ColinATL
join:2009-01-15
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| U-verse 2Wire Wireless + Apple Problem & Solution
Hey all, just wanted to share my problems with U-verse and the solution that worked for me. I had U-verse installed 2 weeks ago. They replaced my DSL modem with a 2Wire residential gateway. I had the installer leave my Time Capsule (Airport) router out of the network while he got it working knowing I would be able to migrate it back in after he left. Turned out not to be as easy as I would have thought.
Before I get too far into the broadband discussion, let me say that we are loving the television service. Channel selection is great (U300), picture quality is pretty decent (not quite as crisp as my DirecTV, but only noticeable if I stand close), the DVR works pretty well (user interface nowhere near as intuitive as my old Tivo, but I'm dealing). We especially love being able to play back shows from the DVR on any TV in the house. Such a great feature.
Anyway, back to the broadband internet. So after the installer left, I put my Airport back on the network, disabled the 2Wire wireless, and at first everything seemed great. But then we quickly started having problems with certain computers (all Macs) on certain websites. In retrospect, I think I've figured out why it affected some websites worse than others, but I'll get into that.
The problems were especially bad with our 2nd Generation Black MacBook. The initial page download for a given site would take a while to download, but then pictures and flash would take even longer (>30 seconds) if they even made it at all, but only on some sites. Our other computers (Older PowerBook G4, newer MacBook Pro) would occasionally have the problems, but not nearly as badly as the MacBook.
I tried rewiring things. I tried turning on both wireless networks simultaneously. I tried modifying DHCP server settings (e.g., turned on DHCP on Airport) but that just caused the 2Wire to throw up a Double NAT exception, which other routers I've used have been able to handle just fine.
I should pause to note why I wanted to keep my Time Capsule (Airport) as my router: (1) the Time Capsule is our backup hard drive for all our computers, and (2) the wireless on the TC is 802.11n, capable of faster speeds than the 2Wire's 802.11b/g. I tried hooking up the TC without the wireless to be a hard drive only, accessing it instead through the 2Wire's wireless, but that didn't solve any of our slow web problems.
When I searched online, I saw many people having the same or similar problem, but only with certain Macs. I went to the 2Wire website, but 'lo and behold, 2Wire doesn't support Macs. They're a Windows-only shop. Maybe AT&T should have noted that? So finally, of all the solutions posted on all the forums I read, the one that finally worked for me was modifying DNS settings on each of my computers. Adding the OpenDNS servers (www.opendns.com) finally did the trick.
So the problem appears to be that 2Wire, unlike every other brand of router out there, doesn't handle some Mac-initiated DNS queries well. When some Macs make some DNS queries, the 2Wire can take up to a minute or more to get the response back to the computer. So the websites that were really slow were the websites where content was being served up from lots of different servers (e.g., CNN.com).
So by bypassing the DNS server in the 2Wire, everything seems to be working just fine in my Mac household. AT&T needs to make 2Wire fix this. Besides that, I'm happy. |
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AVonGauss
Premium,MVM
join:2007-11-01
Boynton Beach, FL
| said by ColinATL  :So the problem appears to be that 2Wire, unlike every other brand of router out there, doesn't handle some Mac-initiated DNS queries well. When some Macs make some DNS queries, the 2Wire can take up to a minute or more to get the response back to the computer. So the websites that were really slow were the websites where content was being served up from lots of different servers (e.g., CNN.com). So by bypassing the DNS server in the 2Wire, everything seems to be working just fine in my Mac household. AT&T needs to make 2Wire fix this. Besides that, I'm happy. I believe that is due to how the handling of the IPv6 DNS queries is occurring between the two units. Disabling IPv6 temporarily on the MacBook that was having the majority of the issues could confirm or rule that out. If that is the case, unfortunately, it is not limited to just the 2wire device, I have D-Link DGL-4500 that has the same issue with later versions of its firmware. |
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Blandes
@sbcglobal.net | reply to ColinATL
We have Windows computers and me and my dad's macbook on our 2wire with uverse and we are having the same problem. How do I bypass this dns or what do I need to do? |
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ColinATL
join:2009-01-15
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| reply to ColinATL
Blandes said:
We have Windows computers and me and my dad's macbook on our 2wire with uverse and we are having the same problem. How do I bypass this dns or what do I need to do?
Blandes, you need to go to the OpenDNS website and follow the instructions for adding their DNS servers to your Macbook. Here's a link to those instructions: »https://www.opendns.com/homenetwork/star···-leopard. Those are the instructions for Leopard. If you have a different OS on the Macbook, you can find other instructions on the OpenDNS website. Hope this helps! |
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DNSguy
join:2006-04-09
Saint Charles, MO
| reply to ColinATL
Actually, I'd appreciate it if you would set our DNS servers in your MacBook to verify they work when bypassing the 2-wire DNS proxy.
IP's are 68.94.156.1 and 68.94.157.1
If you could also post links to the forum posts about issues with the 2-wire, that would help. |
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zqfmbg
join:2004-08-04
Fremont, CA
| reply to ColinATL
I've found that the default DNS servers provided by the RG occasionally pause for a minute or more when queried. This has the effect of making my browsing suddenly halt for a minute or more. Since I use DMZplus with a DD-WRT router, I just changed it to use alternate DNS servers, and all is well again. |
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benoitml
join:2009-01-23 | reply to ColinATL
I experienced the same issue as Collin and just implemented the OpenDNS solution on one of my macs and it seems to work much better. It is quite cumbersome though to have to implement this separately on each machine instead of on the router. |
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acm
@sbcglobal.net
| reply to DNSguy
This is really working! Do you really want Mac users leaching off your DNS servers? My stalling U-verse browser page loads are now properly fast. I entered DNSguy's numbers into both the Airport and Ethernet connections. And even though Airport still has the 2wire uneditable defaults, it works. |
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djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA
 ·PHONE POWER
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T CallVantage
·Time Warner VOIP
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| said by acm :
This is really working! Do you really want Mac users leaching off your DNS servers? My stalling U-verse browser page loads are now properly fast. I entered DNSguy's numbers into both the Airport and Ethernet connections. And even though Airport still has the 2wire uneditable defaults, it works.
DNSGuy works for AT&T.
The IPs he has given you are AT&T's DNS servers - the very same ones that the 2wire is configured for. The difference is that the RG gives you its own IP and "relays" requests to AT&T's servers. By hardcoding them you're bypassing the RG's relay which seems to be the source of most of these issues.
This affects more than just mac users, and DNSguy is currently tracking the issue to report it internally.
See this thread and please post to AT&T direct to report your issue. The more of us that report it, the more likely we will get a permanent solution.
»Web pages mostly load fast but frequently but don't complete
-- Rob
--
AT&T U-Hearse
Your funeral. Delivered.
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DNSguy
join:2006-04-09
Saint Charles, MO
| said by djrobx :This affects more than just mac users, and DNSguy is currently tracking the issue to report it internally. See this thread and please post to AT&T direct to report your issue. The more of us that report it, the more likely we will get a permanent solution. » Web pages mostly load fast but frequently but don't complete-- Rob I cannot stress Rob's last point enough, as the more people that report it the more information I can go to the RG people with.
Post in AT&T Direct with the subject "2-Wire DNS Issue"
Provide your BAN, System Type / OS that you are running, if you are using a wired or wireless connection, and if rebooting the RG fixes things, even if just for a little while.
I'm still in data gathering mode, so far I only have 2 posts.
Also, if anyone has links to the mac forum posts referenced above I'd appreciate that as well. |
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acm
@sbcglobal.net
| reply to djrobx
I didn't realize DNSGuy works for AT&T until a tech gave me the same DNS numbers. Hopefully they start sharing information because they seem unaware of the issue Mac or otherwise. |
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MyDogHsFleas
Premium
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX
·AT&T U-Verse
 ·AT&T Southwest
| It's no state secret... you can find out what DNS the RG is using, trivially, by clicking View Connection Details off the Broadband Link page.
»gateway.2wire.net/xslt?PAGE=B02&···PAGE=B02 |
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cblackstone
join:2008-11-09
Ypsilanti, MI | reply to ColinATL
I've been having the speed problems since my service was installed in September. Entering the 2 DNS Servers has fixed it. Thanks so much! |
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DNSguy
join:2006-04-09
Saint Charles, MO
| I'm happy to hear your speed problems are fixed, but please take the time to post you information in direct:
Post in AT&T Direct with the subject "2-Wire DNS Issue"
Provide your BAN, System Type / OS that you are running, if you are using a wired or wireless connection, and if rebooting the RG fixes things, even if just for a little while.
Again, so far only 2 people have posted this information. Two BAN's is not a lot of information for the RG people to work with. |
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cblackstone
join:2008-11-09
Ypsilanti, MI | Done
»U-Verse 2-wire DNS issue 1/26/09 |
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ColinATL
join:2009-01-15
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| reply to DNSguy
said by DNSguy :I'm happy to hear your speed problems are fixed, but please take the time to post you information in direct: Post in AT&T Direct with the subject "2-Wire DNS Issue" Provide your BAN, System Type / OS that you are running, if you are using a wired or wireless connection, and if rebooting the RG fixes things, even if just for a little while. Again, so far only 2 people have posted this information. Two BAN's is not a lot of information for the RG people to work with. DNSguy, would you like me to re-post my original post on the AT&T forums somewhere, is that what you're asking? If so, can you provide a link to the right forum?
While I have your ear, it would be great if the 2Wire would auto-populate the AT&T DNS servers rather than its own IP address when I connect. I say this because I keep adding the DNS servers manually, and then, when I take my laptop to work (everyday), I have to remove them again. Unfortunately, although the Mac has network profiles (e.g., "Home" & "Work"), it keeps any manually entered DNS servers regardless of profile, and so I keep having to add them and remove them on a daily basis. Just annoying more than anything.  |
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Redwine
@bellsouth.net | reply to ColinATL
Aside from the fact that AT&T should correct this issue... If I were to hook up a different wireless router into one of the ports on the back of the 2wire would this correct the problem? |
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