This topic

Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

Raymondo999 — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 23:29:08 GMT

I have a Smart Hub 2. The one where you can't manually configure the DNS Servers 😠

At least once a week, all new web page requests stop responding with a DNS server error.

I'm a software dev and I work from home. When it happens my VPN connection to work does not drop at this point, any active streaming connection does not drop either. It is simply new requests not finding BT's DNS.

Has anyone else seen this happen? Any idea what could be causing it? I have reset the router to factory settings but it hasn't helped.

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

licquorice — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 08:24:50 GMT

If you are using a VPN you are not using BT's DNS servers, you are using your VPN provider's servers.

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

Raymondo999 — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 08:37:30 GMT

Web requests from my home devices stop working, the browser error mentions DNS.

My VPN connection to work stays alive.

It is definitely a problem with my router connecting to BT DNS.

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

licquorice — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 08:57:57 GMT

But surely the DNS requests will be going via the VPN, not to BT's DNS servers.

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

Raymondo999 — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 09:13:22 GMT

Hi, thanks for replying but can you please re-read the posts carefully?

All home devices do not use any sort of VPN, these all fail twice a week and need a restart because of BTs DNS problems.

However, my laptop VPN connection to work never fails. Even when the home devices can't find web pages, the VPN connection on my work laptop stays alive. This proves it is not a connection problem with my broadband, it is simply new web requests coming from my router can't find a BT DNS Server. A router restart fixes it.

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

licquorice — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 09:18:53 GMT

I think you need to read your original post carefully. Nowhere does it mention that you are using different devices for work and home.

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

caravanj — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 10:34:36 GMT

@Raymondo999

To answer the first of your questions, no, I've never had any DNS problems with our BT Smart Hub 2 or with our VPN router that piggybacks off the SH2.

You could always use the DNS Jumper free programme.

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

gg30340 — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 12:24:09 GMT

Do you have BT Web Protect activated. If you do try turning it off.

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

Raymondo999 — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 12:38:35 GMT

Thanks, it was on, didn't know it even existed on my account.
I'll try that and see how it goes.

You know of this causing problems in the past?

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

Raymondo999 — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 12:39:13 GMT

Apologies

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

gg30340 — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 12:39:54 GMT

@Raymondo999 wrote:

Thanks, it was on, didn't know it even existed on my account.
I'll try that and see how it goes.

You know of this causing problems in the past?

Yes.

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

Paulss — Thu, 02 May 2024 08:50:23 GMT

Hi. I have been having the same problem for years. Being unable to talk to anybody in BT who had a clue about basic networking, in desperation I got BT to replace the hub with a new one. I still get the issue approximately every 10-15 days where all connected devices suddenly fail to resolve DNS addresses and I have to restart the BT hub to fix it.

Did turning off Web Protect make any difference to you?

Thanks

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

MiteBe — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 10:08:18 GMT

I have exactly the same problem, not every week, more like once a month but it's pretty consistent. And I suffer exactly the same problem as the original post. There are no "DNS" entries in the technical log and nothing else is implying a problem. The link was clearly up as I was having no problem in my conference calls but everyone else in the house had problems. (Blue lights on the hub, could ping servers around the world, nothing in the log)

I'm suspecting it's either the Hub having some sort of problem (memory leak ???) or the DNS severs are not responding. I would've thought it would be front page news if the BT DNS servers stopped working, so I strongly suspect the Hub is having some sort of fit/memory loss.

This has happened many times and when I did report it out of mischievousness to see what troubleshooting took place then end result was nothing could be seen (at either end) and I was instructed reboot the hub....and it all came back.

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

Raymondo999 — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 12:15:20 GMT

I managed to fix this by turning off IPv6 in the router.
Not a great fix but it worked for me and I haven't had to restart it since.

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

Raymondo999 — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 12:16:47 GMT

I also had Web Protect OFF. Maybe that also helped.
But it didn't work on it's own, turning off IPv6 was the only thing that worked fully.

Re: Smart Hub 2. Have to restart at least once a week because DNS Servers stop responding.

Paulss — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 11:30:45 GMT

I also have turned off IPv6 in the BT hub. It seems to have reduced the DNS not responding problem significantly.