Norton DNS down?

Here you are the reply from Symantec :

In the current version of Norton DNS, there are three pre-defined content filtering policies. In the previous version of NDNS (198.153.192.1 & 198.153.194.1), you can define the categories of websites to be blocked or allowed yourself. Also, you have black list and white list available.

The following three pre-defined content filtering policies are available for home and personal use:

Policy 1: Security (198.153.192.40 and 198.153.194.40) This policy blocks all sites hosting malware, phishing sites, and scam sites. To use Policy 1, you should configure the DNS settings of your home router or Web-enabled device to use the following Norton DNS IP addresses: 198.153.192.40 and 198.153.194.40.

Policy 2: Security + Pornography (198.153.192.50 and 198.153.194.50) In addition to blocking unsafe sites, this policy also blocks access to sites that contain sexually explicit material. To use Policy 2, you should configure the DNS settings of your home router or Web-enabled device to use the following Norton DNS IP addresses: 198.153.192.50 and 198.153.194.50.

Policy 3: Security + Pornography + Non-Family Friendly (198.153.192.60 and 198.153.194.60) This policy is ideal for families with young children. In addition to blocking unsafe sites and pornography sites, this policy also blocks access to sites that feature mature content, abortion, alcohol, crime, cults, drugs, gambling, hate, sexual orientation, suicide, tobacco or violence. To use Policy 3, you should configure the DNS settings of your home router or Web-enabled device to use the following Norton DNS IP addresses: 198.153.192.60 and 198.153.194.60.



Thanks

 

Well, they got right back to me... yesterday.
We're going back and forth with Q & A and suggestions.
So far no ideas as to what might be wrong have been offered.

 

Sorry for the long Post but there is no other way to cover completeness.

elapsed answered your question very well but I will elaborate further here for clarity on options.


There are two types of Internet Protocol (IP) Addressing for computers within an Network:
Static IP Addressing and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Addressing.

01) STATIC IP ADDRESSING:
With static IP addressing the computers network adapter card is manually configured with an permanent, static, fixed
IP Address and Domain Name Service (DNS) Address. The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server of the
router in turn exists no authority or control over the computers network adapter card because the computers
network adapter card is not an DHCP client of the routers DHCP Server.

The computers network adapter card is only an DHCP client of the routers DHCP Server when that computers network
adapter card is configured by the routers DHCP Server to automatically receive an IP Address and an DNS Server
Address, both of which are pre-configured in the routers DHCP server by the administrator of the router.


02) DYNAMIC HOST CONFIGURATION PROTOCOL ADDRESSING:
With dynamic host configuration protocol addressing the computers network adapter card is automatically configured
by assigning an IP Address and an DNS Server Address to the computers network adapter card every time the computer
reboots or is powered on. The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Server of the router in turn exists
complete authority and control over the computers network adapter card because the computers network adapter card
is an DHCP client of the routers DHCP Server. There are exceptions, and those exceptions will be explained.


###CONFIGURING THE DHCP SERVER OF THE ROUTER:
After locating the routers setup page for the routers DHCP Server, the first thing that must be done to avoid IP
conflicts between static and dynamic IP addressing is to set the routers DHCP Server with an Starting IP Address
and an Ending IP Address. This is called the DHCP Range. All static IP addresses MUST be outside of the DHCP Range
to avoid IP Address Conflicts. I call this setup an "Safety Net". An example of combined static and dynamic IP
addressing would be an network with computers, printers, and backup servers. The printers and backup servers benefit
with static IP addresses for always avaliable reasons and the computers can use dynamic IP addressing for security
reasons. This will be briefly explained later.

LETS START BY SETTING THE DHCP RANGE FOR FIVE DHCP CLIENTS:
Starting IP Address of the routers DHCP Server = 192.168.1.211
Ending IP Address of the routers DHCP Server = 192.168.1.215

NOW LETS SET THE DNS SERVER ADDRESSES FOR FIVE DHCP CLIENTS, THERE ARE TWO OPTIONS:
01) Leave the two entries for DNS Servers blank forcing the DHCP Server of the router to assign to the DHCP clients
the Default DNS Server Addresses that are provided by the Internet Service Provider. The Internet Service Providers
DNS Server Addresses can not be altered or changed because those DNS Server Addresses are assigned by the Internet
Service Provider to the client, also by DHCP, and are static on the clients end. The Internet Service Providers DNS
Server Addresses can be found elswhere on another page of the routers setup memu.

02) Enter the two preferred DNS Server Address in the fields provided forcing the DHCP Server of the router to
assign to the DHCP clients the preferred DNS Server Addresses.
First preferred DNS Server Address = 198.153.192.40 (Norton DNS Package #1)
Second preferred DNS Server Address = 198.153.194.40 (Norton DNS Package #1)

If the computers network adapter card is an client of the routers DHCP Server, the computers network adapter card
MUST be configured to: Obtain an IP address automatically and Obtain DNS server address automatically.
There are exceptions, and those exceptions will be explained.

###CONFIGURING THE COMPUTERS NETWORK ADAPTER CARD FOR STATIC IP ADDRESSING, NO DHCP, THERE ARE THREE OPTIONS:
01) Use an static IP address outside of the routers DHCP Server Range and use the Internet Providers DNS Servers.
In the network connection properties for the: Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties:
Enable the radio button = Use the following IP address
IP address = 192.168.1.111
Subnet mask = 255.255.255.0
Default gateway = 192.168.1.1 (the routers IP address)

Enable the radio button = Use the following DNS server addresses
Preferred DNS server number one = 192.168.1.1 (the routers IP address)
Alternate DNS server number two = 192.168.1.1 (the routers IP address)

This setup forces the router to fetch the Internet Service Providers DNS Servers.
This setup with preferred DNS Servers overrides and has precedence over the routers DHCP Server DNS settings.

02) Use an static IP address outside of the routers DHCP Server Range and use the Internet Providers DNS Servers.
In the network connection properties for the: Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties:
Enable the radio button = Use the following IP address
IP address = 192.168.1.111
Subnet mask = 255.255.255.0
Default gateway = 192.168.1.1 (the routers IP address)

Enable the radio button = Use the following DNS server addresses
Preferred DNS server number one = (the Internet Service Providers Preferred DNS Server Address)
Alternate DNS server number two = (the Internet Service Providers Alternate DNS Server Address)

This setup is an direct connection to the Internet Service Providers DNS Servers yielding faster responce times.
This setup with preferred DNS Servers overrides and has precedence over the routers DHCP Server DNS settings.

03) Use an static IP address outside of the routers DHCP Server Range and use Preferred DNS Servers.
In the network connection properties for the: Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties:
Enable the radio button = Use the following IP address
IP address = 192.168.1.111
Subnet mask = 255.255.255.0
Default gateway = 192.168.1.1 (the routers IP address)

Enable the radio button = Use the following DNS server addresses
Preferred DNS server number one = 198.153.192.40 (Norton DNS Package #1)
Alternate DNS server number two = 198.153.194.40 (Norton DNS Package #1)

This setup is an direct connection to the Norton DNS Servers Package #1 yielding faster responce times.
This setup with preferred DNS Servers overrides and has precedence over the routers DHCP Server DNS settings.

###CONFIGURING THE COMPUTERS NETWORK ADAPTER CARD FOR AUTOMATIC IP ADDRESSING, YES DHCP, THERE ARE THREE OPTIONS:
01) Use the routers DHCP Server and use the Internet Providers DNS Servers or Preferred DNS Servers.
In the network connection properties for the: Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties:
Enable the radio button = Obtain an IP address automatically
IP address = (blank no entry)
Subnet mask = (blank no entry)
Default gateway = (blank no entry)

Enable the radio button = Obtain DNS server address automatically
Preferred DNS server number one = (blank no entry)
Alternate DNS server number two = (blank no entry)

This setup forces the router to assign an IP address to the computers network adapter card starting with IP address
192.168.1.211 from the routers DHCP Server Range and fetch and assign the Internet Service Providers DNS Server
Addresses to the computers network adapter card IF the fields have been left blank in the routers DHCP Server DNS
fields, OR fetch and assign the preferred DNS Server Addresses to the computers network adapter card automatically
if for example (Norton DNS Package #1) 198.153.192.40 and 198.153.194.40 were listed in the routers DHCP Server
DNS fields.

02) Use the routers DHCP Server and use the Internet Providers DNS Servers.
In the network connection properties for the: Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties:
Enable the radio button = Use the following IP addresses
IP address = (blank no entry)
Subnet mask = (blank no entry)
Default gateway = (blank no entry)

Enable the radio button = Use the following DNS server addresses
Preferred DNS server number one = (the Internet Service Providers Preferred DNS Server Address)
Alternate DNS server number two = (the Internet Service Providers Alternate DNS Server Address)

IMPORTANT = Then Re-Enable the radio button = Obtain an IP address automatically

This setup forces the router to assign an IP address to the computers network adapter card starting with IP address
192.168.1.211 from the routers DHCP Server Range with an direct connection to the Internet Service Providers DNS
Servers yielding faster responce times. Also note that ANY DNS Entries in the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties
for Preferred and Alternate DNS Servers overrides and has precedence over the routers DHCP Server DNS settings
regardless of wheather those DNS fields are left blank to use the Internet Service Providers DNS Server Addresses or
the DNS fields have entries for Preferred DNS Server Addresses.

03) Use the routers DHCP Server and use Preferred DNS Servers.
In the network connection properties for the: Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties:
Enable the radio button = Use the following IP addresses
IP address = (blank no entry)
Subnet mask = (blank no entry)
Default gateway = (blank no entry)

Enable the radio button = Use the following DNS server addresses
Preferred DNS server number one = 198.153.192.40 (Norton DNS Package #1)
Alternate DNS server number two = 198.153.194.40 (Norton DNS Package #1)

IMPORTANT = Then Re-Enable the radio button = Obtain an IP address automatically

This setup forces the router to assign an IP address to the computers network adapter card starting with IP address
192.168.1.211 from the routers DHCP Server Range with an direct connection to the Norton DNS Servers Package #1
Servers yielding faster responce times. Also note that ANY DNS Entries in the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties
for Preferred and Alternate DNS Servers overrides and has precedence over the routers DHCP Server DNS settings
regardless of wheather those DNS fields are left blank to use the Internet Service Providers DNS Server Addresses or
the DNS fields have entries for Preferred DNS Server Addresses.


And finally, after any changes to IP Addresses or DNS Settings in the router or in the computer, always preform an
repair of the Internet Connection by Right Clicking the Internet Connection Icon and choosing Repair.
Also for added reliability open an Command Prompt and type in: ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter.

Some will advise router configuration as preferred or recommended over PC settings for ease of deployment and to
encourage the use of DHCP over Static IP Addressing. I prefer both using the "Safety Net" described earlier. Static
IP Addressing is more reliable and yields faster bootups because the device does not have to wait for the routers
DHCP server to assign it an IP address. Dynamic IP Addressing is more secure because the IP address of the device
changes often making the IP address of the device an moving target if you will.


HKEY1952

 

@ HKEY1952 ... thanks for the extensive elaboration.
In all honesty, it is a bit beyond the scope of what I need to know, but I'll hang onto the info for future reference.

I'm continuing to exchange emails with Symantec support on this.
They asked for some test results, which I provided.

Anyone else unable to connect via server addresses
198.153.192.40 and
198.153.194.40
please let me know.

 

I can't, I gave up trying a couple of weeks ago. I am presently using 198.153.192.1 & 198.153.194.1 but I don't have a NDNS account and I have no idea what kind of protection I am getting.

Edit: Just tried again but still doesn't work for me. 198.153.192.1 & 198.153.194.1 work fine.

 

Thanks for trying again, chinook9.
See PM.