DSL works once then quits
 

Hello everyone.

Relatively new Linux user, running Suse Linux 10.3 X64. I've got DSL and am running behind an Linksys DSL router.

First time I go out on the internet after booting up my Linux I have a good connection and can pretty much go to any URL I like - this with both FireFox and/or Kronos(is that the name of the KDE browser?)

However many times when changing from one URL to another, and always after having closed the browser I can no longer establish a connection. If already browsing the browser will 'hang' never changing URL. If I've fired up the browser again after having stopped surfing the browser will return an error to the effect that the desired page (URL) could not be found.

It's as though I can establish a connection with a web page once and only once. I'm stumped and would appreciate any help as this is very frustrating and frankly is the main thing that's keeping me from chucking Windows (XP Pro) entirely in favor of Linux.

Thanks!

To help others help you, post the results of the following commands:

$ /sbin/ifconfig

$ cat /etc/resolv.conf

$ netstat -rn

First things first, be specific.
 

Well the main question really is what you mean by you can't get a connection. Do you mean that your internet connection goes down? Or rather, do you mean that FireFox cannot load the page?

KDE's browser is called Konqueror, but you already knew that :-P.

One way you can check the above is to run pidgin In tandem with your browser. If pidgin works but the browser doesn't, well, then there's your answer. I think you see where I'm going with this.

If you're having problems with both browsers, it more than likely has to do with your DNS configuration (that /etc/resolv.conf file mentioned above). When I first installed Linux I had a similar issue.

If you're feeling adventurous, try editing your /etc/resolv.conf file to include the three DNS server IP addresses for your area, found here http://www.dnsserverlist.org
using the following syntax

# use pound symbols to comment out the current config
# then type

nameserver (IP address 1)
..
..

Even if that doesn't solve your problem, it will more than likely give you a better browsing experience than the default DNS servers provided by your ISP. Just remember to save a backup of that file and copy it to the right place on startup (usually network config programs rewrite it every time a connection is established).

Hope this helps. Happy Hunting :-P

Edit: the sytax for the IP addresses in /etc/resolv.conf is actually without parentheses, just to be clear :-D.