claz]

Thanks Monsie for the info on namebench. In my quest for networking speed, everything helps. I live in rural Florida and my only options are satellite or dial-up. With less than optimum speeds and daily bandwidth caps using Hughes, any tiny speed improvements help. Using a lean distro like Puppy helps keep my downloading down. Puppy packs a lot of punch in a small package