In the past I could sometimes get a recording started by using the web interface and doing a "Watch Now" from the guide, but have had no luck this afternoon. I've also had success by updating the password, but that has made no difference and doesn't apply to Frndly.tv or Pluto anyway.
What are the troubleshooting steps I should take?
What do your logs say?
It looks like there are DNS errors galore, and that's one thing I've never been able to "fix". It just works when it works and doesn't when it doesn't.
If you are using an ad blocker then i would stop doing that.
No Ad-Blocker, No VPN - although I have OpenVPN installed, just disabled. Not sure why the DNS Ad Blocking is listed.
These DNS problems affect every device on my network, so I've sometimes had to use Cloudflare WARP to get around them, but that causes slow and interrupted service also.
Strangely, I can play recordings from my Channels DVR library on my phone (Android App) here at work - just not via the web interface.
You probably have an ad blocker on your router. I would set it to the isp dns
I did set it to the ISP DNS a couple months ago. I'll have to check the router when I get home, but I don't think I've ever seen any signs of it having an ad-blocker on it. What should I look for? (I have a Netgear Nighthawk AX6 router)
Well you are having dns issues in general if you cant resolve google. As a test to rule out your network, i would set your channels server to your isp dns statically
If you mean that the channels server PC should have a static IP address, that is the case with all my PCs, Printers, TiVos, and anything that is always connected. If there's something I can set on the Channels server PC to lock on to the ISP's DNS, where and how can I do that?
What os?
Basically you would just set a static dns in the same place that you set a static ip
When I got home I reset the modem and the router and everything began working again as soon as they both came back up.
I mischaracterized what I was framing as "static" IP addresses. The last couple of Netgear routers I've used have a feature they call IP "Reservations", which assigns a permanent IP address to a network adapter based on its MAC Address. Using this feature leaves the "Obtain an IP address automatically" setting of each device unchanged. This has been an approach I preferred because most devices are defaulted to this setting.
If I don't leave the PC's DNS setting at "Obtain DNS server address automatically", what address do I enter to use my ISP's DNS server? I used to use Cloudflare and then tried Google before I was encouraged to switch it back to my ISP (automatic defers to router settings) to reduce errors. That has not seemed to make a difference.
A device can get its dns 2 ways, statically or via dhcp. You first need to figure out what is configured on your router from a wan perspective. Your router dhcp server is likely handing out ita own ip as the clients dns server. So it is acting as a forwarder. Once you determine what dns you have configred on your router then we can figure next steps.
As far as figuring out what the isp dns is, you can contact them. Or if it is not overridden on your router, it is likely pulling it down via dhcp on the wan interface. If that is the case then you are probably fine and are having other issues...
