When browsing the Internet, using our devices to connect, we may experience problems that prevent the connection from working properly. Sometimes it can be a hardware failure, while other times it could simply be a bad configuration. Sometimes the fault can be ours (network card, equipment, router, cabling, system …), but sometimes that error is external, from the Internet operator itself. In this article we are going to talk about what the NXDOMAIN error is and what to do if it appears.
What is and how does DNS work?
To understand what the NXDOMAIN error is, we must first remember what DNS is and how it works. We can say that DNS servers act as translators to allow us to browse the Internet without having to remember a large number of digits.
When entering a web page we usually go to the address bar of the browser and there we write the name, the address. For example we write redeszone.net. We can do this thanks to the DNS servers that translate that message that we write to the corresponding IP address. In this way we do not need to remember what that IP address is, but simply the name that we write.
The DNS servers therefore function as intermediaries to be able to respond to the requests that we make. There are many DNS servers that we can use. There are free and paid ones. Some can even help us improve security, since they are configured to filter possible malicious pages and not send the content. Sometimes changing the servers of our Internet operator can help improve speed.
Now, sometimes there can be problems in this type of service and fail when trying to surf the Internet. That’s where the NXDOMAIN error comes in, which we’re going to talk about.
What is the NXDOMAIN error
When we try to enter a web page and we get an error message indicating NXDOMAIN, it means that the domain name could not be resolved. This logically means that we cannot navigate through that site we are trying to access.
The message that appears may vary slightly. For example, in the Google Chrome browser the message that would appear would be DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN . This means that the page we are trying to enter does not load correctly.
Possible causes of the NXDOMAIN error
This error can occur for different causes. Sometimes it can be in our power to fix it, while in others it depends on the site server. Let’s see what the main causes are:
- DNS server is not working well
- DNS client problem
- The VPN is interfering
- Installed security tools
- Incorrect DNS settings
- Browser problems
How to fix the NXDOMAIN error
Luckily we can take into account certain steps to be able to solve the NXDOMAIN error . This, as we have mentioned, could happen in any browser that we are using, so the advice that we are going to give is generic and we can apply it in any case.
Some problems that cause this error we will not be able to solve on our part, which would be when they are present on the server side.
Change DNS
These types of problems can be due to errors with the DNS servers that we are using. We have mentioned that we can use many different ones, both free and paid.
In case this type of message appears, we can try to opt for other public DNS than the ones we use. We can easily change them in Windows, through the network settings. To do this, we go to Configuration, Network and Internet, we enter Change adapter options and there we select the network that interests us, we click Properties and a window will open to change the IP address and DNS.
Avoid using the VPN
We have also seen that a cause of the NXDOMAIN error is that we are using a VPN and it creates conflict. We can choose to pause this tool momentarily and check if it really is about this problem or not.
In case we detect that it is indeed the VPN, we can either choose not to use it or switch to another service.
Check if any antivirus or firewall is interfering
It could also happen that the antivirus or firewall that we are using were generating problems. We already know that security tools are essential to avoid network problems, but they could also generate certain failures if there is a bad configuration.
Keep the browser running smoothly
Of course the browser must work correctly . You have to be careful if you are using badly configured extensions, for example. We must take a look at that everything that surrounds the browser works correctly and thus correct possible bugs that are generating this problem to resolve domain names correctly.
Restart the system
It is a basic solution but in many cases it can fix problems of this type. We must restart both our computer and the router itself. So we can fix bugs like this and similar ones.
Ultimately, these are some options we have to fix the problem when the NXDOMAIN error appears.
