WiFi/DNS issue

[miner2049er]

I am running Super Zaxxon 1.71 and I'm having a weird issue.

Sometimes I can connect to my wireless network and sometimes I can't. It's more reliable with a USB adaptor.

When I am connected I can use text based apps to ping IP Addresses and DNS names both internally and externally.
The Links browser will also connect me to websites by both IP Address and DNS name.

If I try to use a GUI app such as Firefox, Midori, Filezilla, gFTP, I cannot connect to anything by DNS name but I can with an IP Address.

The only GUI app I have got to work is pndmanager which will download and install apps for me but I'm not sure if that uses a DNS name or an IP address for the lookup.

Any ideas?

 

[TrashyMG]

There have been significant updates since SZ 1.71, including some WIFI stability tweaks. Not to mention a ton of changes recently that improves battery life. I suggest reflashing to the latest 1.75.

 

[miner2049er]

Thanks.

I applied the update wjhich was successful and the Pandora now conntects to my network more reliably.

I do still have a weird DNS issue though.

If I use Links (text based browser) I can surf the web by using DNS names and hyperlinks but neither Firefox or Midori will do the same. They will browse to a site by IP but not by DNS name.

 

[Taeko]

I too have sometimes problems with wifi. If I connect to a standard wifi access there are no problems. But if I connect to a hotspot via android or Apple device it cannot load anything. Maybe my pandy just doesnt like smartphones.

 

[TrashyMG]

I do still have a weird DNS issue though.

Honestly not sure about DNS issues. Not sure if you have an ip4 or ip6 setup, but you can check if those settings are set to auto. outside of your router's DHCP settings should handle assigning that like any other device.

 

[miner2049er]

I too have sometimes problems with wifi. If I connect to a standard wifi access there are no problems. But if I connect to a hotspot via android or Apple device it cannot load anything. Maybe my pandy just doesnt like smartphones.

Mine is the other way around, it seems to work if I connect via my phone.

Honestly not sure about DNS issues. Not sure if you have an ip4 or ip6 setup, but you can check if those settings are set to auto. outside of your router's DHCP settings should handle assigning that like any other device.

Could be it, I'll have a look.

 

[levi]

I'm also a little confused by the way some apps work (mainly command line) and some don't. I'm thinking that maybe there's some GTK-based network settings that aren't exposed to my shell. I can't see anything in my shell's variables that tell utilities like 'links' what network gateway or DNS settings to use, but they must be communicated somehow.

FWIW, on some of my network cards I have to bypass DHCP by setting static everything because otherwise it can't negotiate a connection with my router. But that stops it connecting, and stops anything accessing the network.

 

[miner2049er]

Seems it was a DNS issue after all.

I was using my Virgin Router for DNS so I installed DNS on my Windows 2012 Server and switched to that and it seems to be working normally now.

Interestingly the same issue affected a laptop I have running Xubuntu so it isn't limited to the Pandora.

Must be something in the Virgin Router DNS Service.