Failed remote network problem

[MARKXXXKX]

I just tried nslooukp several times with Cloudflare for the fqdn ondemand.cdnselector.skycdp.com
I got several replies for the Limelight IP and then it switched, see below

> ondemand.cdnselector.skycdp.com
Server: one.one.one.one
Address: 1.1.1.1

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: skypdluk.s.llnwi.net
Address: 87.248.204.0
Aliases: ondemand.cdnselector.skycdp.com

> ondemand.cdnselector.skycdp.com
Server: one.one.one.one
Address: 1.1.1.1

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: a2047.sky.akamai.net
Addresses: 104.124.11.224
104.124.11.138
104.124.11.163
104.124.11.176
104.124.11.195
104.124.11.194
104.124.11.200
104.124.11.201
104.124.11.208
Aliases: ondemand.cdnselector.skycdp.com
cdn.sky.akadns.net

So imagine you are a SKY box, you ask for the IP for the download, some of the time you get an IP maybe for Limelight and that works, then 30 seconds later you get Akamai, which causes failures (your situation could be reversed from mine)
The issue was so obviously related to SDNS round robin and a download web site that was blocking, I am slightly annoyed that I didnt resolve this early, and spent £360 getting a NOW circuit for 12 months, to maintain a SKY IP.

That's money I feel SKY stole from me and should refund.

[Craigv9]

Mark,

If this is driving you insane, spare a thought for me as I don't really have your grasp.

I have a router. I can access its settings. I can access the DNS settings on the Sky box...

Imagine I work for Sky and talk me through it...

What am I putting in the router settings? What am I putting in the Sky DNS settings?

You wrote:

'I have configured this to act as a DNS server'....

HOW?

'and to use Cloudflare for anything it can not resolve itself

I am using this config

ip host ondemand.cdnselector.skycdp.com 87.248.204.0
ip name-server 1.1.1.1
ip name-server 1.0.0.1'

???

I know I can't type any of that config host stuff in, unless you are just telling me what it is for reference and the important stuff is the numbers???

If it IS the numbers that are important...on my router I CAN specify a DNS and 2 alternates....should I use those three sets of numbers above?

I can also set a DHCP, whatever that is?

Any help in English would be gratefully received!

I have copied this thread to Sky in the hope someone in support understands what you have typed, but it does seem its YOU that's gonna resolve this for US if you can translate!

I certainly appreciate your time. My fruit is done.

[Craigv9]

Mark,

To assist you in assisting me, these are the settings I can **bleep** with on my router...I can o ky change the DNS on the Sky box...

(Exactly as presented in router settings menu)...

•  

Router details:
192.168.1.1
Subnet mask
255.255.255.0
DHCP server
192.168.1.10
DNS auto / manual
Currently set to auto...if I change to manual I can input any DNS address and a further two optional ones...

[MARKXXXKX]

Sorry to give you bad news and this is what i was referring to earlier when I said the solution needs a level of understanding AND relevant devices which can be configured.

The config I posted is the exact commands that would be used in a Cisco series router. However basic home routers from ISPs will not support the feature that you require.

There are 2 aspects of DNS, the "DNS client" and how it operates, and the "DNS server" which can resolve DNS queries OR pass them on to somewhere that can - and this is the important part!!

DNS Client --- eg your sky box, will go to an IP address (the DNS Server) to resolve a name (eg the link used to download)

DNS Server - eg A router configured to respond to DNS

With your basic router there is nothing that can be done.

You need a router capable of running as a DNS server AND having HOST entries so that when the SKY box attempts to lookup the download site, the router does NOT go the outside world to find it, instead it replies with the static configured values. This prevents the DNS round robin and means the SKY box always gets the working IP.

I understand this is frustrating however if you do not understand the tech advice I have given AND you have a basic ISP router then you have no way to fix this, and I can not help further.

[Craigv9]

Mark,

You have been immensely helpful, if only by demonstrating what the problem is and why I can't solve it (yet)

However, unlike Sky, I don't give up!

Given that all I have is a basic retail router (a Kloud9 branded Linksys router), what would I have to add to my setup to resolve this issue and what cost am I looking at?

Also, absent ME being able to fix it, what can SKY do to resolve this for me (I think this is where YOU tell me I need to be whitelisted and SKY instead gaslight me by saying whitelists don't exist...)

Many thanks. I can assure you that you're not just helping me...there's tons of threads and they're months and years old...

[Chodley]

Those are not the settings you can change on your router.

Those are the settings you can change on a client device (in this case I think those are the sky box'?)

You have to login to the linksys router with a web browser to change its config. But I suspect it probably doesn't allow an overlay of a host lookup anyway.

You could just add a raspberry pi (cost £12) to your network and configure a DNS server / forwarder on that. Not for the faint hearted but also wouldn't cause any permanent ill effects if you got it wrong. The answer marked "Simple Answer" here tells you how to overlay your one entry for that limelight host lookup. But as I said earlier I think the ultimate effect might just be to behave the same way as 1.1.1.1 seems to as far as that particular lookup is concerned. (Edit: just saw Mark's reply above - weird, I wasn't given any other addresses by that server when I used dig yesterday which should have told me all the ones it cycles through for round-robin. Hmm.)

by the way none of this proves there's any blocking going on, it could just be a routing issue between the ISP and akamai. But it could also be an out-of-date geo : IP range lookup. It might be worth telling your ISP about the symptoms and addresses involved above and see if there's any investigation they can do. Those small fibre ISPs tend to have good technical people.

[Chodley]

---

@MARKXXXKX wrote:

I can't  believe that SKY are refusing to admit their download sites have regional IP awareness and block downloads from for example Russia. The simple fact is, a new ISP takes a global free IP subnet, and if that isnt listed as UK then how would SKY allow it? If they dont know how to allow UK ISP subnets and do not know what whitelisting is, then I would just say "excuse me, you don't seem to know your **bleep** from your elbow, can I speak with someone that actually knows networks?"

---

They use a 3rd party service for those lookups so it's entirely possible the average tech support bod knows nothing about that.

However, the online team here DO know about that and are already trying to help Craig (via another thread) and have said this issue doesn't seem to be as simple as other geo range lookup problems they've resolved. Most of those seem to be a complete failure not like this 50% / round-robin situation, which suggests to me maybe it's a service / lookup akamai are using, or a routing issue