Why can't I change DNS servers in the SH3?
 

I've been having some DNS problems every now and again with some websites failing to open because of DNS errors so I thought I'd just log in to my SH3 and change to the Google DNS servers or the OpenDNS servers but it looks like you can't.

I just don't understand why Virgin Media would release a piece of hardware without this essential feature? Does that mean that I now need to buy a decent router from another company and run the SH3 in modem only mode to get this feature?

If so what router should I get? I have a budget of around £150 I guess.

Thanks for any help :).

Edit: Or is it possible to just set the DNS settings in Windows 10 just for my computer as it doesn't really matter for the other machines on the network?

Re: Why can't I change DNS servers in the SH3?
 

Re: Why can't I change DNS servers in the SH3?
 

Think of it from Virgin's perspective - every additional option in their equipment is something else to train agents on, something else customers can fiddle with to break their systems and something else to go wrong. From Virgin's perspective, it's not "essential" at all, it's a needless expense that won't benefit 99% of their users but will cause issues for some.

This is a capital idea. The more popular routers at the moment are Asus' which fit nicely into your budget. You could get the N66-U, probably the most popular of their routers, for about £85 but being wireless-n it's starting to show its age a bit. I'd say if you have the budget, swing for an AC model and future proof yourself.

They have features up the wazoo, they're reliable and the firmware is great. On my N66-U, I have no problem maxing out my 200mbit on wireless, I haven't used Virgin's DNS for years either.

Re: Why can't I change DNS servers in the SH3?
 

Thanks.

I guess although I'd find it pretty useful given that I am getting DNS errors at times trying to access certain sites.

I'll look into that. Thanks for the tip.

Re: Why can't I change DNS servers in the SH3?
 

For £150 I would highly recommend the Asus AC68u. I bought it in February and absolutely love it.

As Kosh said (and I go on and on about it being a basic and essential feature in my rants in other router threads) it is another feature which VM have got to support. From their end they can see if their dns servers and whatever else on the network which is essential for your connection to be up is up is up and running. Just imagine if you changed your dns server to google, went to work and google's dns goes down your wife rings VM and says the internet connection is down because she can't open Hotmail.com. Troubleshooting connectivity issues can be taxing enough and throwing dns in to the mix which most people wouldn't understand (customers) just makes it even more complicated and the only way an agent would could address the issue is if he logged in to the shub and checked the settings himself.

I understand VM's stance on this and tbh I agree with them. For those of us who are fussy enough to want to change our dns servers it follows that we would also be fussy enough to want our own 3rd party router anyway because it would offer more than one benefit over the shub.

Re: Why can't I change DNS servers in the SH3?
 

I can see why VM do it, but on the other hand they should offer the option to change it, especially for times when their DNS has issues.

I'm using google on mine, so didn't even notice the outage yesterday

Re: Why can't I change DNS servers in the SH3?
 

In the world of IT, 99% of issues are down to DNS. Even when you are 100% sure it's not DNS, it's probably DNS. Anything you can do to reduce that is a good thing.

I agree that for those of us who give a damn, we wouldn't trust Virgin's DNS in the slightest. From Virgin's perspective, the cost to supporting user-configured DNS would far outweigh the cost of just ensuring their own DNS is stable.

Of course that cost is apparently not high on their list...

Re: Why can't I change DNS servers in the SH3?
 

That is my point. I have lost count of the number of times we have had this conversation over the last couple of years. New users come on complaining of dns outages and we all sit here saying we honestly havent noticed anything because we use google dns.
i understand why vm force you to use their dns servers but if they want to be that strict about it they need to have a higher degree of fault tollerance because whatever it is at the moment just isnt good enough.

Re: Why can't I change DNS servers in the SH3?
 

You're not allowed to change it so that VM can control what sites you can visit in accordance with the EU and UK censureship via the DNS lookup. That's why you must use external DNS lookup.

Re: Why can't I change DNS servers in the SH3?
 

...that's not the reason at all and even using external DNS doesn't stop Virgin Blocking specific sites.

Re: Why can't I change DNS servers in the SH3?
 

Ya, that is done by the isp which is why you need to use a vpn to get round it.