DNS not working for computers using DHCP

bozrdang

Forgive this newb question, but I just started using pfSense. My problem is that the computers on my LAN that are set for a dynamic IP cannot navigate to other local computers by their name. They can navigate to them fine if I enter their IP address instead. To my, admittedly limited, knowledge this sounds like a DNS problem.

Conversely, the computers that are set to a static IP have no problem navigating to other computers via their name. What would cause the difference?

FYI. All the computers I am talking about here are win7 computers and I am running pfsense 2.0.2.

Metu69salemi

Is dhcp giving same dns server than static-ip machines have?

bozrdang

When I run ipconfig I get:

DYNAMIC IP COMPUTER

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : localdomain
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::1962:919c:b33c:3220%13
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.122
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

STATIC IP COMPUTER

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::40a6:fa93:af56:26cd%10
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.7
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

EDIT: My bad. I forgot to run /all. ipconfig /all shows both have the DNS Server as 192.168.1.1

stephenw10

You may be able to get this working by going to Services: DNS Forwarder: and check the box 'Register DHCP leases in DNS forwarder'.
Like it says you will have to have a name set the network domain. I'm not sure if it will work instantly or only when the dhcp leases renew.

Steve

bozrdang

Thanks for the reply. I checked that option, but what do I set as the name of my domain? It's currently set to localdomain, but the tip says not to set it to local. Wouldn't that be the same? Mine is just a small home network so I don't have mysite.com or anything.

stephenw10

Do your clients have a WINS server set? When you look for a machine by a single host name, not an FQDN, you can be using Netbios not DNS.

This should work via DNS though as long as your hosts are all using the same domain suffix, which they will be if you set it via dhcp in pfSense. It has to be a correctly formatted domain, ie not .localdomain, but it doesn't have to be real as far as I'm aware.

Steve

bozrdang

@stephenw10:

Do your clients have a WINS server set?

I'm not sure. How do I check? I've never done much beyond basic "set it and forget it" home networking so I'm not very knowledgeable on this, but I'd like to learn.

I've done some more testing and I have more specific info on my problem. If I am in Windows Explorer I am able to navigate to other local computers via their computer name by typing it into the address bar at the top. My problem seems to be specific to using a web browser. For example… I have a NAS that has a webgui. It should be reachable by entering it's computer name in the address bar, but that doesn't work and I have to enter the IP address instead. Again, this problem is only on my laptops using a dynamic IP whereas my desktops using a static IP are able to get to the webgui with the computer name.

Does that change things?

stephenw10

For example if I run 'ipconfig /all' on this machine, WinXP home set to get it's details via dhcp from pfSense:

C:\Documents and Settings\Steve>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : NewTuring
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : fire.box

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : fire.box
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810X
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-30-1B-AB-18-C3
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.10
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 16 June 2013 11:16:05
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 16 June 2013 13:16:05

I am then able to ping other machines by their hostname:

C:\Documents and Settings\Steve>ping NewBabbage

Pinging NewBabbage.fire.box [192.168.2.2] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.2.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.2.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.2.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.2.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.2.2:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

This works even though 'fire.box' is not a real domain, or at least it's not my domain.

Interestingly this works even though I don't have 'Register DHCP leases in DNS forwarder' set in pfSense. :-\

Steve