Post by drcard on Mar 29, 2021 6:45:36 GMT -5
Home Network Connection Maintenance
Overview:
Many users have their PC setup where the connection to the internet is thru a home network on their router. Many of these connections have been in place for a long time. The users may or may not notice that the internet response for clicks to web sites seems longer than it used to be or seems to require reload of pages more than it used to. These are symptoms that the network connection needs some maintenance. What follows are instructions for a couple simple steps to maintain your home network connection and get the best from your network.
Note:
These maintenance tasks apply to the network connection settings maintained in Windows, and applies to all Windows versions since XP. If a user has more than one PC on their home network, this maintenance needs to be performed on each PC.
Flush DNS
Users go to web sites by entering the name of the web site, but the only way to actually connect to a web site is by the numerical IP address of that server that hosts the web site. There is an Internet address book (called Domain Name System) that lists the IP address for all named web sites. Windows contacts the DNS server to get the IP address of the web site you requested by its name. This getting the IP address takes a little time resulting in the user experiencing a delay after requesting the web site before the page even starts to load. To stop these delays, Windows created the DNS cache which stores the name and IP address received from the DNS server. Next time you enter that name for that web site, Windows will use the IP address in the cache rather than contact the server, thus speeding the loading of the web page. Over time web sites change their name or IP address, thus making the address saved in the cache wrong. when accessing this web site this results in time spent to find that the DNS cache IP address is wrong, followed by time to contact the DNS server to get the current IP address; which results in a longer delay than the DNS server by itself. The number of wrong web site name/IP addresses in the DNS cache builds with time causing delays in resolving DNS and starting the load of the web page. These delays can be avoided by flushing the DNS cache ever so often. Flushing the DNS cache deletes all the data in the cache.
How to Flush the DNS Cache
• Open a Command window with Administrative privileges – Win Key + R to open a Run box. Type cmd. Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter followed by a YES for the UAC box.
• At the prompt, type in the following command replacing the _ with a space and press the Enter key:
ipconfig_/flushdns
• The Windows will confirm successfully flushing the cache.
• Close the Command window.
The first time you access a web site after flushing you might see a slight delay (contacting the DNS server), but this will still be faster than before the flush. The next time you access that site you will really notice the difference the clean cache makes.
Renew IP Address
Renewing or changing the home network connection IP address does not in itself help your connection, but the process to renew the IP address resets all the network connection settings. With time some of the network connection settings deteriorate causing glitches (a word we use when we don’t know exactly what causes the problem). We do know that resetting those settings stops the glitches, so think of renewing the IP address as resetting the connection settings.
How to Renew Your IP Address
• Open a Command window with Administrative privileges – Win Key + R to open a Run box. Type cmd. Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter followed by a YES for the UAC box.
• At the prompt, type in the following command replacing the _ with a space and press the Enter key:
ipconfig_/renew
• The Windows will confirm successfully renewing the IP address and show a list of all the network’s IP addresses. The IPv4 Address is what got changed.
• Close the Command window.
Performing these simple network maintenance steps once in a while will keep your network connection running in tip top shape.
Overview:
Many users have their PC setup where the connection to the internet is thru a home network on their router. Many of these connections have been in place for a long time. The users may or may not notice that the internet response for clicks to web sites seems longer than it used to be or seems to require reload of pages more than it used to. These are symptoms that the network connection needs some maintenance. What follows are instructions for a couple simple steps to maintain your home network connection and get the best from your network.
Note:
These maintenance tasks apply to the network connection settings maintained in Windows, and applies to all Windows versions since XP. If a user has more than one PC on their home network, this maintenance needs to be performed on each PC.
Flush DNS
Users go to web sites by entering the name of the web site, but the only way to actually connect to a web site is by the numerical IP address of that server that hosts the web site. There is an Internet address book (called Domain Name System) that lists the IP address for all named web sites. Windows contacts the DNS server to get the IP address of the web site you requested by its name. This getting the IP address takes a little time resulting in the user experiencing a delay after requesting the web site before the page even starts to load. To stop these delays, Windows created the DNS cache which stores the name and IP address received from the DNS server. Next time you enter that name for that web site, Windows will use the IP address in the cache rather than contact the server, thus speeding the loading of the web page. Over time web sites change their name or IP address, thus making the address saved in the cache wrong. when accessing this web site this results in time spent to find that the DNS cache IP address is wrong, followed by time to contact the DNS server to get the current IP address; which results in a longer delay than the DNS server by itself. The number of wrong web site name/IP addresses in the DNS cache builds with time causing delays in resolving DNS and starting the load of the web page. These delays can be avoided by flushing the DNS cache ever so often. Flushing the DNS cache deletes all the data in the cache.
How to Flush the DNS Cache
• Open a Command window with Administrative privileges – Win Key + R to open a Run box. Type cmd. Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter followed by a YES for the UAC box.
• At the prompt, type in the following command replacing the _ with a space and press the Enter key:
ipconfig_/flushdns
• The Windows will confirm successfully flushing the cache.
• Close the Command window.
The first time you access a web site after flushing you might see a slight delay (contacting the DNS server), but this will still be faster than before the flush. The next time you access that site you will really notice the difference the clean cache makes.
Renew IP Address
Renewing or changing the home network connection IP address does not in itself help your connection, but the process to renew the IP address resets all the network connection settings. With time some of the network connection settings deteriorate causing glitches (a word we use when we don’t know exactly what causes the problem). We do know that resetting those settings stops the glitches, so think of renewing the IP address as resetting the connection settings.
How to Renew Your IP Address
• Open a Command window with Administrative privileges – Win Key + R to open a Run box. Type cmd. Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter followed by a YES for the UAC box.
• At the prompt, type in the following command replacing the _ with a space and press the Enter key:
ipconfig_/renew
• The Windows will confirm successfully renewing the IP address and show a list of all the network’s IP addresses. The IPv4 Address is what got changed.
• Close the Command window.
Performing these simple network maintenance steps once in a while will keep your network connection running in tip top shape.
