As I lamented, Comcast is having some severe service interruptions. Mine have continued intermittently for almost a month. According to reports, the issues stem from Comcast’s DNS servers, so Josh found an easy fix you can do yourself (other than switching, obviously) – changing your computer’s preferred DNS server.
(Note: Your mileage may vary. This may not work for you. Please record all your setting so you can revert if needed. Also, you may need to change your router settings as well.)
If you’re using Windows XP, 2000, 2003 or similar, you can easily change your own DNS settings:
To change DNS servers:
- Right click on the My Network Places icon on the desktop and select Properties. (If the icon is not available, go to Start menu | My Computer | My Network Places | View Network Connections.)
- Locate
the network connection that is associated with your Internet
connection. This may be labeled something like “Local Area Connection.”
If you have more than one connection to choose from, be sure you
determine the right one before proceeding.- Right click on the appropriate connection and select Properties.
- In the list that appears under the General tab, double click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
- In the window that appears, you want to select the option to Use the following DNS server addresses…
At
this point you will want to enter at least one of your personal
preferred DNS servers. [NOTE: See list below.]- Press Ok out of all windows until you are back to the Network Connections window. You can now open your web browser and browse to a website to see if it connects faster.
Publicly Available DNS Servers:
4.2.2.1
4.2.2.2
4.2.2.3
4.2.2.4
4.2.2.5
199.166.24.253
199.166.27.253
199.166.28.10
199.166.29.3
199.166.31.3
195.117.6.25
204.57.55.100
Handy Windows Screenshots are online at Open-RSC.org
How to change DNS Servers on Windows, Unix, Mac, and others.