Eircom DSL - DNS Lookups Slow

Germag · 07-07-2009 3:10pm

I had little or no trouble playing poker on various poker sites last night, on both my iMac and a Dell PC but could not get e-mail on Mail ( Mac ) or outlook (PC). Could not connect to Safari, Firefox or Explorer on either Mac or PC. everything seams to be OK now. If I change to Opendns will I have to change settings on my internet radio (Reciva)?

MunsterCycling · 07-07-2009 3:38pm

Not if you change the DNS settings on the router, all depends how you setup the internet radio.

MC

Duff Man Jr. · 07-07-2009 3:40pm

Dont know if this is related but when I go to eircom.ie it brings me to google.ie.
Eircom.net look fine however certain links(products & my bill) redirect me to google.ie. The address for thrse is http://clk.tradedoubler.com/............

I switched to opendns servers, Is the fault on eircoms side?

frank123 · 07-07-2009 3:46pm

eircom email reply to query this morning
In regards to your query, we are currently experiencing a system wide
outage. This is an intermittent issue and normal service shall resume
ASAP. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. Thank you.

Germag · 07-07-2009 3:51pm

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Not if you change the DNS settings on the router, all depends how you setup the internet radio.

MC

When I switch on the radio it scans until it finds Eircom 3105, then connects to whatever station is requested, so it would appear that I would have to change the settings if I went Open, would this be correct?

amacachi · 07-07-2009 3:53pm

Sully wrote: »

Love the excuse..

Well I'm sure the irregular nature of traffic in certain parts of the network were to blame, so it's not like they're out and out lying. :P

Othello · 07-07-2009 4:14pm

There is a message on http://support.eircom.net

INTERNET SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Customers may have recently experienced delays in web browsing and may have been unable to access the Internet. In some cases, customers may have been redirected to incorrect websites.
This issue has been caused by an unusual and irregular volume of internet traffic being directed onto our network, and this impacted the systems and servers that provide access to the Internet for our customers.
eircom is working continuously to minimise the impact for customers and has taken a number of steps, including software updates and hardware interventions, to fully restore internet service.

measurement · 07-07-2009 4:50pm

aidanodr wrote: »

Hey measurement,

Yip this is an issue with Eircom Email address POP and SMTP settings when setting up the account in outlook. That is even if you have another non eircom addy you have to set the smtp server to mail1.eircom.net or mail.eircom.net.

Re the abroad thing - I switched to GMAIL a while back. In GMAIL you can add up to 5 other email addresses you use to its settings. GMAIL then collects mail centrally for all these addresses.

I find it interesting you can only recieve and not send. You may need to further tweak the OUTLOOK settings. In outlook settings you generally have MORE SETTINGS, then a tab OUTGOING SERVER, tick "My outgoing server ( smtp ) requires authentication" and either select the "use same settings as incoming" OR type in your account username / pword again. I think their is something similar in Outlook express.

I use both MOZILLA Thunderbird and Eudora as email clients here with Eircom addresses AND using OPEN DNS IP's with no difficulty. I dont think changing DNS IP addresses is your problem here? Again Its just my opinion, others may disagree ..

Aidan

Thanks Aidan,
As I understand it (and confirmed by the warning on the Eircom.net site, where the settings are) they actively prevent anyone who is on another ISP - e.g. a hotel wireless service from using mail1.eircom.net on the SMTP. This is why they say, so cryptically, that you have to use webmail in this case, i.e. go to the eircom.net site to pick up your mail. Occasionally something slips through (one of the servers hasn't been updated to block 'foreign' material).

I imagine this blocking will kick in if I change the DNS, and since I have hundreds of regular correspondents that I have finally persuaded to use my current email address, I don't want to start all over again with a new general email account.

I actually use GMAIL and pick it up on Outlook, though I generally use it for purchases and registrations on the internet, so that spam isn't a problem. I also have other companys' email addresses, as I provide services to several organisations, and they like to have the mail sent from their accounts. Really messy, I know. When I'm abroad, I sometimes start sending from GMAIL, but then have to untangle the chaos that causes afterwards, when the responses come to the wrong addresses.

So, while I will, if the problem arises again, find my wireless router pwd, the Netopia (way before wireless) pwd, and change the DNS, I'll be expecting to then have the other email problem.
Thanks again,
M

lostexpectation · 07-07-2009 8:58pm

Othello wrote: »

There is a message on http://support.eircom.net

INTERNET SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

"an unusual and irregular volume of internet traffic being directed onto our network"

and what does that mean

kleefarr · 07-07-2009 9:07pm

Haven't had to reset my modem so far, but speed is terrible.

ISP - Postgem???

Sully · 07-07-2009 9:21pm

measurement wrote: »

I imagine this blocking will kick in if I change the DNS, and since I have hundreds of regular correspondents that I have finally persuaded to use my current email address, I don't want to start all over again with a new general email account.

This is not based on your DNS servers, it is based on your IP. That is, if you switch to another ISP you will not be granted access to use their server for mail. Changing the DNS Server ONLY effects applications looking to translate a domain (www.example.com) into an IP (192.168.1.2). You can continue to use Eircom for your mail and OpenDNS for the DNS.

lostexpectation wrote: »

"an unusual and irregular volume of internet traffic being directed onto our network"

and what does that mean

Well, it doesnt explain things but in general it means that the amount of people using their DNS servers increased beyond what they consider normal. Also, some of those using the DNS servers did so incorrectly such to say that possibly a light reference to someone misusing their servers to point domain names elsewhere, which is what happened.

Possibly the servers went offline - blaming high traffic. The rest of the complaints - irregular (not normal) traffic/use/behaviour.

lostexpectation · 07-07-2009 9:35pm

Sully wrote: »

This is not based on your DNS servers, it is based on your IP. That is, if you switch to another ISP you will not be granted access to use their server for mail. Changing the DNS Server ONLY effects applications looking to translate a domain (www.example.com) into an IP (192.168.1.2). You can continue to use Eircom for your mail and OpenDNS for the DNS.

Well, it doesnt explain things but in general it means that the amount of people using their DNS servers increased beyond what they consider normal. Also, some of those using the DNS servers did so incorrectly such to say that possibly a light reference to someone misusing their servers to point domain names elsewhere, which is what happened.

Possibly the servers went offline - blaming high traffic. The rest of the complaints - irregular (not normal) traffic/use/behaviour.

so they deliberately didn't tackle the issue, why not mention the fix of using opendns?

Sully · 07-07-2009 9:48pm

lostexpectation wrote: »

so they deliberately didn't tackle the issue, why not mention the fix of using opendns?

If you read the rest of the press release, it says they did tackle the issue.

eircom is working continuously to minimise the impact for customers and has taken a number of steps, including software updates and hardware interventions, to fully restore internet service.

There never going to recommend another service. There supposed to provide working DNS servers as an ISP, and fix any issues that arrise. Thats like saying "Move to EsatBT while your internet is down with us"!

aidanodr · 07-07-2009 9:50pm

Sully wrote: »

This is not based on your DNS servers, it is based on your IP. That is, if you switch to another ISP you will not be granted access to use their server for mail. Changing the DNS Server ONLY effects applications looking to translate a domain (www.example.com) into an IP (192.168.1.2). You can continue to use Eircom for your mail and OpenDNS for the DNS.

Hey Sully,

An interesting phenomonen arises around all this, particularly for companies using Eircom BBand.

ABC ltd has a website / hosted space with domain name www.abc.com and setup pop email addys with this domain address. Difficulties can arise where one sets the SMTP ( Outgoing mail ) to mail.abc.com, in alot of cases where the POP ( incoming mail ) is set to mail.abc.com the SMTP needs to be set to mail1.eircom.net while using Eircom BBand. This to perform properly!

measurement wrote: »

I imagine this blocking will kick in if I change the DNS, and since I have hundreds of regular correspondents that I have finally persuaded to use my current email address, I don't want to start all over again with a new general email account.

As Sully said - your issue is the public IP ( dynamic ) assigned to you and your router NOT The DNS. As I have said many times I have been using OPEN DNS for two years or more WITH Eircom addys setup in my email client. All works fine. DNS servers are for domain name to IP addy translation services. Pop / Smtp / Mapi servers along with things like MX Records and so on handle the mail side. ( All kept simple ish again ).

My reference to GMAIL was you can add your Eircom account to the settings in GMAIL. Hence forth the Gmail "Client" in your browser will centrally collect mail for your gmail account AND your Eircom Account. You then benefit from the Gmail Spam filtering features with both addresses. You can setup up to 4 extra mail addys inside Gmail.

With respect to composing / sending mail in a Gmail setup like above - You can choose which addy to send from at the time of composing the mail. Either the Gmail or the Eircom account.

Aidan

lostexpectation · 07-07-2009 9:51pm

if they being attacked they didn't say so, they deliberately didn't say so, eircom have stalled and stalled of accepting theres a problem, you may say we'll fix as soon as we can, but you put something else in place in the mean time. rather then pretend there's no problem. even putting the google ip workaround in their statement would help the overloaded phone system.

Sully · 07-07-2009 10:18pm

aidanodr wrote: »

Hey Sully,

An interesting phenomonen arises around all this, particularly for companies using Eircom BBand.

ABC ltd has a website / hosted space with domain name www.abc.com and setup pop email addys with this domain address. Difficulties can arise where one sets the SMTP ( Outgoing mail ) to mail.abc.com, in alot of cases where the POP ( incoming mail ) is set to mail.abc.com the SMTP needs to be set to mail1.eircom.net while using Eircom BBand. This to perform properly!

Lots of email providers/ISPs have different servers for dealing with incoming/outgoing mail though. Some use the same, but others do use different ones. Like many hosts have several servers for DNS and the main website.

lostexpectation wrote: »

if they being attacked they didn't say so, they deliberately didn't say so, eircom have stalled and stalled of accepting theres a problem, you may say we'll fix as soon as we can, but you put something else in place in the mean time. rather then pretend there's no problem. even putting the google ip workaround in their statement would help the overloaded phone system.

Most companys will never directly admit to being the source of an attack, and besides, its pretty much speculation as we never got a direct admition. All we have are the symptoms and in the press releases there seems to be a hint ("an unusual and irregular volume of internet traffic being directed onto our network") but its never directly admitted.

The statement was released after the problems were fixed. Since most people could not access the Eircom website when the problems were there, it would have been pointless. There was a phone announcement before you reached any customer care agent advising they are aware and working on the issue. It would be to awkward and confusing to explain over the phone to everyone to switch - even on Boards a lot of people are still confused even when its in black and white! I don't see the problem with them not taking time to go into specifics and also explain an alternative system, which I explained in my earlier reply to you.

amacachi · 07-07-2009 10:22pm

Looks like it's happening a-bloody-gain.

tinkerbell · 07-07-2009 10:24pm

*sigh* It's happening again. Only boards.ie seems to be working properly.

AAARGH EIRCOM, GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER, THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

jonski · 07-07-2009 10:24pm

I changed to opendns last night and all was good .... until about 5 minutes ago .. completely borked here in Limerick.... surfing is grand but teamspeak is unusable and game playing is a no no .

amacachi · 07-07-2009 10:27pm

Boards, google and Xbox Live only things working, can't even get onto Open DNS.

Sully · 07-07-2009 10:27pm

jonski wrote: »

I changed to opendns last night and all was good .... until about 5 minutes ago .. completely borked here in Limerick.... surfing is grand but teamspeak is unusable and game playing is a no no .

Were those services working since you moved to OpenDNS? If you have not tried, you may need to update those applications settings. If it has worked, then I am unsure.

highlydebased · 07-07-2009 10:27pm

jonski wrote: »

I changed to opendns last night and all was good .... until about 5 minutes ago .. completely borked here in Limerick.... surfing is grand but teamspeak is unusable and game playing is a no no .

Exact same here

sideshowsue · 07-07-2009 10:30pm

I changed to OpenDNS a few days ago and all was great...until about an hour ago. Pages are consistently timing out right now.

Sar! · 07-07-2009 10:30pm

On OpenDNS here as well and all of sudden in past 10mins its almost ground to a halt....

hopalong85 · 07-07-2009 10:31pm

Same as all the above, changed to opendns last night, all was fine up to about 15 mins ago. can only use boards and facebook now. wtf. :mad:

BeatFreak · 07-07-2009 10:32pm

Problems started again about 10 minutes ago. Boards is about the only thing working atm. Using opendns servers. Wicklow town.

shoegirl · 07-07-2009 10:32pm

DNS servers sometimes do other things, especially if they are running on the back of a server or device thats doing something else (for example a server thats providing other services, or a cisco router thats configured to listen for DNS queries and look them up from its own host table), its quite likely they've been hounded as a first point of attack, very convenient way to divert traffic to a virus or scam site if the attacked is an ISP.

Sully · 07-07-2009 10:33pm

OpenDNS -- The Settings

Since it seems the problem has occured again with Eircom, with some unable to access OpenDNS - I have attached a PDF with instructions on how to change your DNS away from Eircom.

In brief;
Name servers: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220
Firefox: Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Network -> Settings.

For the rest, see attached PDF.

As your computer/browser has its own cache, if OpenDNS has failed.. try clearing your cache.

Start -> Run -> cmd -> ipconfig /flushdns

aidanodr · 07-07-2009 10:35pm

Guys,

Is BROWSING working with OpenDns? Also clear out your browser caches?

I see teamspeak mentioned, Im wondering are other services outside of DNS being affected now?

Teamspeak is a VOIP app? May not use DNS, actually probably does not. Will also use different ports. Is Skype working?

Aidan

aidan_dunne · 07-07-2009 10:36pm

Yep, same here. It was grand all day up until about 15 minutes ago when it started acting up again. Boards is one of the few sites still working reasonably for me, everything else is crawling along at sub dial-up speeds or not working at all. OpenDNS settings don't seem to be working now either.

Eircom DSL - DNS Lookups Slow

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