Hi,
I currently have a D-link router DI-524 connected to a Linksys EZXS55W switch. I have a dedicated Linux environment on one machine and a Windows environment on the other machine. I am able to ping between boxes on the LAN, however I can not ping the world wide web, i.e. www.linuxquestions.org. I get a response which says "ping: unknown host www.linuxquestions.org" . Does anyone know the file that must be configured for my linux box to be able to ping sites in the WAN? I am a noobie to Linux, so please let me know if anything need clarification or further explanation. I am using the bash shell environment, with no GUI.

Check your DNS setting in /etc/resolv.conf. Make sure you have nameserver IP addresses. If namserver IP is your router, try replacing the IP with whatever your ISP is assigning to your router. If not sure how to get that info, try putting nameserver 4.2.2.2 in the /etc/resolv.conf.

On most home LANs, the nameserver in /etc/resolv.conf should be pointing to your router. If your routers IP address is 192.168.1.1, then the entry in /etc/resolv.conf should be
Can you ping an IP address, eg: 64.233.167.99 (Google)?

What Linux distro are you using? Can you access websites from your Windows machine?

I hope this helps
--Ian

Thanks for the prompt replies wildar and Iball! Both of your replies are very helpful in troubleshooting my current issue. Currently in my resolv.conf file I have input the following: nameserver 68.87.71.224 . I am using that address because it looked like the DNS ip address within my D-link router console interface.
Actually it listed it as DNS 68.87.73.242 68.87.71.226, and I assumed the first was the primary DNS and the second to be the secondary DNS address.

Since reading both of your posts I have input "nameserver 192.168.0.1" (ip address of my router) and "nameserver 4.2.2.2" within the resolv.conf file and I am still unable to ping the world wide web using a websites name. I am however able to ping the ip addresses, such as Iball suggested. I am able to ping the ip address 64.233.167.99 (Google), but I still get the "ping: unknown host www.google.com" response when I try to ping Google's website using the url. Yes, I can access websites from my windows machine. Thanks again for the suggestions, please keep them coming.

Might help if we could examine your resolv.conf file. Mind posting it?

Currently I have the following in my resolv.conf file:
#cat resolv.conf
nameserver 192.168.0.1

hope this helps

There is no need to mask IP addresses, particularly your internal LAN ones. It just makes life difficult for us.

AFAIK, the nameserver in /etc/resolv.conf should point to your router. Have a look in the Windows machines network config, and see what it has in there for a DNS server. It should be your router. You should only have one line in /etc/resolv.conf. Please post this file here.

Also, you said in your original post that you don't have a GUI interface. Why? Since you are a newbie, a GUI can be most helpful.

--Ian

Thanks for the advice. I have edited the post above, I'm not trying to make life difficult, I know mine seems difficult enough, at least right now . Basically, I am trying to learn how to do the commands and edit the files within a shell window. Thats the reason I am not using the GUI. I will check the settings on the windows machine and report back.

Just as a test, replace nameserver 192.168.0.1 with nameserver 4.2.2.2.

You can always use an terminal window in a GUI environment if you want... Some of the editors in a GUI are easier to use as well.

Let us know how changing your DNS settings goes.

--Ian

IBall is correct. Having the added features and capability of the text editors is a solution which delivers results and hope. BASH is excellent for the uses of the Linux Operating System for itself. As a user or administrator of YOUR system, YOU will benefit greatly with more tools. Try the editors, YOU will learn as long as YOU Read,Type and Comprehend the differences. The before and after of using the tools. Good luck. I'm learning VIM. There is a cheatcode card that makes using VIM simple and practical.

But that does not actually help him with his network problem.

And... I am having similiar issues with the exact same router (Dlink Dl-524). It takes forever to resolve domain names (even with other DNS server numbers entered in to /etc/resolv.conf, which I will post in a moment). Sometimes it can't resolve them at all. But pinging the server's IP works, it's Domain name resolving that is the issue.

The middle number is the address of the modem (which is also setup like a router, but only has one ethernet port) while the bottom is the address of the router.

This helps with domain name resolving, but the issue is still there.

Thing of it all, this problem only seems to exist in *nix OSes, seeing as when I am in Windows, there's absolutely no problem at all. Although, I don't think I will jump to conclusions just yet, but reading this post makes me happy that it is not just me that is having this problem. I probably just need a new router by a different company.

What's the big idea doing that double NAT? Turn off one of them and see if your problems are gone.

1: the Big idea was that the manufacturer of the modem probably thought it's biggest audience would probably be the wireless crowd (since it is marketed as a wireless gateway, and uh, the wireless part doesn't work very well, I wish my ISP used a different DSL "modem").

2: I had problems with turning off the default behavior for a router in the past, so I am a little hesitant to do it again. But I kinda doubt it's the Double NAT that is causing the problem since Windows has no problems with DNS resolution, and an old router worked as well.