ISP and Google Public DNS can resolve hostname, but local Windows 10 machine cannot

Question

I recently updated the DNS records for the hostname armatureenergy.com. When I do an nslookup for it with Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8) and my ISP's DNS (206.55.176.101), the name resolves. But when I use my default locally configured DNS, it fails and I'm not sure why. I think it may have to do with DNS caching but I'm not sure. My network config is using DHCP, and I was able to obtain my ISP's DNS from my router. DNS lookup for my default network config is working for all other hostnames. I have flushed the DNS cache with ipconfig /flushdns.

So it seems like the hostname has propagated through the DNS system. And my understanding is though my DNS server is 192.168.1.1, it should ultimately use my ISP's DNS as the DNS server is just configured to use my Default Gateway which should ultimately point to my ISP's DNS. I'm just having a hard time figuring out how Windows 10 is actually doing the DNS lookup.

I am using Windows 10 behind a Belkin AC1200FE Dual-Band Wireless Router (F9K1123 v1).

Success (Google Public DNS)

nslookup armatureenergy.com 8.8.8.8

Success (ISP DNS)

nslookup armatureenergy.com 206.55.176.101

Fail (Default configuration)

nslookup armatureenergy.com

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    www.armatureenergy.com
Address:  0.0.0.0

ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : GRANTWINDOWS
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : Belkin

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : Belkin
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : D8-3B-BF-E0-2D-8D
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 1:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : D8-3B-BF-E0-2D-8E
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 2:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : DA-3B-BF-E0-2D-8D
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : Belkin
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (12) I219-V
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : A8-A1-59-3D-CD-29
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::4961:1d9a:6df3:5364%4(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, August 13, 2022 3:07:52 PM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, September 19, 2158 9:53:25 PM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 212377945
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-27-63-40-21-A8-A1-59-3D-CD-29
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : D8-3B-BF-E0-2D-91
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

So I'm not sure why, but after a few hours, Windows 10 is now able to properly look up the domain by default. Even though I had flushed the DNS cache, I still think there was a cache stored somewhere that nslookup was using. — geckels1, Aug 14 '22 at 00:32

joeqwerty · Answer 1 · 2022-08-14T03:39:51.287

0

So it seems like the hostname has propagated through the DNS system.

DNS doesn't propagate, so stop thinking in those terms. Do yourself a favor and do some in depth reading of how DNS works to get a better understanding of it.

my understanding is though my DNS server is 192.168.1.1, it should ultimately use my ISP's DNS as the DNS server is just configured to use my Default Gateway which should ultimately point to my ISP's DNS.

What your router uses as it's default gateway isn't related to what your router's DNS server uses as it's DNS server. You need to look at the configuration of your router and see what it's configured to use as it's DNS server. This is usually configured on the WAN interface or in the WAN settings. It may be configured to automatically use your ISP DNS servers or you may have to manually specify DNS servers to use.

EDIT

You have a misconfiguration somewhere. Your failed nslookup isn't actually a failure. You received an answer, which doesn't match the query:

nslookup armatureenergy.com

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    www.armatureenergy.com
Address:  0.0.0.0

Why did your query for armatureenergy.com return www.armatureenergy.com with an ip address of 0.0.0.0?

Also, show the full output of your test using Google and your ISP DNS servers.

edited Aug 14 '22 at 03:39

answered Aug 13 '22 at 23:39

joeqwerty

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I have read up on DNS. And I'm not sure I understand your comment as when you make changes to your DNS records, all the DNS servers aren't instantly updated as the changes propagate throughout the system. From the DNS records page of Google Domain "These DNS settings are active. Changes are published immediately, but may take time to propagate" – geckels1 Aug 14 '22 at 00:28
Yes, this is what was so strange about this. When I explicitly told nslookup to use the DNS server configured on my router's WAN settings, it was working. But when I let nslookup use its default setting, the default gateway which should be the same as the DNS server specified in the router's WAN setting, it was not working. – geckels1 Aug 14 '22 at 00:35
Any website or article that refers to DNS propagation is propagating a misconception. DNS records don't propagate. My DNS client doesn't know anything about your DNS records until my DNS client asks it's configured DNS servers for them. My DNS servers in turn know nothing about your DNS records until it asks for them. Your DNS records don't propagate to my DNS server. My DNS server has to ask for your DNS records. – joeqwerty Aug 14 '22 at 03:32

ISP and Google Public DNS can resolve hostname, but local Windows 10 machine cannot

1 Answers1