Slow responses

uniquark · ‎11-14-2016

I've been using OpenDNS for some years now and have been very happy with it. Whenever I have tested it, it has been much faster than my local ISP's DNS. However, about a week ago, I noticed that some pages are taking much longer to load than expected. Examples include Google's search and results pages, speediest.com and other fairly complex pages. Simple, static pages, such as my own editide.com, were still loading quickly. On a whim this morning, I switch my DNS back to my local ISP's servers and the problem instantly disappeared. Switching to Google's DNS (8.8.8.8) also gave me snappy loads on all the problematic pages. Switching back to the OpenDNS servers did not, at first, return me to the sluggish behavior. However, after about an hour, I was back to slow loads on dynamic pages.

rotblitz · ‎11-14-2016

Copy & paste the complete plain text outputs of the following diagnostic commands here:

nslookup -type=txt debug.opendns.com.

nslookup whoami.akamai.net.

tracert 208.67.222.222

tracert 8.8.8.8

Also tell me if you have these issues when executing these commands.

uniquark · ‎11-14-2016

Ok, here goes. Since I don't know if the choice of DNS server affects these commands and because you did not specify which DNS server I should be using when I'm running these commands, I ran them twice, first with Google's DNS and second with OpenDNS. Also, note that tracert is not a command on my system (Yosemite), so I replaced it with what I assume is the equivalent Mac version.

***********With Google's DNS****************

Alderamin:~ john$ nslookup -type=txt debug.opendns.com

Server: 8.8.8.8

Address: 8.8.8.8#53

** server can't find debug.opendns.com: NXDOMAIN

Alderamin:~ john$ nslookup whoami.akamai.net

Server: 8.8.8.8

Address: 8.8.8.8#53

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: whoami.akamai.net

Address: 74.125.44.89

Alderamin:~ john$ traceroute 208.67.222.222

traceroute to 208.67.222.222 (208.67.222.222), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets

1 192.168.1.254 (192.168.1.254) 1.973 ms 0.948 ms 0.565 ms

2 dcvt-69-50-60-10.pivot.net (69.50.60.10) 33.812 ms 34.113 ms 33.112 ms

3 rcvt-aa.pivot.net (69.50.60.1) 33.667 ms 34.473 ms 33.996 ms

4 static-burl-mse-71-161-109-1.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (71.161.109.1) 37.120 ms 37.011 ms

static-burl-mse-71-161-108-21.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (71.161.108.21) 36.864 ms

5 burl-lnk-70-109-168-183.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.183) 37.789 ms 38.245 ms

burl-lnk-70-109-168-155.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.155) 38.484 ms

6 burl-lnk-70-109-168-134.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.134) 37.562 ms

burl-lnk-70-109-168-136.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.136) 37.099 ms

burl-lnk-70-109-168-134.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.134) 36.757 ms

7 xe-2-0-0.mpr3.bos2.us.above.net (208.184.223.237) 43.926 ms 43.207 ms 43.887 ms

8 ae7.cr1.lga5.us.zip.zayo.com (64.125.21.226) 49.212 ms 48.374 ms 49.316 ms

9 ae2.er3.lga5.us.zip.zayo.com (64.125.31.214) 50.963 ms 49.342 ms 49.723 ms

10 zayo-ntt.lga5.us.zip.zayo.com (64.125.12.6) 49.099 ms 51.033 ms 49.252 ms

11 ae-3.r07.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.6.176) 47.289 ms 47.238 ms 48.252 ms

12 xe-0-9-0-24.r07.nycmny01.us.ce.gin.ntt.net (129.250.12.250) 46.141 ms 47.613 ms 46.815 ms

13 resolver1.opendns.com (208.67.222.222) 46.671 ms 47.149 ms 47.193 ms

Alderamin:~ john$ traceroute 8.8.8.8

traceroute to 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets

1 192.168.1.254 (192.168.1.254) 0.953 ms 0.420 ms 0.393 ms

2 dcvt-69-50-60-10.pivot.net (69.50.60.10) 34.279 ms 34.027 ms 34.298 ms

3 rcvt-aa.pivot.net (69.50.60.1) 33.779 ms 34.418 ms 34.332 ms

4 static-burl-mse-71-161-108-21.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (71.161.108.21) 37.435 ms 37.031 ms

static-71-181-125-253.man.east.myfairpoint.net (71.181.125.253) 37.511 ms

5 burl-lnk-70-109-168-183.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.183) 38.078 ms 38.121 ms

burl-lnk-70-109-168-155.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.155) 36.494 ms

6 burl-lnk-70-109-168-136.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.136) 37.312 ms 37.695 ms

burl-lnk-70-109-168-134.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.134) 37.478 ms

7 xe-2-0-0.mpr3.bos2.us.above.net (208.184.223.237) 43.362 ms 42.637 ms 43.293 ms

8 ae7.cr1.lga5.us.zip.zayo.com (64.125.21.226) 48.307 ms 48.538 ms 49.123 ms

9 ae1.cr2.lga5.us.zip.zayo.com (64.125.29.38) 47.048 ms 48.715 ms 48.956 ms

10 ae3.er4.lga5.us.zip.zayo.com (64.125.31.246) 46.789 ms 47.729 ms 47.255 ms

11 72.14.223.26 (72.14.223.26) 47.026 ms 47.264 ms 46.328 ms

12 64.233.175.251 (64.233.175.251) 50.583 ms

72.14.232.109 (72.14.232.109) 49.770 ms

64.233.175.251 (64.233.175.251) 49.542 ms

13 108.170.235.25 (108.170.235.25) 49.304 ms

108.170.238.199 (108.170.238.199) 51.536 ms

108.170.238.203 (108.170.238.203) 49.643 ms

14 google-public-dns-a.google.com (8.8.8.8) 49.359 ms 48.378 ms 47.317 ms

***********With OpenDNS****************

Note that when I began running these commands, pages were loading quickly. By the time I finished (the traceroute takes some time to complete), http://www.google.com no longer loaded in the five minutes I was willing to give it.

Alderamin:~ john$ nslookup -type=txt debug.opendns.com

Server: 208.67.220.220

Address: 208.67.220.220#53

Non-authoritative answer:

debug.opendns.com text = "server 9.nyc"

debug.opendns.com text = "flags 20 0 50 1B50000000000000000"

debug.opendns.com text = "originid 1858430"

debug.opendns.com text = "actype 2"

debug.opendns.com text = "bundle 1161849"

debug.opendns.com text = "source 209.105.130.11:56618"

Authoritative answers can be found from:

Alderamin:~ john$ nslookup whoami.akamai.net

Server: 208.67.220.220

Address: 208.67.220.220#53

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: whoami.akamai.net

Address: 208.67.217.19

Alderamin:~ john$ traceroute 208.67.222.222

traceroute to 208.67.222.222 (208.67.222.222), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets

1 192.168.1.254 (192.168.1.254) 1.106 ms 0.711 ms 0.587 ms

2 dcvt-69-50-60-10.pivot.net (69.50.60.10) 34.732 ms 33.768 ms 33.476 ms

3 rcvt-aa.pivot.net (69.50.60.1) 33.540 ms 34.612 ms 33.954 ms

4 static-burl-mse-71-161-108-21.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (71.161.108.21) 38.426 ms

static-burl-mse-71-161-109-1.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (71.161.109.1) 38.512 ms 36.954 ms

5 burl-lnk-70-109-168-183.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.183) 38.176 ms

burl-lnk-70-109-168-155.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.155) 37.482 ms

burl-lnk-70-109-168-183.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.183) 38.257 ms

6 burl-lnk-70-109-168-136.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.136) 37.492 ms 37.386 ms 36.986 ms

7 xe-2-0-0.mpr3.bos2.us.above.net (208.184.223.237) 44.221 ms 43.350 ms 43.257 ms

8 ae7.cr1.lga5.us.zip.zayo.com (64.125.21.226) 49.865 ms 49.742 ms 49.596 ms

9 ae2.er3.lga5.us.zip.zayo.com (64.125.31.214) 50.695 ms 49.556 ms 50.214 ms

10 zayo-ntt.lga5.us.zip.zayo.com (64.125.12.6) 50.427 ms 48.645 ms 49.881 ms

11 ae-3.r07.nycmny01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.6.176) 47.453 ms 47.525 ms 48.160 ms

12 xe-0-9-0-24.r07.nycmny01.us.ce.gin.ntt.net (129.250.12.250) 46.231 ms 45.996 ms 45.914 ms

13 resolver1.opendns.com (208.67.222.222) 47.860 ms 50.062 ms 47.450 ms

Alderamin:~ john$ traceroute 8.8.8.8

traceroute to 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets

1 192.168.1.254 (192.168.1.254) 1.021 ms 0.480 ms 0.356 ms

2 dcvt-69-50-60-10.pivot.net (69.50.60.10) 33.377 ms 34.007 ms 33.012 ms

3 rcvt-aa.pivot.net (69.50.60.1) 34.268 ms 33.654 ms 34.257 ms

4 static-burl-mse-71-161-108-21.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (71.161.108.21) 37.330 ms

static-71-181-125-253.man.east.myfairpoint.net (71.181.125.253) 39.023 ms

static-burl-mse-71-161-108-21.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (71.161.108.21) 37.643 ms

5 burl-lnk-70-109-168-155.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.155) 37.410 ms 38.207 ms

burl-lnk-70-109-168-183.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.183) 37.744 ms

6 burl-lnk-70-109-168-136.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.136) 38.333 ms

burl-lnk-70-109-168-134.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.134) 37.506 ms

burl-lnk-70-109-168-136.ngn.east.myfairpoint.net (70.109.168.136) 38.289 ms

7 xe-2-0-0.mpr3.bos2.us.above.net (208.184.223.237) 42.355 ms 43.487 ms 42.583 ms

8 ae7.cr1.lga5.us.zip.zayo.com (64.125.21.226) 47.526 ms 47.269 ms 48.430 ms

9 ae1.cr2.lga5.us.zip.zayo.com (64.125.29.38) 48.170 ms 47.347 ms 48.171 ms

10 ae3.er4.lga5.us.zip.zayo.com (64.125.31.246) 47.505 ms 47.822 ms 47.539 ms

11 72.14.223.26 (72.14.223.26) 47.534 ms 47.066 ms 46.384 ms

12 72.14.232.109 (72.14.232.109) 49.773 ms 49.806 ms 49.009 ms

13 * * 108.170.233.235 (108.170.233.235) 49.252 ms

14 google-public-dns-a.google.com (8.8.8.8) 47.621 ms 48.150 ms 48.940 ms

uniquark · ‎11-14-2016

Other than translating between tracert and traceroute, I had no trouble executing these commands.

rotblitz · ‎11-14-2016

The commands were to show if your ISP or their peering network carriers have configured suboptimal routing to a more distant data center of OpenDNS which again could lead to point you at far more distant web servers. But the command outputs show that this is most likely not the case, so it is not a DNS problem but must be a different problem with your internet connection, the changing traffic volumes in your area, or even the destination hosts. The right addressee for your issues would be your ISP (FAIRPOINT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.).

Just to summarize the findings from the commands:
You're located in Vermont and using the OpenDNS data center in New York. Routing and latency are not optimal but acceptable. Your IP address 209.105.130.11 is registered with OpenDNS network ID 1858430. You have configured the OpenDNS resolver addresses on the LAN/DHCP side of the router or directly on the computer.

uniquark · ‎11-14-2016

So, what I get from your response is that you claim the problem is not with OpenDNS. However, the fact remains that when I use OpenDNS for domain name resolution, I get very sluggish page loads, but when I use my ISP's DNS or another public DNS (Google in this case), I get rapid page loads. Given such a simple solution, I'm unlikely to address this issue with my ISP. It is much simpler to just stop using OpenDNS.

rotblitz · ‎11-15-2016

"when I use my ISP's DNS or another public DNS (Google in this case), I get rapid page loads."

Well, this is in contradiction with your statement "Switching to Google's DNS (8.8.8.8) also gave me snappy loads on all the problematic pages".

"It is much simpler to just stop using OpenDNS."

Ok, if you're convinced that this helps, good luck! I still think that your problem is not related to DNS (no matter what DNS), but another problem relating to your internet connection or to the conditions on the internet in your larger area.

Alternatively, run these diagnostics and raise a support ticket with OpenDNS to get my findings confirmed or corrected.

jtmercado · ‎08-21-2021

I know this is waaaay past 2016 but I saw your post.

309368103 - I did not run those diagnostics. I just simply changed to the ISP's DNS on my router. I noticed that the issue went away when I took my laptop to work. I then tested at home by just pinging the site wanted to go to first with the -t swtich. When I did that the page I was going to did not have a problem. When I did not, I would have to refresh. I also noticed opening cloud docs were an issue unless I did a ping -t. When I switched to my ISP's DNS on my PC. Problem went away. I then used 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8 then tried 75.75.75.75 and 75.75.76.76 and those also had no issue. When I went back to OpenDNS the issue came back. I am going to use the diagnostics you have linked. Thank you as it seems that OpenDNS is the issue but it could also be a route. I have not tried checking that yet.

Thank you for posting those links and the troubleshooting steps.