On Tue, 06 Jun 2000 20:37:11 -0500, Glenn McCorkle wrote:
> They must have changed their DNS.
> Try using mine and see if it works.
> (main) 204.179.144.2
> (alt) 204.179.144.150
Then Dale Mentzer wrote:
> This sounds just like what happens if you don't have any DNS
> addresses entered in setup. Possibly they have changed or they may be
> doing dynamic DNS assignment at login (I think some ISPs do this
> now). Have you tried logging on with a Windoze browser that is setup
> for this provider? In Arachne you might want to try entering a
> numeric URL (http://123.345.678.0, I think that is the format) and see
> if that works. The failure to access your POP/SMTP mail servers is
> puzzling. I hope this helps.
>
Thanks for the tips, chaps! But now I've got further questions! I did
indeed try entering 'other' DNS numbers (that is, ones other than what
Onetel gave me) and it seems to work now - at least, it's worked every
time I've tried it, but that's only maybe half a dozen times so far.
The questions I'd like answered are these: if you can put any DNS
number in the box, why does an ISP supply a specific one? Am I right in
thinking that the DNS points the browser to a sort of look-up table that
translates www.something.com into a nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn, which actually
refers to a computer on the network? If so, is there a list of all the
translators worldwide that can be used to do this? If that's the case,
why don't ISPs simply issue that list to allow you to pick one? Is the
DNS that an ISP issues proprietary to that ISP? What's the point of
dynamically changing the DNS?
One further question: asuming that my reasoning about using any DNS
numbers is wrong and that it is critical in some way which one you use,
what is going to happen to Arachne if more and more ISPs start changing
their DNSs dynamically so that the number that is stored in Arachne's
set-up is then invalid? Are there any plans to make Arachne cope with
dynamic DNS?
Sorry about all the dumb questions, but you can see that my
understanding of this DNS caper isn't what it should be. Perhaps there
should be an FAQ on DNS. Perhaps there will be, after this!!!
Also sorry, Dale - I couldn't try a windoze browser. I don't have
one! (Faithful to the last - or something....!)
Thanks again for the help.
Ron.
