Name resolution DNS Client Event, DNS servers not responding, with internet disconnects

Question

I have a really small network in my house, with only three computers. Recently I've experienced my computer disconnecting from the internet for 3-5 seconds, and it only happens two or three times a day. I get this Warning message in the event logs:

Event ID 1014, Warning Name resolution for the name dns.msftncsi.com timed out after none of the configured DNS servers responded.

The website dns.msftncsi.com isn't a constant, it's been a few random sites (i'm guessing whatever site i'm on at the time of disconnect.)

My network consists of a windows 7 Desktop, Linux mint laptop, and a macbook pro. My router is a Netgear N600, and here's my output of ipconfig /all

ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Red
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : 
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 44-87-FC-D4-21-89
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5be:cd97:4f07:2f24%11(Preferred) 
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.25(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 239372284
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-19-43-0D-0A-44-87-FC-D4-21-89
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter VMware Network Adapter VMnet1:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet1
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-01
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5d7c:587a:4b9:333b%14(Preferred) 
   Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.51.59(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 318787670
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-19-43-0D-0A-44-87-FC-D4-21-89
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter VMware Network Adapter VMnet8:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet8
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-08
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::dd6e:74c6:5254:2215%16(Preferred) 
   Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.34.21(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 352342102
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-19-43-0D-0A-44-87-FC-D4-21-89
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{9420D2B3-C8C4-48EA-BCC1-55C52E1E9CEE}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{CD33946C-2519-4ADC-B106-55C7C18757C4}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{35A4120D-DF3E-41D6-89BB-5E7B0D2AD40A}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

I've been troubleshooting this for a while, and really am out of ideas. I have only noticed the problem on my windows 7 desktop, but that could be because my laptops are normally only on at work or school. Let me know what other information might be needed.

Solution

As it turns out, my disconnects were from my ISP not having a large enough pipeline for my neighborhood, and they also had to replace the switch I was on. The errors make sense now that I know what the problem was, but I really didn't expect this since I couldn't even tracert to my ISP (which was because the initial switch I was on was going in and out at the same time.) Thanks for all of the help, but my ISP has fixed both problems now (they are a super small ISP, with like 10 employees total).

Comments

[trueCamelType]

I still haven't gotten this fixed, and have found this same question in several places on the internet, with no resolutions. The windows 7 forums has this question also, with no resolution, so if anybody thinks they have an answer, please feel free to try :)

[trueCamelType]

I'm making 8.8.8.8 my secondary DNS on my router. I'll let you know if it helps. Let me know if you think it would be better to have googles DNS as my primary DNS. Right now my primary DNS is set to what my isp said it should be.

[djfdat]

Personally I use Level 3 as my DNS, but you can find the best for you as well as compare your ISP DNS service with other free alternatives (Google Public DNS, Level 3, OpenDNS) using code.google.com/p/namebench or sordum.org/7952/dns-jumper-v1-0-5. DNS Jumper is much simpler and also handles changing your DNS for you and making backups. Namebench only benchmarks different DNS providers.

[trueCamelType]

How would you recommend choosing the DNS best for me? By doing trace routes to them to see which is faster, or by which is physically closer? (which should be the same thing), or another way?

[djfdat]

DNS Jumper can automatically detect and apply the fastest DNS for you, and is the method I'd suggest. Namebench with make actual DNS requests to the DNS server and give you more detailed statistics as to what happens on each DNS server (min/max/avg time, inaccurate DNS addresses, and based off browser history).

[trueCamelType]

Nope, still same problem after I changed the DNS servers. I wonder if it could be something with my ISP? My disconnects generally happen about the same time every night, around 8:00pm-10:00pm. Is there a possibility that their protocol for changing IP's around is messing with the connection? I have found this problem in many other places, normally in forums for businesses, but I haven't found any with a solution.