DNS. Oh, DNS. I spent my day learning about DNS stub zones and conditional forwarders. DNS should be a relatively simple thing, really. I mean, I’m techie, I know it goes a bit nuts every so often. Generally though, it’s like a year round Santa steam train, it just plods along doing its business giving things out to people who request it. Sometimes it needs to refuel with a reboot but most DNS servers just kind of sit there and give their all.
Now, I’m not sure that it’s a problem with Talk Talk’s DNS. We have speculated it could be an issue.
However! I like to see that some of our intrepid readers have discovered static DNS settings for one and all!
Jessica asks:
I must have done something bad in a past life to be in this kind of broadband hell! I had a Netgear DG834 which overnight gave up completely on TalkTalk. After several hours on the phone to them and my dad who is a bit of a techie, I gave up with the DG834. At the weekend I bought a D-Link DSL-G624T hoping it would resolve all my problems, but now I cant even get past the set up! I think there’s a problem with the TalkTalk DNS. Anyone got any ideas of a way round?
Here’s are the settings!
Hi Dickie. I had a similar problem wherei could only access certain sites all of a sudden. I fixed it by setting my routers DNS servers manually (Primary 62.24.199.13, secondary 62.24.199.23) rather than letting it get them automatically.
Same from Terry
If any of you get this problem then try these DNS servers for your router:
Primary 62.24.199.13
Secondary 62.24.199.23
More to try (even though they don’t seem to help with browsing speed issues)
62.24.128.17 & 62.24.128.18
I believe the moral of this story is dynamic DNS assignment isn’t always the best idea…
Technorati Tags: Talk Talk, Carphone Warehouse, DNS, ADSL, DSL
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40 responses so far ↓
gus // January 6, 2007 at 6:22 pm
this netgear seems DG834 seems to be useless with talk talk - 30 seconds for page loads.
Id rather get kicked off the net by my mrs and read a book.
no good
ssmmdd // January 7, 2007 at 12:20 pm
How about using other ISP’s DNS? NTL’s drop dead all the time, so I’ve programmed about 4 extra ones (plus NTL’s 2) into my Network Adapter so that if NTL’s do die, my NIC just slaps another ISP’s DNS for the URL. Works fine for me.
WoW addict // January 9, 2007 at 4:50 am
Hello,
i just wanted to ask if adding Primary: 62.24.199.13 & Secondary 62.24.199.23 to DNS would allow me to play wow for longer then 15 minutes? or will the broadband operation limit access still?
It really gets on my tits, the only reason i got the internet was to play wow and after waiting 3 months for the modem i was sourly disappointed when i logged on wow and got booted again and again, Half life 2 online works fine so does UT2004 i can access nearly all web pages(slowly) just have to hit refresh alot and i can even download from limwire fine.
WoW addict // January 9, 2007 at 5:19 am
Hello i already posted but it never went on :-\
i waited 3 months for the modem and was disapointed. I only got the internet for wow.
Will adding Primary 62.24.199.13 &Secondary 62.24.199.23 to my DNS allow me to play wow for longer then 15 minutes? or broadband operation limits access still?
hopefully this one goes on the site!
WoW addict // January 9, 2007 at 11:13 am
oops there both on now :-\ i never do forum posts so my bad…… i found out that talktalk block p2p and wow uses same port as that(dont block limewire tho)…. im going to give 0871 226 7146 i found on a site a ring, it might be possible for you to get them to open the ports for you if you explain that you play wow.
here is the link for the site i hope it helps
http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/3277/4301/world-of-warcraft-talktalk-broadband.phtml
ajmal // January 11, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Try the following DNS server addresses, primary and secondary respectively. These servers are really fast. It’s a free service provided by OpenDNS. i’ve tried it and it does work. give it a go and let me know what you think.
* 208.67.222.222
* 208.67.220.220
Source: http://www.opendns.com
SiMo // January 19, 2007 at 11:50 am
Like ajmal, I have been using the OpenDNS settings for my talktalk account with my Netgear DG834G router with success - at last - as I have had three months of dropped connections, constant reboots etc - all now seem to be solved with the changed DNS settings - so give it a go!
Phil // January 21, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I was having a TalkTalk nightmare, never being able to post on a blog, update websites, check webmail, couldn’t send emails even with the right settings - all utterly crap. Followed the suggestions to put in the open dns settings and instantly changed. Their DNS servers must just be useless. Change and see the difference
Joe // January 30, 2007 at 10:15 am
My xbox 360 has a strict NAT how this restricts my gameplay, xbox told me to ring talk talk and ask them to open up some ports but those guys at talk talk don’t seem to have a clue what i’m on about.I have changed my DNS servers to both of the suggestions above but still no difference, please someone help.
Talktalkvictim // February 1, 2007 at 8:32 pm
It took me eight months to get a broadband….despite paing for the so called band with free broadband……I have went without phone for over a week without a word from talktalk……and now I cannot call and no one has any idea why!!!!!!
Paul Saunders // February 25, 2007 at 7:32 pm
I was supposed to br connected up to talktalk today but have not received or heard anything, so when I went to my account page it said there was a probelsm and I should phone them. The reply I got was that there was incompatible equipment on the exchange and I should phone BT, but I have no contract with BT. What’s t his all about. Any help gratefully received.
Kishan // March 17, 2007 at 12:33 pm
I have been having problems with the Netgear DG834G v3 and TalkTalk, with the connection dropping regularly. Took the advice above and have used the OpenDNS DNS settings, and it seems to have solved the problem. Cheers guys.
Jamiesdomain // March 20, 2007 at 11:00 am
Hey great website - As Talk Talk, the landline telephone service from the Carphone Warehouse, continues to anger and frustrate customers with its poor customer service and as they have given me a night mare that I can’t forget. I am working hard to finalize this new website which will give a dynamic overview of all the problems I had with TalkTalk. Anyone want to review it for me.
mcgoo // April 17, 2007 at 10:52 pm
this must be the worst ISP in history the DNS problems are horrific!!
the latest call to the muppets in india was actually quite funny
me: DNS is not working (again!)
talktalk muppet: are you using a modem or router?
me: modem
muppet: ahh this is the problem sir, modems do not use DNS!!
me:(gave detailed expalantion of DNS and the internet)
muppet: I’m sorry sir, I’m not technically minded
me: THEN WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WORKING ON A TECHNICAL SUPORT LINE!!!!!!!!!
It was quite funny
I’ll try the opendns, thanks for the tip
Nik Clause // April 20, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Copied post from a different thread on this forum :
So. Let’s start this way.
I am an advisor within TalkTalk, and I would say I am one of the best technical advisors in the company. I will leave it at that.
I understand that there are plenty of idiots as well, that will give you the wrong information, or just ignore what customers say because they are only in it for the wage.
I, however am not. I know I am only one person, and will probably not be able to help every single person, but I set up this email : talktalkhelper@gmail.com
I won’t answer every query, as I said before, I would be the only one trying. I will however, give advise on advanced problems, or if you feel the regular customer services are being morons (which I do know happens quite a lot) and can’t give you a satisfactory answer.
So lets see, if maybe I can help atleast some of you with issues out there.
¤End of copy from other thread¤
When it comes to the DNS servers, I would say that the options above are good. If you however want to try TalkTalks DNS servers (I know, but decent backups) here is the full list of the DNS servers TalkTalk provide :
62.24.199.10
62.24.199.20
62.24.128.4
62.24.199.13
62.24.199.23
62.24.128.18
62.24.128.17
If you have any other queries, feel free to email me. But please remember, I am alone doing this, so I cant answer every email in seconds.
Regards, Nik.
Shaky // May 13, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Hi all,sorry to see matters aren’t exactly up to spec for most of our customers,but I work for Talktalk at an offshore site and would be more than happy to help anyone out for broadband related issues.
I’d like to join Nik to help you solve any issues you may have.
drop me a mail at:carohit@gmail.com and i’ll get back to you in 24 hrs tops.Please be advised i don’t to billing or voice faults.No access to log tickets where I am.
Also if possible,after i reply,pleases leave a phone number for me to get in touch with you.I’m in monday to monday betwen 3.00 pm and 10.00 pm.
chris ward // May 25, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Hi there, i have recently signed up with talk talk for broadband and phone. I cant seem to connect to my work system anymore (VPN). Im still in my cooling off period so i can leave them and choose another ISP. Does anybody know how to connect to my VPN with Talk Talk? When i was with BT, it was fine, as soon as i switch to Talk Talk, it stopped..please help!!
Shaky // May 27, 2007 at 9:06 am
additionally,I know i sound like a TT muppet,but keep this resource handy.
http://www.halp.talktalk.net.
MTU settings,Dr TCP and my personal favourite:Fsecure uninstalltion tool.
Shaky // May 27, 2007 at 9:07 am
arrrrgghh…please disregard that link.spelling error.
try http://www.help.talktalk.net.
Mat // July 9, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Its a bit disappointing to see this end with comments from talktalk muppets.
I have had no end of problems with the TT BB service. Every call to their tech support results in a “You must call Netgear support as we do not support their routers” (coincidentally I bought it from the very place they recommended when I signed up with them … guess where … yep - Car Phone Warehouse).
Anyway, after 2 calls to Netgear Support which is far advanced in operation to the TalkTalk Muppet Centre, they suggested that I make the following settings and see if I could obtain any stability in my connection ….
In network connections, go to the properties of the LAN connection (my main computer is hard wired to the router - a DG834G V3), select the TCP/IP setting and go to the properties for that and set the DNS servers to 4.2.2.2 and 4.2.2.1
Then set the same DNS servers in the Basic Settings section of the Router admin and see what happens. Whilst I connected pretty much straight away (this was after 2 and a half hours of waiting for a broadband connection with TT settings, and even after trying the OpenDNS settings) I got connected! Then a few mintues later - the dreaded dropped connection again and again, but each time the connection got dropped this time I saw diffferent messages in the test and connection status windows (from the router admin), this time it was telling me that the CHAP authentication had failed. I tried TT settings and still could not get connected (but no mention of the CHAP problem), went back to the Netgear settings and got connected after a minute or so.
To be honest I do not believe it is the router at all, I think it is TT’s service which has a problem with handling authentication requests. I get the impression that they have rolled out this dirt cheap service on dirt cheap hardware and dirt cheap software which cannot handle the huge influx of customers connecting, hence so many of us see dropped or failed connections.
Its a poor quality service, but it is marketed as free so the old adage of ‘you get what you pay for’ couldn’t be more pertinent here. Free = sub-standard, and the tech support is the most appalling I have ever had the occasion to come across (and I used to think that BT had crappy tech support!)
Netgear have good quality products with price tags to match, mix good quality with crap and you are bound to see some sort of failure. It s like sticking metal to wood, it just wont work, and if you can get it to work it wont hold for long.
I will now gladly pay any release fee I have to but will legally contest that later. The main objective now is to get a reliable BB service, that is not one that is stated as being working when it wont allow me to authenticate with the user name and password supplied.
Alex // August 23, 2007 at 3:09 am
i have a 360 and i am trying to get xbox live but the DNS said it was not reached i have a arris cable modem, i have comcast. Please help
Alex // August 23, 2007 at 3:10 am
my e-mail is alexlobo123@hotmail.com
Alex // September 1, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Yes i got it to work i am the best if you have comcast and cant gt it to work ask i know!!!!!!!!
Daz // September 6, 2007 at 6:54 pm
OpenDNS all the way
Paul // September 11, 2007 at 10:59 am
Not sure if this is the problem I am having but would appreciate any help… I have TT BB and using the USB modem they give ya. Everything works fine.
I want to be able to work from home occassionally so I have installed a VPN client (Nortel contivity). As soon as this is installed I can no longer connect to the server / network properly. It kind of half connects - it says connected to TT but then fails when trying to connect to server. So I cant go to any web page or get email even though it says connected. If I uninstall VPN client then it works fine again.
So does anyone know what I might be able to try to sort this out. Anything to do with DNS maybe? thanks
Matt // September 21, 2007 at 12:54 am
i have the DG834GT and talk talk DNS server work then disconnect, basically just go round in that loop. so i tried the openDNS settings and they worked perfectly apart from the speed was really poor, anyway to solve this??
Matt // October 15, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Anybody, like me, sick of seeing “LCP is allowed to come up”?
Bah.
Gotta say though, my Netgear DG834G (v3 i think) works perfectly.
try http://www.speedguide.net for some info.
You MUST MUST MUST set a reserved IP address in router config, and enter
64.24.252.135
64.24.252.134
which are TT’s DNS, also into router config.
Then set up a static IP in TCP/IP properties in windows.
Orsan Kart // November 27, 2007 at 11:16 am
Open DNS is the way forward. I was getting so angry with Talk Talk, then i stumble upon http://www.opendns.com , the site has a great set up page, and one i entered these into my Netgear DG834N the connection and page load time has been flying. I highly recommend them.
Johigh // November 29, 2007 at 12:44 am
Ditto to the message above . I’m using a Netgear DG834G v2 (upgraded firmware) and have been using TalkTalk with very few problems until about a month ago. The main symptom has been sudden and frequent loss of access to web sites with no loss of Internet connection. I tried openDNS today and it seems to have solved the problem completely - its fast, reliable and free.
Android007 // December 4, 2007 at 10:15 pm
OPEN DNS, is fast as hell. I tried it compared to the Primary and Secondary DNS numbers Talk Talk gave me on their hotline. My only question is, since those other DNS numbers are reserved for TT, is there any security implications in using OPEN DNS? Or am I being paranoid?
jo // December 11, 2007 at 12:56 am
Oh the joys of TalkTalk broadband. Won’t go into the various routers I have tried - now using Netgear DG834N, which works fine.
Think I have sussed my intermittent problem with TalkTalk set up: When connecting to TalkTalk Broadband, DHCP is returning 62.24.252.134+135 as DNS servers. These servers seem to be failing lookups intermittently – about 25% of name resolutions time out. Connection can be made to the destination servers by IP address with 100% success so this would be appear to be a DNS issue rather than one of connectivity.
Getting anyone at technical support to understand what I am saying is another matter!
Rob // December 23, 2007 at 10:26 am
I read this about open DNS. The speeds are a massive improvement - but this is a little concerning!
http://www.darknet.org.uk/2007/12/dns-poisoning-getting-serious-phishing-from-open-recursive-dns-servers/
Marcus Luck // January 18, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Hi
I have been stupid enough to transfer to Talk Talk, doh. Whilst I can connect with the hard wired modem I can’t get connected using my wireless 3COM 3CRWDR 100a-72 wireless router. Has anyone managed to get a satisfactory wireless connection with this particular modem? If so what is the secret, please?
What about a national day of picketing Carphone Warehouse branches to help Talk Talk appreciate the shear level of customer dissatisfaction, BBC would love to cover that one.
Best regards
Marcus
Talk talk sux // February 8, 2008 at 3:56 pm
The only time you will get a stable connection to talk talk is @ the times of 12pm -8am
when their shitty “fair usage policy” is unactive.
They are the shittest BB ISP ever!
Im not too fussed on BT’s price for BB, but i think i will just transfer back asap because the problem lies with talk talk, not locally. Their installation cd’s also do not set up the router/modem correctly, ever, their help lines are apauling. Ive actually called them up, told them the solution to my problem, and that i simply cannot remember the command, and still the supposed “techie” insisted i deleted my cookies to solve my error, when the error in the first place was the fact i needed to reset my physical address of my network card using the netsh command from cmd point. Im tired of connecting to the internet then loading google, searching something, clicking on a link and then ohhhh suprise suprise the connection has dropped for the thousandth time.
Im so gutted i didnt goto town with my parents the day they decided to switch ISP.
Put basically, Talk talk aka Carphone warehouse = Mobile phone shop, mobile phone shops are not broadband providers and their “free” this and free that is a big scam, no wonder their contract is 18months.
wordsmith // February 10, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Looking for a solution to your complaint whilst using TalkTalk, kindly mail me and I will return ASAP. I “m alone so need a little time to reply but assure you to give a Solution and NOT remain a part of the problem
Optikal // February 13, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Hey guys.
I switched to TalkTalk from BT back in november and up until yesterday i’ve had no problems. (I dealt with Tiscali and BT, so i thought TalkTalk was fantastic!)
Anyway, these past 24 hours i’ve been getting a loss of broadband and my Vista diagnostics is claiming it’s a…. yep, you guessed it!…. a DNS error!
So i call TalkTalk’s ‘TURN MODEM ON AND OFF PLEASE SIR!” ‘Tech Support’. to no avail. In fact, i called them at 9.45 last night and after going through the usual list of turning things on and off, he asked me to turn off my laptop, leave it for ten minute and then call back if that didn’t work. I did as he asked and guess what? They were closed ’til the morning!
So i call back this morning and muppet #25732 tells me to reset my router (which i did) and then got me up on a wired connection. I told him i need the wireless connection up and secure and he refers me to Wireless ‘Support’.
This guy actually speaks multisyllable English so we get through the pain of resecuring and configuring the router relatively quickly. Back up, back online. Excellent.
Or so i thought.
All day i’ve been suffering a drop in connection, all related to those dreaded the letters. DNS. Then it’ll randomly come back on! (Usually as i’m sat listening to their call centre queue music)
So kinda knowing that i’m not going to get anywhere with the International Support Group they call ‘Technical Support’, i need to find a way of preventing the DNS from dropping out again. The thing is, i’m not overly technically minded and i’m not sure exactly how to change this OpenDNS lark.
If anyone can help, I’m running:
An EchoLife HG520 (Bought from TalkTalk)
Windows Vista Basic
Muchos Gracias in advance chaps!
SiMo // February 17, 2008 at 7:31 am
Setting DNS to OpenDNS is really easy. These are the instructions (for an Echolife) taken from the OpenDNS site (which you may not be able to access if you have problems).
Overview
1. Visit the router’s IP address in a new browser window.
2. On the left hand panel, click Basic.
3. Click DHCP on the expanded menu.
4. Enter OpenDNS addresses in Primary DNS Server and Secondary DNS Server fields, then click the Submit button.
1. Visit the router’s IP address in a new browser window.
The standard address of the router’s config is 192.168.1.1. (If you have forwarded port 80 to another machine, the location becomes 192.168.1.1:8080.)
2. On the left hand panel, click Basic.
3. Click DHCP on the expanded menu.
4. Enter OpenDNS addresses in Primary DNS Server and Secondary DNS Server fields, then click the Submit button.
Please write down your current DNS settings before switching to OpenDNS, in case you want to return to your old settings for any reason.
The addresses for OpenDNS are:
* 208.67.222.222
* 208.67.220.220
Good luck! I have been using OpenDNS for months now with excellent results.
Simon
F. Diesel // April 16, 2008 at 6:12 pm
I am not a techi, my son is ,thank goodness.
We have the set-up going now…I need to take pills after this little battle… One good thing.. I have Kubuntu and not Windows, what a joy.
Joe // April 22, 2008 at 12:26 pm
I’ve just signed up to Talk Talk and waiting to be conected. I have a Netgear DG834G v3 router which Talk Talk say is suppported. I am not a techie and reading your blog it looks as if there could be problems. Any advice would be welcome.
Richard // May 15, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Finally fixed my Talk Talk BB. Problem turns out to be a number of things for me.
Brand new Dell Vostro, XP Pro, Netgear wireless dg824m (1.4 firmware)
1) Changed DNS servers to opendns settings.
2) Statically change your network connections to match the opendns settings.
3) Reduce the MTU size to 1400.
4) Reboot. Do not just flush the DNS from a command prompt, mine did not clear.
Hey Presto….All sorted after about 3 weeks of trying to convince Talk Talk they had a problem. Can now get onto messenger, facebook profile page and other pages that were unavailable.
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