Local Hosts name append to ISP - Help!

[LuvzFly]

I run a home LAN with about 7 hosts. Whenever I ping any host
1) it automatically resolves to and appends my ISP external name and not the internal (192.168.1.xxx) address:
Example: I have a HP windows home server i call WHS - when I ping it I get:

ping whs
PING whs.hsd1.fl.comcast.net (208.69.32.130)

- where comcast is my ISP
2) the IP address of 208.69.32.130 belongs to OPEN-DNS folks whom I use for my DNS servers
3) If I ping a name that does not exists the same thing happens:

ping not-a-host
PING not-a-host.hsd1.fl.comcast.net (208.69.32.130)

This is causing a lot of problems and I am looking for a solution. For now I added each name to the HOSTS file but I hope there is another way to do this so I dont have maintain a DNS server or multiple HOSTS files.

I run a DIR-655 D-LINK Router (with lots of settings i left most default!) and DynDNS service enabled. I have mainly XP/VISTA machines with 1 LINUX box.

Hope someone out there can help make it so HOST names resolve to the internal IP the way it should!

Thanks in advance!!

[johnwill]

Sounds like a DNS issue.

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt:

Type the following command:

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

[LuvzFly]

Here ya go - Thanks!! (out of abundance of caution I removed the MAC's) and i also didn't add in the Tunnel Adapters that Vista uses
Note DNS servers are those of "OpenDNS"

THIS IS THE ISSUE:
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.fl.comcast.net.
Somewhere in Vista's TCP/IP settings I need to turn that off --


==========
Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Laptop
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.fl.comcast.net.

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.fl.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX (Edited for Forum Post)
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.fl.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX (Edited for Forum Post)
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::b53c:ccb7:1554:68f2%8(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.70(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, March 10, 2008 11:55:34 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, April 17, 2144 3:40:06 AM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 201332278
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

[johnwill]

I'd try this.

Let's try replacing your DNS server. Follow the instructions at OpenDNS for Windows and configure to use OpenDNS for your DNS server. See if that makes a difference.

[LuvzFly]

SOLVED - Thanks!
I had already set OpenDNS as my servers (setup on the router and pushed to clients via DHCP) but you made me think about OpenDNS being the cause so I did some further research and it turns out the problem was in fact related to OpenDNS's "auto correct" function. This feature is designed to fix common browser typos like "yahoo.cmo" but in other cases can cause problems. It actually turned out to be an interesting and educational problem so I want to describe it to anyone interested.
First I found Microsoft KB Article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/172218 "Microsoft TCP/IP Host Name Resolution Order"

it states that HOST name lookup follow this order:
1. The client checks to see if the name queried is its own.
2. The client then searches a local Hosts file, a list of IP address and names stored on the local computer.
3. Domain Name System (DNS) servers are queried.
4. If the name is still not resolved, NetBIOS name resolution sequence is used as a backup. This order can be changed by configuring the NetBIOS node type of the client.

The problem lies in step 3 while using OpenDNS. Normally your host name would not be in your ISP's DNS server, but in this case OpenDNS tries to "auto correct" the host name and the result is local host names are never resolved to their proper internal IP. There is mention of this deep in the OpenDNS FAQ's and a simple fix is provided by diabling the auto correct feature.

OpenDNS is a wonderful free service but keep in mind there can be unexpected results.

Thanks for the reply and pointing me in the right direction!

(My next issue - some machines on my network now reply to ping with IPv6 addresses - it never ends!)

[johnwill]

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm aware of certain issues with OpenDNS, I used it for a time when I was using Comcast, they were having DNS issues. However, OpenDNS insisted on resolving a computer name of BOBBI (obviously local), to some Internet IP address. Obviously, this was not correct.