squirreldog
join:2008-05-06
Gainesville, FL
| [FL] Slow DNS Cox Gainesville FL
Hi all,
First, many thanks for this forum. It appears to be an essential tool for doing business with Cox. Thanks in advance for any tips or info you may be able to share.
Our Cox Net connection worked great for the first few months, running in to problems now.
As I understand it, the first thing that happens when you try to reach a website is a connection to a DNS server, to get the server IP from the domain name. Usually this happens so fast you don't even notice it happening.
This "looking up some-domain.com" part of the connection process now routinely takes 5-10 seconds on most connection attempts. Checking a mail box usually takes 5-10 seconds, almost every time, apparently for this same reason. Been doing this over a month.
My computer is connected directly to the cox provided cable modem via an ethernet cable. I'm on a Mac OSX 10.3.9.
I also have a completely separate DSL connection. Don't have this DNS error at all when connecting that way. (other problems with the DSL)
Cox is doing the usual drill, sending me boilerplate replies unrelated to my questions. At the first mention of the word "Mac" they threw up their hands and told me to start the support process over from the beginning by another method.
So, here I am. Many thanks for taking the time to read this, and for any tips you might share.
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BillRoland
Premium
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL
clubs: | I'd try changing your DNS servers to 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2 and see if you notice improvment. I did long ago and left the DNS headaches behind.
--
"Don't steal. The government hates competition." |
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Sentinel
Premium
join:2001-02-07
Florida | I use those as backup DNS servers but they are quite often recommended here and won't that cause a problem eventually? I mean if everyone in the world uses those DNS servers then won't we over load them? I don't know I'm just askin' |
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AZwldcats
Ummm That's Right
join:2001-02-20
Tucson, AZ
clubs:
| said by Sentinel  :I use those as backup DNS servers but they are quite often recommended here and won't that cause a problem eventually? I mean if everyone in the world uses those DNS servers then won't we over load them? I don't know I'm just askin' They would, But they are good servers from Level3 and are no where near capacity....
If they start getting slow you will see people suggesting others...
Another option is »www.opendns.com |
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vraeden
join:2007-06-21
Gainesville, FL | I started using OpenDNS, discovered a few sites that I thought were unresponsive were suddenly completely responsive. I just hope that Cox doesn't decide to start blocking or shaping traffic to alternative DNS servers. |
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squirreldog
join:2008-05-06
Gainesville, FL
| reply to AZwldcats
Guys, thanks very much for this information.
Wow, isn't it amazing how much more informed, helpful and responsive complete strangers can be, as compared to the Net connection companies we pay every month?? The contrast between your replies, and the replies I got from Cox, is remarkable. I couldn't even get Cox on to the subject of DNS.
By the way, I asked Cox three times in a row if they knew of a forum like this, and each time they ignored the question. Now I see why.
Anyway, I will of course try your ideas, and report back.
I found the OpenDNS site especially helpful. This link provides a very clear explanation of how to set my Mac to use other DNS servers.
»https://www.opendns.com/start?device=apple-osx-tiger
The OpenDNS site as a whole is a masterpiece of useful free service explained with great clarity.
Thanks again!
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squirreldog
join:2008-05-06
Gainesville, FL
| Hi again,
I tested my Cox net connection speed at two different Net connection speed websites. I ran the test twice at both testing sites. 530am in the morning. Do the results look about normal to you?
Thanks!
--------------------------------
Wed May 7 530am
Cable Download => 8343 kbps
Cable Upload => 560 kbps speakeasy.com
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Wed May 7 530am
Cable Download => 9530 kbps
Cable Upload => 550 kbps speakeasy.com
--------------------------------
Wed May 7 530am
Cable Download => 5032 kbps
Cable Upload => 560 kbps pcpitstop.com
--------------------------------
Wed May 7 530am
Cable Download => 10826 kbps
Cable Upload => 550 kbps pcpitstop.com
--------------------------------
In fairness to Cox, I have to say their service appears to be both faster, cheaper and generally more reliable than my DSL provider.
But, the DSL provider has some of the best support I've ever seen online, while Cox support, not so hot.
Ah, well, you never get it all I guess, eh? |
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daveinpoway
join:2006-07-03
Poway, CA | I can't speak for your area, but, here in the San Diego area, I have found that the support folks who are on duty when the main offices are closed appear to be more helpful and on the ball. |
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vraeden
join:2007-06-21
Gainesville, FL
 ·Cox HSI
| reply to squirreldog
said by squirreldog :Hi again, I tested my Cox net connection speed at two different Net connection speed websites. I ran the test twice at both testing sites. 530am in the morning. Do the results look about normal to you? Thanks! Assuming that you have the 7/512 service, that does look like good speeds. You could probably get a little more Powerboost, but I'm not sure how high Powerboost goes for the Preferred service instead of the Premier service (I get close to 30 down on Powerboost now that my connection node has been fixed).
Test during peak times. If you still get close to 7, then you know you've got a great connection. If you start having a problem connection (probably closer to 1 down), post here and let people help you figure out the problem. |
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korstj
join:2000-08-26
San Diego, CA
·Cox HSI
| reply to squirreldog
You have to not be using the connection to get the powerboost. If you're running anything in the background that is downloading stuff, you won't get the boost.
And to get on topic, I've also never had problems with Cox tech support. (Even the time that I accidentally deleted a POP account... it took a bit of pushing, but they restored it for me.) If you're having DNS issues, you need to troubleshoot as such. When you experience the problem, have you opened a terminal and run some nslookups to test DNS resolution that way (to rule out your browser)? If it's still slow, have you tried using other DNS servers as has been mentioned already? I rarely (or never) have DNS issues with Cox here in San Diego. (My only gripe with them is the crap they call a DVR box, but that's another topic entirely.)
And if you ask what a terminal is... I hate it when MAC users ask me that or say that they can't ping something or something like that. If you don't know, google it, learn it, love it. I don't even use MAC's, but I know they have access to a Unix command line, which I use all the time. If I had a MAC, I'd be all over that. |
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factchecker
@cox.net
 from:
Sentinel
| reply to Sentinel
said by Sentinel :I use those as backup DNS servers but they are quite often recommended here and won't that cause a problem eventually? I mean if everyone in the world uses those DNS servers then won't we over load them? I don't know I'm just askin' Those servers clusters are anycasted and exist in several locations around the United States, ensuring you use the closest cluster to you. In other words, it would be very difficult to over load those servers. |
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squirreldog
join:2008-05-06
Gainesville, FL
| reply to squirreldog
Quick update, after a few hours of testing, the suggestions offered above seem to have solved my problem entirely. Again, many thanks. I'm particularly pleased to have discovered OpenDNS, and am using their name servers at the moment.
Regarding support, it's reasonable to say that it's not fair to come to a firm conclusion from just a few encounters with anybody's support system.
That said, in this particular instance it's a fact that 1) this forum is easier to reach than Cox support and 2) you guys understood, addressed, and solved my issue immediately, whereas Cox support had yet to even begin to address the subject of DNS after 3 exchanges.
As best I can tell, the first level of Cox support is not trained to actually read, think and analyze, but to spit out canned responses. A humanized autoresponder perhaps. Although it was clear the mails were coming from a person, I never got any sense of a real conversation.
And yes, all Mac users are weenies. This is a well established fact.  Seriously, point taken, next step for me is to find a Mac-centric network tools discussion. The Network Utility app (a GUI, not command line) that comes with OSX looks great, but I need to educate myself on the terminology etc. |
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vraeden
join:2007-06-21
Gainesville, FL
·Cox HSI
| reply to korstj
said by korstj :You have to not be using the connection to get the powerboost. If you're running anything in the background that is downloading stuff, you won't get the boost. And to get on topic, I've also never had problems with Cox tech support. (Even the time that I accidentally deleted a POP account... it took a bit of pushing, but they restored it for me.) If you're having DNS issues, you need to troubleshoot as such. When you experience the problem, have you opened a terminal and run some nslookups to test DNS resolution that way (to rule out your browser)? If it's still slow, have you tried using other DNS servers as has been mentioned already? I rarely (or never) have DNS issues with Cox here in San Diego. (My only gripe with them is the crap they call a DVR box, but that's another topic entirely.) Tech support probably depends on the market too. I know in Gainesville that phone support is terrible; I'm an experienced computer user (Computer Science degree, three years systems analyst at Vanderbilt) and have found their responses to be absolutely ridiculous or wrong. I would not have received any help for my problems if it weren't for this forum right here and the actually concerned Cox representatives that read these forums. Hopefully, they can keep reporting our problems with local support to the Customer Care division and get the problems fixed. |
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MoreCheesePlease
@cox.net | reply to squirreldog
Can you post the ip's of the (slow) DNS servers you were using? |
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CoxTOC1
join:2007-05-15
Newport News, VA | Actually if you would not mind PM'ing me the IP's that you were using so I can get local to look into it also. |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| reply to AZwldcats
said by AZwldcats :said by Sentinel :I use those as backup DNS servers but they are quite often recommended here and won't that cause a problem eventually? I mean if everyone in the world uses those DNS servers then won't we over load them? I don't know I'm just askin' Another option is » www.opendns.com Sure. if you like redirects!
--
When I gez aju zavateh na nalechoo more new yonooz tonigh molinigh - Ken Lee |
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Sentinel
Premium
join:2001-02-07
Florida
·RoadRunner Cable
 ·CCLHosting
| reply to CoxTOC1
I just played around a little bit with my DNS servers and I did find something interesting. My router shows the following 3 DNS servers being served to it from Cox...
68.105.28.11
68.105.28.12
68.105.29.11
After doing some pinging and tracing it seems as though the last one 68.105.29.11 has some issues. I removed it from my list and my DNS resolution went up considerably. Pages going much faster now. |
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squirreldog
join:2008-05-06
Gainesville, FL
| reply to MoreCheesePlease
said by MoreCheesePlease :
Can you post the ip's of the (slow) DNS servers you were using? Sorry, I would if I could, but don't know what they were.
I have my Mac connected directly to the cable modem provided by Cox (Motorola SB5101). I just connected the modem to the cable, ran an ethernet cable to the Mac, and was connected. The best I can guess is that I was using whatever default name servers Cox in Gainesville uses?
I'm a perl programmer, so not afraid of tech stuff, but have minimal knowledge of network stuff. Guessing everybody in this thread knows more than I. |
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Sentinel
Premium
join:2001-02-07
Florida | I am in Ocala so I'm guessing you use the same DNS servers I posted above. I found only the one to be slow for me though. |
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squirreldog
join:2008-05-06
Gainesville, FL
| reply to squirreldog
I should note that our Cox service worked just fine for the first few months, no observable DNS issues. It seems that perhaps something happened to one of Cox's DNS servers? Dunno.
Hmm. It seems a problem with a DNS server would affect lots of Cox customers, right? I worked around the problem for about a month (we have DSL too), assuming that others would complain, and Cox would fix the problem, but that never happened.
If the problem is a Cox DNS server, then it seems to follow that Cox doesn't monitor these servers? I have no other theory to explain the instant fix I got by changing to somebody else's DNS servers.
Of course the problem could lie elsewhere, I'm just a complete amateur, making best guesses. |
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