Reviewed by Router Setup Editorial Team Last reviewed:

DNS translates names into IP addresses. A DNS failure can make websites appear offline even when the router and Internet path still work.

First checks

  1. Test the local gateway.
  2. Test a known Internet IP address separately from a domain name.
  3. Check which DNS servers the client actually received.

How to interpret the result

If an Internet IP works but a domain does not, DNS is the likely layer. Renew the client's network lease, restart the resolver or test a trusted alternative DNS service. Browser secure-DNS settings can override the router's DNS and produce different results between applications.

What this symptom usually does not prove

Do not change router DNS before proving that general Internet reachability works.

Escalate with useful evidence

Record which devices are affected, whether Ethernet and Wi‑Fi behave differently, the router or gateway status, and the exact time of the fault. This evidence helps distinguish a local client issue, radio problem, routing policy, upstream service fault or failing hardware.

Before a factory reset

Restart the relevant device first and save any ISP, Wi‑Fi, reservation, port-forwarding or mesh information needed to rebuild the network. A factory reset is a configuration-recovery action, not a universal diagnostic test.

Related troubleshooting

Safety: Do not share router passwords or remote-control codes to diagnose this symptom.