Jordan O'BrienBT Broadband is down for many across the UK today as the company struggles with issues related to its DNS servers.
For those unaware DNS servers are what route traffic to the correct location on the Internet. That means that when you type in ‘Google.com’ it gets you to the correct location, rather than taking you to a different site. That’s because DNS servers translate a domain into the direct IP address of the website. Of course, users could always circumvent the domain – but that’s not always entirely possible.
Down Detector, the issue tracking website for broadband, phone and email customers, reports that there has been a spike in issues with BT Broadband customers since around 8am this morning.
BT has said that it is currently working to fix its DNS servers, although has not yet given a timescale. In the meantime, there are a number of fixes that can be performed to get up and running again. One is to switch to Google’s Public DNS addresses (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4), while the other is to connect to the Internet via a VPN.
The DNS issues are not only effecting one area of the country either, with users from all across the country reporting issues.
BT were yesterday warned by a committee of MPs that it would need to clean up its act if it hoped to hold onto its Openreach subsidiary. The company was told that it needed to fix line faults quicker, as well as invest more money into infrastructure.